Chris Bisaillion, VE3CBK, is an avid
collector, restorer and researcher of Second World War radio sets with special
emphasis on the Wireless Set No.
19.
Chris was born in Montreal, Quebec in
1961 but has now spent most of his life in the Ottawa, Ontario area.
He started his military experience by
joining Army Cadets when he was 14. The
unit was known as 2870 Ottawa Service Battalion Cadet Corps perpetuating the
tradition of the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps (R.C.O.C.).
He held various positions through the five year experience culminating in
being the Cadet Commanding Officer with the rank of Cadet Major in the final
year. He then attended Carleton
University in Ottawa earning a degree in Electrical Engineering and graduating
in 1983.
In
1980 he joined the local signals reserve unit known as 763 Ottawa Communication
Regiment where he obtained the rank of Corporal and enjoyed being a Radio
Teletype Operator in the role of detachment commander.
This mobile detachment had both VHF and HF capabilities.
In
1983 Chris joined Canadian Marconi Company as an RF Engineer and worked
initially in the Defence Communication Division on advanced UHF Electronic
Counter Counter Measures (E.C.C.M) radios and then the Avionics Division on
commercial airborne satellite communication antennas for commercial aircraft.
In 1994 Chris joined Lockheed Canada to
work on naval Electronic Support Measures (E.S.M) equipment.
In 1996 Chris joined SRTelecom Inc. to work on Wireless Local Loop
equipment providing wireless telephone service for underdeveloped countries and
countries with rugged terrain.
In late 1999 Chris joined Instantel Inc.
to work on RF Identification tags that are used to provide Alzheimer patients
with wander protection and to protect newborn babies from possible abduction.
Chris’ interest in the Wireless Set
No. 19 started in 1976 when he obtained his Amateur Radio Certificate and was
licenced as VE3CBK. Chris’ father
Wayne had trained on the No. 19 in Army Cadets and had recommended that it would
be a suitable radio for the Amateur Radio bands and was available on the surplus
market. A No. 19 was obtained and
used extensively on the 40 metre band for a few years until a more modern radio
was obtained for the shack. Many
enjoyable CW contacts were made across North America and the first DX station
worked was in the Dominican Republic.
The interest continued to grow in the
search for all of the accessories for the No. 19 and the search continues today.
A large amount of documentation has been found over the years and Chris
is always researching some aspect of the No. 19 use and design.
In 1990 Chris met Dave Lawrence, VA3ORP.
Dave encouraged Chris to become involved in re-enactment activities
including wearing Second World War vintage battledress to complete the
presentation of communication equipment at various events.
Chris proudly participates in the monthly nets and the presentation of information on the No. 19 web site.
Return to Wireless Set No. 19 Homepage