This listing details most of the equipment acquisition history  associated with the procural of missing equipmmment  aboard HMCS HAIDA  It includes both electronic and non-electronic items.

RADIO 1

CHANNEL AMPLIFIER UNITS (AN/URA-501)
Not there in 1992. Fifteen Channel Amplifier Units of the solid state variety and One Channel Amplifier Unit of the vacuum tube variety were acquired from RCN naval stores In Halifax. They were shipped to HAIDA on one of the RCN vessels that were visiting Toronto.  At some point in time, the navy added speech compression to some of its CAUs by gutting the vacuum tubes and associated circuitry and then upgrading to solid state. HAIDA received the surplus units from the conversion. They were dispersed into Radio 1, Radio 2, Radio 3, Radio 4, the bridge and the Ops Room where they were connected to the ship’s cabling.

AN/URR-35 UHF Receivers
Three receivers were there in 1992. No acquisition history available.

AN/URT-502 UHF Transmitters
Three transmitters were already there in 1992.  No acquisition history data   available.

CM11 #1 Transmitter/Receiver
Acquired from HMCS Queen, Naval Reserve Unit, Regina. Was already there in 1992. No other details available.

TDQ VHF Transmitter.

It was missing in 1992.  Acquired from Charles Wilson,  K1GVA, 61 Warwick St. Portland Maine. A missing equipment notice was sent out to various groups and KIGVA responded by indicating that he had an example. It would be no cost to HAIDA but HAIDA ( FOH) would have to pay for the movers to ship it to Toronto.  Bob Willson (now deceased) secured the $500 that it would cost to move this 285 pound transmitter to Toronto.  Only one other example of this transmitter was ever seen in a 25-year period.
The movers arrived at 61 Warwick street only to find that the TDQ was being blocked by a lot of heavy vacuum tube equipment. Being 80 years old and not in good health, K1GVA,could not move the blockage by himself. The movers could move the equipment for an extra $200 but this was declined by FOH.

Not wanting to see the deal fall through, KIGVA then contacted his local radio club in Portland , Maine. They came to his residence, moved the obstructing equipment out of the way, moved the TDQ to the head of the line, then moved the  balance of the equipment back into place.  The TDQ arrived in Toronto in March 1994.

RCK VHF Receiver

Acquired at no charge from Dennis Chappel of  Guelph Ont. This collector had an 117 pound RCK receiver, a 95 pound Number 19 set plus one other heavy radio in the back of his minivan. Driving around with all that additional weigh had an impact on fuel economy. He was very delighted when I relieved him of this weight burden.

CHANNEL SWITCHING UNITS (CSUs)

The CSUs were missing in 1992. When HMCS Nipigon was in the Port Weller Drydock for refit, word go out that the technicians were stripping the ship of CSUs – they very type that we were missing in HAIDA. Needless to say, transportation was arranged to pickup the CSUs from Port Weller Drydock, Welland Ontario. There were some 4,000 wiring splices and connections to be made to get the Remote Control System back to functional order.

 REMOTE CONTROL UNITS (RCU)

A mixture of four channel and single channel RCU’s were acquired from RCN naval stores In Halifax along with a few spares. They were shipped to HAIDA on one of the RCN vessels that were visiting Toronto.  These were installed in Radio 1, the Message Center, Radio 2, Radio 3 and Radio 4.

MISCELLANEOUS

In 1992, the following additional gear was already there in Radio 1:

·  Four CSR5sreceivers, one AMC-6 antenna multicoupler and one FR12  transmitter/receiver. Assumption is that DND was the source of this gear.
·  Later on, a BC221 Frequency Meter model BC221AK S/N 1860 was donated by Tom Brent, Box 150, Dewdney B.C.
·  Four open frame typewriters were already in Radio 1 in 1992 These were of the wrong vintage Two of them were replaced with more modern units but they were not of the     Telegraphic variety.   Acquired from yard sales.
· CPRC-26Handheld Radio.  Received one CPRC26 S/N 27291 donation c/w handset, antenna and handbook from: Don Armstrong, VE3DBA, 28 O'Neil St., Chatham Ont. N7M 3A3. A second set was purchased from Fair Radio Sales, Lima Ohio by Jerry Proc. A third set was donated but there is no paper record of the acquisition.
· Spare FR12 and CSR5 receiver donated to HAIDA by Jerry Proc.

