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

[Henry Mei'l's]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Henry Mei'l's" <meils at get2net.dk>
To: "Bob Macklin" <macklinbob at msn.com>; "Discussion of AN/ARC-5 military 
radio equipment." <arc5 at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Saturday, October 09, 2010 4:06 AM
Subject: Re: [ARC5] Fw: [Glowbugs] Catalina communications - 1939


> 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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