Are you interested in using Military Surplus Radios on the Ham bands? Here are a couple of classic radios and some information about them and the various ham military equipment user NETS you can listen to or join!
The PSU at 14:43 on your video belongs to me. It has been fully restored and powers my R1155B. When i bought my R1155 it was still in its wooden crate completely unmolested in perfect condition.
There was a period in my life when I lost interest in radio and even worse, I dumped several ex-military sets, even worse my late father who ran a wireless repair workshop during the north African and Italian campaign gave me one of them, a WS22. I hang my head in shame. 73 Steve M0KOV
Thanks for explaining the different units. I had a number 19 set, which also had a simple VHF TX/RX built-in. I would love to play with the R1155 set, don't expect to find many of them these days and in good condition.
Enjoyed very much, Mike. Thank you. You mentioned the Sunderland aircraft. useless trivia coming - I was born in the North of England and lived in Sunderland until I was 9 years old.
Even more useless information :) My Uncle joined service during WW2 and became a airborne radio operator on a b17 All I am left with is memories of the stories he told of the experience He would speak of his electrically heated suit and the damned radio gear of era His words not mine ! He retired from the Air Force at about the time cuba was of somewhat great interest Later in the early to mid 70s He bought a place in Costa Rica and used a Kenwood 520 He was the reason for my experience and love of kenwood 520 tnx
I was dressed down severely by a B17 captain who had been a POW. He said that he forbade any radio transmission because the German RDF was so good. The movies where you see planes coordinate fire by radio are false. Radio silence.
Putting low cost COTS parts in and integrating multiple functions into one box was so anti-American design practice. US contracting simply did not support that thinking.
I hate to think about this, but in the eventuality of an EMP attack this type of gear may be all that we have that still functions. I guess the better question though is whether I'll still function. :)
Hi I am from the UK and I think you are about 5 hours behind UK time and about 5 years ago and tuning around with my AR88D WW2 rx on around 3874 khz about 1am I did hear a AM operator at times quite strong I cannot remember the call sign but I I think he was based in NY.
Mike, The west coast 3974 AM net starts at 0730hrs PST, and the 3985 run by KD6TKX is no longer due to lack of participation. The Wednesday night military SSB net on 3996 USB at 2000hrs PST is still active
I don't have any military gear but I REALLY enjoyed this video with all the photographs, maps, and diagrams! Thank you so much for doing all this research and sharing this fantastic video.
I got some email feedback about one of the photos that is interesting and I may need a little follow up. One of the soldiers pictured used to be a regular in the OMRN Net.
Great Video Mike! Really enjoy deep dives into our radio history, so any videos, especially those that really get into the details are always a plus for me. Would like to get into these but so many you find are really in bad shape and don't pass the XYL-test for aesthetics! Also, have no problems with long videos or multi-part since you're looking at history, restoration, theory and operation...
Outstanding video Mike! Motivation for me to be more regular on the OMRN CW Net on Sunday nights with my BC-191 powered from the original BD-77 dynamotor! Not sure if you know this, but that second (bottom frame) picture of the Operation Torch radio operators in action includes our late military radio net friend Vic Politi, W1NU operating an SCR-284 in the field. He told me that the picture was taken by an imbedded Life Magazine photographer, and appeared in the magazine shortly after the invasion of North Africa. Vic was attached as a radio operator to General Teddy Roosevelt Jr.‘s staff and operated the SCR-284 and other sets throughout the war in the European theater, from North Africa, to Sicily and Italy, Utah Beach on D-Day, and into Germany. He had a beautifully restored SCR-284 that he operated regularly on our OMRN and also the WS-19 nets. 73 de Chris AJ1G Stonington CT
Running the radios as designed with all accessories is important for historical and collectable reasons, but the vast amount of low cost surplus and its consequent modification and improvements (and hack jobs) were an important part of Amateur Radio post war history. So run what you find, as best you can.
Well most folks start with something simple like a regenerative receiver for the AM broadcast band and then wind coils for shortwave. This can be tube or transistor. My friend Chuck Kitchin did this design back when we were working together. www.arrl.org/files/file/Technology/tis/info/pdf/9811qex026.pdf