 MESSAGE CENTER

TT23 Teletype Distribution Panel.

Donated by Darcy Bens, VE7GCK, 5944 Lakes Rd., Duncan B.C.  One day, while talking to one of HAIDAS visitors (Darcy Bens), I found out that he was an electronics tech based at CFB Esquimalt. I indicated that it was hard to find a TT-23 Distribution Panel so I left it at that Several weeks later, a package arrived to me at HAIDA. When I opened it up, lo and behold, there was a TT-23 Distribution panel in the box.

Teletype Equipment
Received the following equipment donation from Hazen Marr, VE3HAZ, 854 Marinet Cr., Pickering Ont, Picked it up personally using my own car.
2 each Model 15 Teletypes
2 each Transmitter-Distributors
2 each Model 14 Reperforators
1 each Model ED51 Portable Teletype Tester
1 set assorted Teletype manuals and rolls of blank tape
Also picked up 48 rolls of Teletype paper from the University of Toronto when they were cleaning house.

DXD Teletype Line Tester  - Donated by Joe Blanchette, VE3BAD, 2104 Kender Ave. Ottawa K1J 6J9.This device was not part of HAIDAs kit. It was acquired as a result of a misunderstanding; This set is designed to test for distortion in Telegtaph circuits. We don’t have telegraph circuits on HAIDA, however the tester uses electro-mechanical means to generate the “QUICK BROWN FOX etc.” test message for testing  HAIDAs teletype gear. It’s useful as an interpretive tool.  Constructed REC10-V 60 ma power source for the teletype gear.

AN/SGC- Teletype set (in rack)

Received two AN/SGC1 teletype sets (purchased) from David Morgan, WO4S, 117 West City Hall, Suite 701, Norfolk VA. 23510.  One unit is complete. The other is a parts source. When Bob Wilson attended a HNSA Conference in Virginia, he picked up the two units from David and transported them to HAIDA with his car.

CSR5 Receiver and RAK LF Receiver (in rack)
They were there in 1992. No record of donation

FSC107 Frequency Shift Converter. (in rack)
Acquired Northern Radio Model 107 Frequency Shift Converter S/N 27 from: Don Smith, 3400 Midland Ave., Unit 10 , Scarborough Ont. M1V 4V6. Paid $40. Later on it was discovered that the power trsnsformer had a short circuit. It was removed from the unit and sent to Hammond Manufacturing, where Fred Hammond, VE3HC, had the windings replaced at no charge to HAIDA.

CRYPTO OFFICE

This space is currently a display area for radio equipment which used to be on HAIDA but no more. When HAIDA was in service, there were two KL-7 encryption/decryption devices in this space. Returned to NSA after HAIDA paid off.

MSL-5 Low frequency Receiver. Marconi MSL5  S/N 472 from Mark Gibson, VE3MWH, 1496 Upper Sherman Ave.,  Hamilton, Ont. L8W 1C5
B28 High Frequency Receiver. -A British Admiralty  B28 receiver was donated by Bill Legg at HMS Collingwood Naval Museum, Fareham, Hampshire, PO141AS, England.
TBS transmitter/Receiver.  Donated by T.A. John Forster, PO Box 397048 Cambridge, MA 02139-7048Shipped via automobile to HAIDA.
TBS crystals (Qty 18). Donated by Hue Miller, Apt 204,1555 Waverly S.E., Albany , Oregon 97321

 SCR-522 VHF Transmitter/Receiver with RA-62 power supply and other accessories received from Jim Fleming VE3PBJ, RR #1, Douro Ont., K0L 1S0. When in Toronto, this was a working radio, monitoring aeronautical transmissions from Billy Bishop airport.   IE-36 and I 139 test meters for SCR-522. Received a donation from: Jack Antonio, 646 Ibis Lane, Reno, Nevada 89503

 TE-236 LF receiver S/N 303.
Source unknown. This receiver type was used during the Korean War era.

