[ARC5] [Radio Officers, &c] Raft L'Egar Deux

[Tim]

Hi David - Here's the note you sent me from Spud Roscoe requesting
assistance in locating a BC-654:

  Good Evening

I just learned that the Quebec government is going to sponsor the
rebuilding of the raft L’Egare Deux that crossed the Atlantic in 1956 and
the Halifax Amateur Radio Club provided the communications on the first
part of the voyage. This will be rebuilt at the Maritime Museum 300 miles
north of Montreal and they hope to have it completed in 2016.

I promised them that if they rebuilt the raft I would do all I could to
find a radio for it. Thanks to Fred VE1FA “the radio was a BC-654
transmitter-receiver, part of the SCR-284 radio equipment. They were first
used in North Africa in 1942, then throughout the war by army, navy, and
most of the Allied forces. It covered 3800-5800 KC, and put out about 17W
of AM or 24W of CW. Pretty basic, but effective! They were run on
batteries, generator, or hand-crank generator. I read somewhere that about
150,000 were made, and after the war you could buy a complete unit for
$15-20!”

You can read all about this voyage in my history of the Halifax Amateur
Radio Club VE1FO starting on page 143 in my web www.ve1bc.com

If anyone can help me find one of these radios I would be forever grateful.

73
Spud VE1BC
-----------------------------

Pretty interesting!  I did a Web search on L'Egare Deux.  I had not heard
about that adventure....I had heard about the Kon Tiki raft voyage in the
Pacific - seems it got a lot more publicity.  I understand the Kon Tiki had
a BC-1306 radio with hand cranked generator and a Hallicrafters receiver
for backup.

There is a CBC video about the Atlantic raft
http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Canada/NL/ID/2239445642/  That pretty much
confirms that there was a BC-654 aboard.

The video shows a brief shot of the BC-654 (turned off) and then in
operation sending CW with a "knee key", possibly requesting a weather
report.. (Times 3:00 and again at 5:45).

By way of this this E Mail I am forwarding this request to a couple of
military radio Groups who may be able to provide a lead for a BC-654.  When
all else fails, sometimes there is a BC-654 for sale on E Bay if you need
to go that route.
Can any of your Mil radio guys lend a hand here in locating a suitable
BC-654?  As stated, please contact Spud (VE1BC) directly.

FYI and thanks,,
Tim
N6CC


On Thu, Aug 21, 2014 at 3:54 PM, D.J.J. Ring, Jr. <n1ea at arrl.net> wrote:

> Tim,
>
> Can you help Spud Roscoe, VE1BC and the Quebec government find one of
> these?
>
> Answer Spud directly at his email below.
>
> 73
>
> David N1EA
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Spud Roscoe <spudroscoe at eastlink.ca>
> Date: Thu, Aug 21, 2014 at 6:30 PM
> Subject: [Radio Officers, &c] Raft L'Egar Deux
> To: Radio Officers Radio Officers <radio-officers at googlegroups.com>
>
>
>    Good Evening
>
> I just learned that the Quebec government is going to sponsor the
> rebuilding of the raft L’Egare Deux that crossed the Atlantic in 1956 and
> the Halifax Amateur Radio Club provided the communications on the first
> part of the voyage. This will be rebuilt at the Maritime Museum 300 miles
> north of Montreal and they hope to have it completed in 2016.
>
> I promised them that if they rebuilt the raft I would do all I could to
> find a radio for it. Thanks to Fred VE1FA “the radio was a BC-654
> transmitter-receiver, part of the SCR-284 radio equipment. They were first
> used in North Africa in 1942, then throughout the war by army, navy, and
> most of the Allied forces. It covered 3800-5800 KC, and put out about 17W
> of AM or 24W of CW. Pretty basic, but effective! They were run on
> batteries, generator, or hand-crank generator. I read somewhere that about
> 150,000 were made, and after the war you could buy a complete unit for
> $15-20!”
>
> You can read all about this voyage in my history of the Halifax Amateur
> Radio Club VE1FO starting on page 143 in my web www.ve1bc.com
>
> If anyone can help me find one of these radios I would be forever grateful.
>
> 73
> Spud VE1BC
>
>
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