Issue 118 A publication of the Vintage and Military Amateur Radio Society January 2013

www.vmars.org.uk M0VMW Affiliated to the Radio Society of Great Britain

1 January 2013

From our Chairman

Now that the Christmas and New Year celebrations are over, the festive decorations have been removed and that tired looking Christmas tree disposed of, we can turn our attention once more to the serious business of messing about with those various interesting pieces of equipment that claim our attention.

At this QTH, the return to the shack has meant working quite a few fellow VMARS Members on the new 5 MHz allocations and on the 5317 kHz AM frequency in particular. Much of this activity has been undertaken using a 1970’s designed Clansman VRC 321 which, apart from

my Clansman 320 manpack, is the only piece of vintage or military equipment I own which will currently meet the AM specifications required for use on this band and provide sufficient power to be heard. I have attempted to use my Canadian Mk.III Wireless Set 19, but nobody has heard me yet. There have been quite a number of ‘new’ AM contacts, some with amateurs who have not ventured into AM for very many years and several who are using equipment that a few ill-informed AM critics on the 5 MHz Group site, without even having heard them on air, have condemned as being unfit for use on 60 m. These have included a Wireless Set No 19, a T1154 and a KW Vanguard, all of which were perfectly free from drift or splatter. While a great deal of AM operation has been by stations using relatively modern or home built equipment, the activity has been a tremendous contribution towards maintaining the VMARS constitutional aims of promoting the continued use of AM on the amateur bands and the understanding of practical techniques as applied to radio equipment. In the case of the vintage equipment stations mentioned above, all of which were operated by VMARS Members, it clearly demonstrates the ability of our Members to adapt to the 6 kHz AM bandwidth requirements that have been imposed by the MoD for working on these frequencies. VMARS Members can be justifiably proud of their very high technical expertise and high standards of operating which are shining examples to all radio amateurs.

DATE FOR YOUR DIARY

Members are advised that the 2013 AGM will take place at the Yorkshire

Air Museum, Elvington, York on Saturday 6th July 2013. Over the

years there have been many reports of fine events held at the Museum

and this is your opportunity to come and visit, and see for yourselves.

Why not make a weekend of it and visit the historic City of York at the

same time. Those attending the AGM will receive free admission to the

Museum.

VMARS Committee contact details: Chairman:

Ian Underwood M0YMK Roundwyck Farm Pipers Lane, Balls Cross Petworth, West Sussex GU28 9JZ +44(0)1403 820185 chairman@vmars.org.uk

Secretary:

John Keeley G6RAV 93 Park Crescent Abergavenny, Gwent NP7 5TL +44(0)7855 566160 honsec@vmars.org.uk

Treasurer:

Bronek Wedzicha M0DAF 22 Farmers Way Copmanthorpe, York North Yorkshire Y023 3XX +44(0)1904 708704 treasurer@vmars.org.uk

Membership Secretary:

Peter Shepherd G7DXV 25 Tomkins Close Stanford-Le-Hope Essex SS17 8QU +44(0)1375 640618 memsec@vmars.org.uk

Ordinary Member:

Peter Jones G8CDC Tudor House Stoneleigh Road Blackdown Leamington Spa Warwickshire CV32 6QR +44(0)1926 883345 peter@air-commuter.co.uk

Ordinary Member:

Stuart McKinnon G0TBI 145 Enville Road Kinver, Near Stourbridge West Midlands DY7 6BN +44(0)1384 872157 stuartjmckinnon@aol.com

Publications Manager:

Bronek Wedzicha M0DAF 22 Farmers Way Copmanthorpe, York North Yorkshire Y023 3XX +44(0)1904 708704 b.wedzicha@btinternet.com

Public Relations Officer:

Stuart McKinnon G0TBI 145 Enville Road Kinver, Near Stourbridge West Midlands DY7 6BN +44(0)1384 872157 stuartjmckinnon@aol.com

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January 2013 2

The volume of take up of AM on this band has been quite unexpectedly high and is most encouraging for the future of the mode. For those who have yet to venture onto 5 MHz/60 m, I would encourage you to do so. Please ignore the over-hyped stories that you may have heard about people complaining of AM being allowed. These critics are very few in number and are mostly confined to the 5 MHz Group where they are vastly outnumbered by supporters, many of whom may not operate AM themselves, but who none the less believe in the principle that the amateur bands are open for everyone to operate within the terms of their licence, whatever the transmission mode. In reality, 5 MHz/60 m is very much a gentleman’s band.