RADIO 2

XFK Frequency Shift Keyer S/N 893 came from Jim Fleming VE3PBJ, RR #1 , Douro Ont., K0L 1S0

CM11 #2 and CM11 #3 transmitter/receivers. These were  already there in 1992

PV500HM2 Transmitter
It was there already there in 1992. There is an unserviceable spare (model?)  in a locker aft of the officer’s heads.

E-886 Transmission Line Tuner.
Was not there in 1992. Constructed a mockup from microfiche supplied by the RCN.

Radio State board. Provided by the RCN. This is not the radio state board that was found on HAIDA. The correct example was mounted on the AC power panel in Radio 1. The incorrect board was mounted in Radio 2 since there was no other place to display it.

CAU Channel Amplifier Ubits (3) came from the batch of 15 delivered from RCN stores in Halifax.

RADIO 3

In this compartment, there are four (AN/URT-502) transmitters, four Channel Amplifier Units  (AN/URA-501) and four ( AN/ URR-35) UHF receivers.  Presume  that this equipment was donated by the RCN at some point in time before 1992.

RADIO 4

FM12 MF Direction Finer
In 1992, the FM12 was located in the Message Center, Sometime after 1992, it was moved to Radio 4 so as to be consisted with the ship’s drawings circa 1962. The FM12 used the crossed loops antenna fitted atop the wheelhouse.

AN/UPD-501 SHF Direction Finder was provided by the RCN along with several UPD carcasses and power supplies.  The UPD horn antenna is missing.

SP-600 HF Hammarlund Receivers
Two examples of this radio were donated to HAIDA. - Acquired Hammarlund SP600 S/N 1170 receiver from John Turgoose VE3NFK.
Received one SP600 JL-16 S/N 6827 receiver from Tom Brent, Box 150, Dewdney B.C.  V0M 1H0

AN/SRC-501 HF Radiotelephone

Unable to find an example of this radio so I constructed a semi-functional mockup. The SRC-501 covered 2 to 4 MHz along with the broadcast band. Inside the case, I added a 6-transistor radio, permanently tuned to 680 KHz If powered up it will receive 680.

Reel-to-Reel Tape Recorder.
Acquired Wilcox-Gay reel to reel tape recorder from Bill Scott VE3CUP. It is likely not the same model that was used by the RCN, but its definitely correct for the period.
 
 

OTHER ELECTRONICS

AN/VK-5 in Ops Room and another in the FOH Gift Shop units were donated by the late Andre Guibert, Apt 710, 333 Riverside Dr, St. Lambert P.Q. J4P 1A9. The VK-5 power supply is located in the Sonat Control Room.

AN/SPA-4    One was on the Bridge and the other in the Ops Room. Both were there in 1992. No acquisition record. The unit in the Ops Room was replaced with the VK-5. The displaced SPA-4 was moved to the radar compartment.

Air Search Radar antenna. When in service, HAIDA was fitted with the AN/SPS-6C air search radar. Since this radar antenna could not be located anywhere, it was decided to salvage the antenna assembly from HMCS Yukon before she was sunk as a marine reef. Yukon used the AN/SPS-12 radar, however since the profile of the dash 12 antenna was nearly the same as that of the dash 6C,  that made it a suitable substitute. The RCN arranged to have the antenna dismounted  and  shipped to Toronto. It took only one day to locate the antenna but it was 30 months later when the antenna finally arrived at Ontario Place and was erected on the teardrop on the foremast.

AN/UPA-24 Received one AN/UPA24A Video Controller S/N 459 donation from Tom Bryan, 1013 Rose mere Ave., Silver Spring MD. 20904 Mounted on forward Bulkhead in Ops room.

Sperry Mk 2 Navigation Radar. Consisting of a Display Unit (Ops Room), a receiver/transmitter (in Radar compartment) and an antenna on the foremast.  It was there in 1992 and was in working order. Now unserviceable.

