[ARC5] Fw: [Glowbugs] Catalina communications - 1939

[Henry Mei'l's]

Bob,

Could  the larger Bendix receiver have been the RA 1B? You can/could find RA 
1B info on the internet - I downloaded a manual
a couple of years ago - mostly nostalgia because I owned  a 1B for years (I 
added pot- contolled IF regen/feedback and single transistor
rf pramp -- all easily removable and not requiring any real mods ;0). It was 
a nice receiver but not 'hot' until I made the
mentioned add-ons. The receiver has a nice look to it.

73, Henry- Cph.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bob Macklin" <macklinbob at msn.com>
To: "ARC-5 QTH" <arc5 at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Saturday, October 09, 2010 3:03 AM
Subject: [ARC5] Fw: [Glowbugs] Catalina communications - 1939


>I thought some of the people here might find this interesting.
>
> Bob Macklin
> K5MYJ
> Seattle, Wa.
> "Real Radios Glow In The Dark"
>
> Subject: [Glowbugs] Catalina communications - 1939
>
>
>>I recently acquired a fascinating little book titled "Flying Cats."  The
>> author, Andrew Hendrie, flew Catalinas (built by Consolidated in the
>> United
>> States) for the RAF during WWII.  The particular edition I have was
>> published
>> by the Naval Institute Press in 1988.
>>
>> The entire book would be interesting to those interested in various
>> aspects of
>> aviation, but there is just a little glowbug content that I find quite
>> interesting on pages 2 and 3.
>>
>> In 1939 a crew from the United States flew a PBY-4 Catalina from the
>> United
>> States to Felixstowe, England.  While landing, the crew was in contact
>> with
>> San Diego (presumably the Consolidated plant) using the Bendix radio
>> equipment
>> on board the Catalina.  The British hosts expressed skepticism about that
>> contact, so the American crew took some of the British airmen aloft the
>> next
>> day and again worked San Diego.
>>
>> I don't know what Bendix equipment the PBY-4 had on board, but a photo on
>> page
>> 148 shows Bendix radio equipment installed in a Royal Australian Air 
>> Force
>> Catalina, type unspecified.  I'm not familiar with specific units of
>> Bendix
>> equipment, but three of the four units are command set sized and the
>> fourth is
>> larger.  The frequency and mode used are not specified in the book.
>>
>> Maybe the following were factors in achieving such a contact with
>> equipment
>> and antennas generally designed for much shorter range communications:
>>
>> 1. 1939 was situated in the descending phase (1938-1944) of Sunspot Cycle
>> 17,
>> but was not far downstream in time from the peak, so the sunspot number
>> would
>> probably have been favorable;
>>
>> 2.  The installation in San Diego may have featured high power, sensitive
>> receivers, and/or good antennas;
>>
>> 3.  The PBY-4 was aloft, altitude unspecified, during the contacts
>> described,
>> and the vertical radiation pattern of the antenna(s) would probably have
>> been
>> better suited for DX purposes than if the aircraft had been on the
>> surface;
>>
>> 4.  I am not sure of the location of Felixstowe, but the "salt water
>> amplifier"
>> may or may not have been significant in these contacts.
>>
>> Well, I thought this might be interesting, especially to those of use who
>> enjoy and use old military radio equipment.
>>
>>
>> 73,
>>
>>
>> Maynard
>> W6PAP
>>
>>
>>
>> -- 
>> ZCZC
>> This is a transmission from the Glowbugs list
>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
>> tetrode+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com
>> For more options, visit this group at
>> http://groups.google.com/group/tetrode?hl=en
>> NNNN
>
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