Ian Underwood M0YMK

G2PU and the LG300

With regard to the information provided in NS117 concerning Labgear, I am grateful to Peter Chadwick for drawing attention to the fact that Sant Kharbanda G2PU was Technical Director at Labgear and not the Managing Director who was Laurie G5PO. At the time Peter was working at Labgear.

Howarth Jones GW3TMP

From the Membership Secretary.

Thanks to all who have sent me their Membership renewal payments so far by post, or e-mail notification of electronic transfer of funds.

There are a large number of people who still appear on the database as not having renewed their Memberships for 2013. Some of these Members may have paid their fees by bank transfer, but have not sent me any notification of payment.

I would ask all Members who have paid by bank transfer or standing order please inform me of the payment either by e-mail or the return of the Membership renewal form which all Members will have received. I can then update the files and database.

Without this notification I have no payment detail, and you may be inadvertently labelled as a lapsed Member on the database. Although our bank statements will eventually allow us to catch up with updating the records, this results in you, the Member, not receiving your publications from February onwards, until the update is completed.

Thank you for your co-operation on this matter.

If you have not notified me of your payment, this will be the last News Sheet you will receive unless your payment has been received, and the database updated accordingly.

If you have any queries about your Membership status then please contact me via phone or email: 01375640618 pete.shepherd4@btinternet.com

Pete Shepherd G7DXV

News from Hack Green

The SDR receiver system remains popular judging by the server activity log and the double size G5RV has certainly improved the reception capability of the receivers. A full time replacement aerial for the SDRs will be built and installed at or around the next sale date.

The 5 MHz SDR receiver has been built and will be installed during the week of the 21st January. On this receiver scale we have placed graphical markers to indicate the allocated frequency edges for each of the allocated slots. This should make it very easy to check if a transmission is, in fact, too wide. I have noted a number of VMARS transmissions which exceeded the allocated bandwidth, along with many others which did not. Testing should be done off-air of course, but we feel that having a calibrated SDR available on the net would be a useful tool.

March 3rd marks the next amateur/military/junk sale which has grown year on year since we started some six years ago. Last year we topped the 300 visitor mark and also increased the number of traders to 25. Of course, we had great weather for both the Spring and Autumn sales which helped; let us hope that is the case this year. I believe Hack Green was a candidate for the Society AGM but, alas, we do not have the staff to cope with both sale and AGM on the same date, and having an alternative reason to attend the AGM was one of the goals of the Committee, and a good idea in my opinion.

VMARS

SUBSCRIPTION

RENEWALS Subscription renewal forms

were sent out to all Members with the November Issue of

Signal. Members are reminded that the deadline for receipt of renewals has now passed and, if you have not renewed, this is

the last copy of VMARS publications that you will receive. As this is a final

reminder, you may still renew your subscription subject to a

surcharge of £2.50.

The VMARS News Sheet Issue 118

3 January 2013

We hope to see many VMARS Members at our sale either in March or October; Members are always welcome.

Joe Bell G4PMY

Thorpe Camp Vintage Radio Group

70TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DAMBUSTER MISSION OPERATION CHASTISE “GERMAN DAMS”

The radio group will be operating a special event call sign GB617SQN to mark the 70th anniversary of the famous Dambuster Mission codename ”Operation Chastise”, during the Month of May 2013 from the original buildings of RAF Woodhall Spa’s number one accommodation block, now known as “Thorpe Camp Visitor Centre”

Using modern radios and, where possible, vintage wartime equipment, the Group will make contact with other radio enthusiasts the world over. In return for these contacts the Group will exchange a special QSL card. The special event call sign begins on Friday 3rd May and runs to Thursday 30th May. Other radio groups are invited to operate/log, and volunteers are being sought (any mode).

Specifically, the Group plans to air the special call sign on Saturday 4th May on 3615 AM using our T1509 transmitter and possibly on other days when conditions and operational requirements permit. The station will be operational during the Dambusters Hamfest, scheduled for 5th May at Thorpe Camp.

RAF Woodhall Spa was where Wing Commander Guy Gibson’s 617Sqn were based immediately after the legendary mission. From there they were engaged in “Special Operations”, until the end of WWII.

The radio group will expect to ‘work’ contacts from across the world and local contacts across the UK on the shortwave and other higher frequency radio bands. All modes of operation will be used; Morse code, voice, satellite, video and digital types of communications are available to the operators.