293 Radar Antenna
It was a jetty display when HAIDA was in Toronto. When in Hamilton, the antenna was moved to its corresponding teardrop on the foremast. Pictures of HAIDA taken in the late 1950s still show the 293-radar antenna even though it was superseded by the AN/SPS-6C.

IC/KAA – Intercom Amps (Qty 3) plus some spares.  Located on the Flag Deck. They arrived after 1992 and were part of the radio restoration. Ernie Wall of the RCN arranged for the donation of the intercoms from the RCN to HAIDA.

Loud Hailer Amp In Op's Room flats. The SRE amp is in the EMR. Both were there in 1992. Unable to identify the SRE used aboard HAIDA.

Decca Decometer Bowl in Ops Room. The Decca Navigator system was installed on RCN ships based in Halifax on a rental basis. Navigator consisted of a receiver, a display unit called a Decometer bowl and a wire antenna. The mating receiver has never been found.

DAS LORAN ‘A’ receiver in Chartroom. Unable to locate an example.

 AN/UPA-24 Received one AN/UPA24A Video Controller S/N 459 donation from Tom Bryan, 1013 Rose mere Ave., Silver Spring MD. 20904 Mounted on forward Bulkhead in Ops room.

Sonar Control Room – All the equipment seen in this room today was present in 1992. No acquisition record available . The AN/SQS-10 console is missing. Unable to locate any example.

 28-foot Aft Whip Antennas
These whip antennas were removed from HMCS Mackenzie prior to her being sunk to become a marine reef . The whip antenna donation was initiated by Keith Kennedy, an ex-RCN Sparker. Getting the antennae and base insulators off the ship wasn’t a big deal but for Keith to get them from the dock in New Westminster BC to his house in Surrey was a problem because he couldn’t haul the full length of the antennas on his car. For that reason, they were cut in half.

In those days radio collector Tom Brent  was the chief engineer at a VersaCold facility in Abbotsford.  After picking everything up at Keith’s house, he made arrangements with  the Versacold transport division to haul the goods from Abbotsford (BC) to one of the Versacold plants in the Toronto area.  Once the antennas arrived at Ontario Place, it was necessary to find a welder who specialized in aluminum welding in order to get the pieces back together.

AN/SSA-502 plotting table in Ops Room. Since the original ARL table could not be located, the more modern AN/SSA-502 plotting table is being displayed as a substitute. Marg Mathers and Jim Brewer drove to Halifax and picked up the plot table from HMCS Terra Nova. There were also three “small “ plot tables (model?) aboard ship in 1992. From these, Jim Brewer used parts from two of them in order to create a working example.

MK 29 Gun Sight (Forward). Not present in 1992. A MK 19 gunsight was procured from the USN but there are no acquisition details available.  The Mk 19 gunsight is a suitable stand-in for the Mk29.

MISCELLANEOUS

3-268 Diesel generator. Although not related to electronics, a significant donation of diesel generator parts was given to HAIDA when the RCN mine sweepers, based on the west coast, were retired.  This cache of spare parts enabled HAIDAs stoker, namely Marg Mathers, to restore the aft GM 3-268 diesel generator back to functional order.

Swivel Chairs in Radio 1 – What is seen today is slightly too modern for HAIDA but they are more or less of the correct vintage.  Marg Mathers and Jim Brewer drove to Halifax and picked up the chairs from HMCS Terra Nova.

Wardroom Table and Chairs
Table  -   The table you see today was original to HAIDA n 1943 and was removed from the ship by a family after HAIDA paid off. For years, It was stored  in a garage . One day, the family were clearing out the garage and figured out what it was, so they turned it over to the (former) MARCOM Museum in Halifax. A lot of the pieces still had the original 1943 identification tags on them.

Jim Brewer designed and installed the two historically accurate light fixtures that are currently above the table in the wardroom. The design is based from a period picture and an electrical drawing. The drawing also referred to a historically correct fixture in the Captain’s Day cabin so this served to verify accuracy.  In the Captain’s Cabin, the fixture was fitted with a plug so it could be removed when the ship was at sea. In addition, these were  multi-bulb fixtures.  As a result of the Parks Canada re-wiring project of 2019, the receptacle in the Captain’s Day cabin has been moved from its original; position and is no longer active.

