[Milsurplus] OT Single wire landline telegraph

[Jay Coward]

Greetings Groups,
 I have recently aquired two Chineese military telegraph sets. From the data plate inside the cover they are "63******".  *= chineese character. Included were headsets and keys.  The manual is in Chineese but the schematic is conventional and the accessories include a ground stake and connecting cable, and the units have one binding post for connection to another devece or network. The main switch seems to be "OFF,SEND, RECEIVE" (or rx,tx).
 I am aware of single wire systems but I really know nothing about them.
 A system useing the "earth" would imply that there must be some impedance in the ground return. I am guessing here.
 Can these one wire sets be operated as 2 wire sets by connecting gound to ground?
 The sets have one tube, a 1K2; I don't know if that is stricktly a Chineese tube or if it has equivelents on the common marketplace.
 Any info is wellcome. I will try to coax some of my co-workers to do some translation for me but they are somewhat reluctant when dealing with anything related to what they escaped from.

Jay KE6PPF