The radio room will be open to visitors during the opening times of the Centre. A schedule will be posted on the website http://www.qsl.net/gb617sqn nearer the event. Contact: David Potter (G1ZQC), tcrm@hotmail.co.uk

Colin Guy G4DDI

War and Peace Revival 2013

Following the events listing last month, the Editor has been informed that the War and Peace Show (Beltring) has been renamed the War and Peace Revival and has moved to

Folkestone Racecourse. The date remains unchanged as 17th to 21st July 2013.

Bronek Wedzicha M0DAF

Saturday AM Net-Controller’s Rota

Date 1st op 2nd op 3rd op

2nd Feb M0TCM M0DAF G0TBI

9th Feb M0DAF G0TBI G4GEN

16th Feb G0TBI G4GEN G4BQF

23rd Feb G4GEN G4BQF GW8TBG

2nd Mar G4BQF GW8TBG G8AQN

9th Mar GW8TBG G8AQN M0YMK

16th Mar G8AQN M0YMK G3XGW

Helplines Queries 118/1 Equipment salvaged from Lancaster

I wonder whether someone in your organisation may, please, be able to help to identify three radio/radar parts salvaged from the wreckage of a crashed Lancaster aircraft which was being flown by my wife's uncle in 1944?

I cannot find references in the AP manuals for Gee, the Transmitter T1154, or the Receiver R1155 for the items found which I list below. The aircraft was the pioneer Lancaster carrying Oboe (ARI 5582), which presumably replaced the H2S system on board, and I cannot find any information about Oboe's configuration or an Air Publication about it. Can you tell me whether anything exists; presumably it does and, if so, whether you might be able to help?

The Air Ministry references for the items found are :

10B/169 (appears to be serrated bakelite material); and

10AB/288 and 10H/1238 which are attached to each other and look as if they could be part of an aerial connection.

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January 2013 4

I have details of what the prefixes represent, but not the individual numbers.

You might like to know that the aircraft was carrying:

Oboe Mk.II, ARI 5582 (AP2893C) assumed to be with Receiver R3540

Gee Mk.II, ARI 5083 (AP2557A) with Receiver R1355

IFF Mk.II, ARI 5025 (AP unknown)

Transmitter T1154 (AP2548)

Receiver R1155 (AP1186 and AP2548)

It was likely to be carrying radio TR1196 (rather than the earlier TR9F), but this is not certain, and also Beam Approach equipment, probably with Receiver R1125, but again this is not known for certain, and whatever else a Lancaster would be expected to have in 1944. We have two serial number plates from the Gee equipment found amongst the wreckage and a large number of what appear to be radio parts; damaged valves, plugs etc. If this is of more general interest for your News Sheet, let me know and I can send more photos. rwknox@14elmtree.freeserve.co.uk

Bob Knox

Committee notices Notice of Annual General Meeting 2013 Saturday 6th July at the Yorkshire Air Museum,

Elvington, York

The 2013 VMARS AGM will be held in the Elvington Room at The Yorkshire Air Museum, Elvington on Saturday 6th July commencing at 10.30 a.m. This notice also invites Members to submit, by 23rd February, to the Hon Secretary John Keeley G6RAV, Motions for discussion at the AGM. These will be published in the February News Sheet which will also include the call for Committee nominations.

New “VMARS-Collector” Member internet

trading platform

Following a number of requests from Members and representations made to the Committee at the Annual General Meeting held at Bletchley Park last September, a new Yahoo Group has been set up to accommodate the advertising of items between Members. Approval for a trial 12 month activation of the new group was given by the VMARS Committee at their meeting held on Saturday 12th January 2013.

The “VMARS-Collector” group is a closed trading platform for VMARS Members. Its purpose is to enable Members to buy, sell, exchange or request items which relate directly to vintage and military radio, radar and other associated items. In addition to private sales, Members who trade in the type of equipment of interest to Society Members are also permitted to use the new facility. All advertisers will be required to comply with the Terms of Use detailed on the home page, which includes the requirement that all “for sale” advertisements shall include a description of the item, the asking price and contact details of the seller.

Membership of the new group is open to current VMARS Members. An invitation to join the group will be sent to the registered e-mail addresses of all VMARS Members during February, following the updating of the latest 2013 Membership list. Those wishing to join should follow the instructions provided in the invitation. The “VMARS-Collector” group will go live on Friday 1st March.

Ian Underwood M0YMK

Applications for Membership

We wish to welcome the following new applicants for VMARS Membership:

Name, Callsign (Region) Interests Mr B Summers Camberley, Surrey

Broadcast TV. Aircraft radio and RDF pre-1955.

Mr PV Craven M1PVC Hartfield, East Sussex

Vintage valve equipment. Heathkit, Collins, SSB equipment. Most 1940-1970 electronics.

