[AMRadio] WW II Army Field Sets

[W7QHO at aol.com]

In a message dated 7/9/04 8:35:38 PM, Kim.Elmore at noaa.gov writes:


> Given the st-up I've created, the SCR-188 would work FB :) So, do you (or
> anyone else) know what would be involved in tweaking the BC-191/BC-312 (or
> the JT-350A) combination to work on 20 m? Is this something a guy back
> then, with a bit of time, could do, or does the BC-191 design simply
> preclude such a conversion?
> 

KIM,

The BC-191 tuning units went up to 12.5 mHz.   Would be possible to strip a 
few turns off some of the coils to get to 20M, I guess, but the things are too 
unstable and drifty to be acceptable for ham use above 75M.   No problem with 
the BC-312, though. This was the Army's general field use HF receiver of the 
time and it operates up to 18 mHz.   Ran off 12 vdc except for a couple of 
later 24 volt models. The BC-342 was the 117 vac version.

Does it have to be an Army field set?   The Army Air Corps was using the 
ART-13 in their B-29s in 1944.   Excellent 100W transmitter that covered 2 - 18 
mHz in it's basic form.   (Would actually tune down to about 1.98 mHz so covered 
a piece of 160M too.)   Originally a Navy development.   Maybe you could have 
your character "liberate" one of these from the flyboys, pick one out of a 
crashed aircraft, etc.   Normally paired with the BC-348 receiver in the planes 
but a BC-312/342 would work along side it just fine.

Dennis D. W7QHO
Glendale, CA