MARCOM had no space for an assembled table, so they offered it to HAIDA.  It arrived to the ship via a transport company that the museum had hired.  The table used to be longer that it is today since it was shortened when the Squid hoist was installed during the 1949-1952 modernization. The original mounting still lined up but the the pull- out section had been changed.

Chairs  - In 1992, the chairs that were originally part of the Wardroom were scattered about the ship. These chairs  were made from square metal stock with a padded plastic  seat and back. They were in pretty rough  shape so they had to be sent to an upholstery company to be overhauled. The chairs that used to be there had a velvet material in the seat cushion and back.

Sink -  The sink in the officer’s wash place was removed along with the bath tub in Toronto when parts of the ship were convertd into a sea cadet camp. This vacated space was to be used for the installation of water heaters. Once HAIDA came to Hamilton, Sea Cadet training was discontinued. Now it was time to reverse the changes. The bath tub in the Officers wash place was purchased by Parks Canada from a  used building supplier in Hamilton. Somehow, the sink ended up in a house near Stoney Creek, Ontario . Marg Mathers also had a friend who happened to know about HAIDA and also had the sink. The sink still had the original drain piping that fit right into the existing plumbing on the ship.

Bunks were removed from the PO's mess  - both upper and lower and what we call the stoker's mess. Water heaters were installed in the canteen and officers wash place Showers were installed in the PO's wash place . The oil stoves in both Galleys were removed along with the electric water heater in the officers galley. The main galley received  a big propane stove which is still there,  while the officers galley got an electric stove and fridge The three officer cabins in the ships office flats had the single bunk removed.

They put 2 showers in the lower deck wash place.

Officers Galley  Stove
The stove in the Officer’s Galley came from a retired navy tug called the Riverton.  It is an oil burning stove  and is slightly longer  to what was there originally.

Charlie Noble (Chinmey) -  The missing Charlie Nobel  for the Officer’s Galley was restored in 2006.

Bunk Lights  - Two of the missing bunk lights made their way back to the ship. They were brought back by a lady who had two of them. One was retrofitted in the Captain’s Day cabin and the other in the forward cabin in the Wardroom flats.

Soup kettles -  One kettle came from the navy. HAIDA had two while in service.The ironing board in the laundry and the big mixer in the galley, was picked up from the navy at the same time when we  received the kettle in the galley.

Bake Shop  - In Toronto, and prior to 1992 ,the bake shop was gutted of the mixer , the electric bake oven and some of the counter top. In its place, they installed a industrial dish washer. That was eventually scrapped by Parks Canada before the ship left Toronto in 2002. The counter top was picked up from the Riverton tug boat. It was the same source  where we got the the officers galley stove.  A lot of the electrical fitting and wiring was also obtained from the Riverton as it was a Navy wartime tug running on 220 volts  DC power mains, same as Haida. The binnacle at the emergency conning position was also retrieved from Riverton with the aid of money from Parks Canada. .

Sirenette - Friends of HAIDA purchased the missing port side  sirenette from Preston Services in the UK in 2004 and paid   £5325.00 for it. At 2024 exchange rates, that works out to $Cdn 9,466. Now its powered by a blast of air from an air compressor on special occasions by Marg Mathers.

Aircraft Control Board in Ops Room. Don’t know how or when it got aboard ship.

AMATEUR RADIO

In 1992, an amateur radio transceiver, namely a HealthKit HW-101 was already there. It was a loaner unit provided by the late Alan Cronin VE3RIH. When Alan lost his eyesight, and could not visit the ship, the transceiver was repatriated.

Next, someone had donated a HealthKit SB-104 transceiver in August 1994. It worked for a while then stopped functioning.  Could not troubleshoot the unit on account of the way the circuit boards were positioned. Only the factory could fix it. Unit was scrapped.

The last transceiver donated to the ship was the Drake TR-7 by John Wilson, VE3WIL in August 1997. It was still operational when HAIDA was moved to Hamilton, then it went missing sometime after 2003.