[ARC5] BC-625-A (The SCR-522 and "A Real Good War")
Mike Morrow
kk5f at earthlink.net
Sat Jan 24 23:01:31 EST 2009
In my opinion the VHF-AM command set SCR-522-A was the single most important airborne radio set of the European Theater. Unfortunately, it's ugly looking and not well appreciated or collected by many of today's military radio enthusiasts. That makes it easy and cheap to obtain most of its components.
I have a USAAF communications info booklet (issued monthly) from 1945 somewhere around here. It lists most of the frequencies in use by the Ninth Air Force just after VE day. There are a few HF frequencies listed, a few LF/MF beacon frequencies, and many many VHF frequencies (by channel number). The VHF channel designation system uses the first three digits of the transmitter crystal frequency in kHz. SCR-522-A transmitter crystals were supplied at 10 kHz intervals. The operating frequency was 18 times the crystal frequency. Thus, VHF channel 701 uses a 7010 kHz crystal, for operation on 126.18 MHz.
I highly recommend what is in my estimate the most interesting and realistic book about life in a B-17G crew for 35 missions with the Eighth Air Force in late 1944. It's a novel, but only because the author found after trying to write his memoirs that only an autobiographical novel could convey that life effectively. The book is "A Real Good War" by Sam Halpert. He was a navigator. I normally won't read fiction...too many interesting real life accounts are out there to waste time on made up stories. That certainly does not apply to this work. Sam is still alive (88 years old) and has a website (http://www.b17sam.com/). He states that the accounts in his book are true. The story lacks any arrogance, bragging, or false heroics. It appears to be an honest portrayal of what it was like for Eighth Air Force crews in the daylight bombing campaigns.
Some details in his account is radio related. He describes some pre-mission radio briefings that include VHF channel numbers. Specifically, they were channels 701, 724, 741, and 746 (126.18, 130.32, 133.38, 134.28 MHz). At one point he describes a few bombers remaining over the English Channel to provide radio relay function. I respect a writer who knows such details. I appreciate the detail, yet it would remain an excellent work even without it.
This book is in the league of "Das Boot" (also a fictionalized account) and "Band of Brothers" (non-fiction).
Mike / KK5F
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