Mr RK Hammond G1NFN Sutrton Coldfield, West Midlands

Military equipment. Clansman. 1940/1950 equipment.

Mr AG Cygan G7JQL Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire

WWII TX/RX. Post-WWII high quality TX/RX equipment. Collins, RA17 R390.

Mr WE Elliott GI4OYM Portrush, County Antrim

British and American comms equipment. Plessey, Racal, and Collins. Aircraft comms.

Mr DR Clark Sheffield, South Yorkshire

Repair and restoration of military radio equipment, mainly valved type. Interest in Clansman.

[Membership rules require names of applicants for Membership to be published, before they are formally accepted as Members. This allows existing Members to object, if they wish. If you want to object to any of the above, please write to our Hon Sec, John Keeley – Ed.

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Sending in articles, news items, letters and advertisements for VMARS Publications

Please send copy to Colin Guy, G4DDI, by post or e-mail, 7 Herrick Court, Clinton Park, Tattershall, Lincs. LN4 4QU Tel 01526 344715 g4ddi@vmars.org.uk The copy deadline for the next issue of the News Sheet is 15th February. For articles for the next issue of Signal the deadline is 9th February, but copy would be appreciated as far in advance as possible.

Issue 118 The VMARS News Sheet

5 January 2013

Events Diary The diary is a list of events which are either ones where VMARS is formally represented (bold), or those where there is known to be a reasonable chance of finding or seeing vintage electronic items (plain). It is not intended to a complete list of all available events (which can be found on the internet). Information is checked as far as is practical, but we can’t guarantee its accuracy – its always best to check with the contact person if you are travelling a long way to attend.

Date Event Location Contact

Type A=Amateur,

M= Mil. V=Vintage (non radio)

VMARS Attending

3rd February 28th Canvey Radio & Electronics Rally

The Paddocks Long Road

Canvey Island Essex SS8 0JA

Vic G6BHE 01702 308562 nvr@blueyonder.co.uk

www.southessex-ars.co.uk A

3rd March Spring Militaria &

Electronics & Radio Amateur Hangar Sale

Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker

Nantwich Cheshire CW5 8AL

Rod Siebert 01270 623353 www.hackgreen.co.uk V/M/A

Advertisements Advertisements are welcome from all members, and also non-members and traders. The latter are indicated by “(NM” or “(T)” after their contact details.

FOR SALE: Wireless Set 19 Mk3. No B set. Dry stored for some time. Not tested. Only needs a control box and some T.L.C. £300. Must be collected.

Vernon - G4LVO - 01905 774798 (Droitwich)

FOR SALE RX R220 Mk2 Marconi CR300/1

Sommerkamp FLDX 500 c/w manual Indicating unit 230 100B/6290 18-87 Mc/s Muirhead s/m and ME indicator Power unit 619 with indicator unit (12 V) Solartron precision millivoltmeter CT528 10S/6625 RFunits 25, 26, 27 RF strip (6X VR91) Amplifier Unit Type 178A Noise generator CT82 c/w case and original services manual Oscillator Test No 2 20-80Mc/s FM Aircraft type VHF RX valve 3 ranges pre-setable crystal channels AR88 LF Please e-mail or phone for details Clive Young M0BGA 01637875848 (Newquay) rcry100@yahoo.com

FREE TO GOOD HOME. My husband recently died and in his workshop we have discovered the following items including an old copy of your leaflet: Radio Receiver Type CKP-46159-A (Type TCS6) Navy Department Bureau of Ships

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January 2013 6

Control Unit Type 310 Ref No ACC 3102 (War Dept insignia on plate)

2 Frequency Meters BC 221AH Signal Corps (one with calibration book) approx. 1944

Radio Receiver - 5820-99-943-2775 and

Receiver Identity 203-3630-01 Serial No 709

2 VHF RX monitors VR1002

Marconi Marine Kestrel III Transmitter

1 Old headphone and mike.

They would need to be collected because, as you can imagine, they are very heavy (Merseyside area).

This is a donation of equipment and no payment is expected.

Pauline Peakin 0151 449 2054 paulinepeakin@yahoo.co.uk

Copyright Notice The VMARS News Sheet is a publication of the Vintage and Military Amateur Radio Society. Copyright remains vested in the authors, thus no material in this News Sheet may be copied and published elsewhere, in part or in full, by any means, without the express permission of the author. This may be sought either from the author direct, or from the News Sheet Editor, Bronek Wedzicha, M0DAF.