War Diaries Talk

Signals / technical terminology

  • charcinders by charcinders

    "Pair" and "quad" = cables with 2 or 4 wires inside

    "vibrator" = an electrical buzzer that generates the spark for a radio set. I've seen "working on vibrator" which means to practice morse code listening to the sound of the vibrator but not actually transmitting.

    W/T = Wireless telegraphy

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  • Jan_Greenslade by Jan_Greenslade

    I have just started my first Signals Company diary and am confused by their terminology. Is there a discussion board which can help me get started? Thanks very much. Jan

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  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist

    I'm not aware of one, unfortunately, but if you post any terms you're unfamiliar with here I'm sure we'll be able to help find out what they mean.

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  • Jan_Greenslade by Jan_Greenslade

    There is no obvious tag in Unit Activity for the work carried out by Signals Company, ie. laying new cables, wires and communication between Brigades apart from Other. Should I tag these as Construction?
    This page has a number of abbreviations I should be grateful for some help. Sorry but can't find a helpful website yet. Once I've done a few pages I'm sure I'll be able to work out their abbreviations. Thank you Jan.

    Exchange and sounder left behind
    2 pairs [armoured twin – DHBL 2 and 3]
    Laid Lateral Line DHLI and DHL2

    Image AWD000236r

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  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist

    I think Construction is a good one to use where lines are being laid and other infrastructure is being developed.

    Having looked at the page, it seems that the abbreviations are just codes for a particular line - so line DHL1 would have run from x to y and line DHL2 probably followed the same course.

    I think an armoured twin probably refers to the type of wire used and the fact that there were two lines - DHBL 2 and 3.

    I hope that helps, but let me know if you have any other queries. If it's not something I can help with, I'll try and find somebody who can.

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  • Jan_Greenslade by Jan_Greenslade in response to ral104's comment.

    Thank you so much that really helps as I've only worked on artillery units so far.

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  • HeatherC by HeatherC moderator

    Very interesting Jan - I can help a bit (from a Signals background!)

    When they talk about a "pair" - they mean a phone cable. These usually have two wires to connect to the phone terminals hence the name. So when the page says "found two good pairs", they mean they found two phone cables that were in working order (we still called them that in the 1990s and for all I know they still do)

    Armoured twin is indeed as Rob says the type of cable and indicates how many wires were contained in it (In my day we used "quad cable" - so 4 wires). Since losing the line to shellfire or even simply damage from being run over or trodden on was a constant problem, it seems some effort had been made to protect these cables with an "armoured" outer cover.

    I think that as Rob says DHL2, etc are simply the designations by which each line was known so it could be individually identified. If you come across a line diagram later on in the diary which shows this then you can let us know!

    Heather

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