[Lowfer] Not exactly [Lowfer, but does anybody remember...

[pete at pcranwell.com]

https://durenberger.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/AFRSMARTINSEN.pdf




-----Original Message-----
From: lowfer-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:lowfer-bounces at mailman.qth.net]
On Behalf Of J D
Sent: Saturday, February 15, 2025 7:37 PM
To: lowfer at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [Lowfer] Not exactly [Lowfer, but does anybody remember...

...anything about the 50 watt AM broadcast band transmitters that the 
Armed Forces Network installed at US air bases across the English 
countryside during WW II? The original units could be operated on only 
two frequencies, 1402 or 1420 kHz, but later the Brits authorized a few 
more frequencies. They used a pair of 814 tubes in the finals, and 
Terman-Woodwaard high efficiency grid modulation. The standard antenna 
was a 72-foot readily deployable mast system in the form of an L-antenna 
with a 1/4 wave top hat--and no ground system apart from a lightning 
rod, apparently, so that coverage would be greatly limited and 95% of UK 
natives would not be subjected to the baleful influence of American 
lowbrow entertainment.

That's everything I've been able to learn about those stations thus far, 
but they relate to the career of an American engineer that I'm writing 
about, who got longwave broadcasting going again in Luxembourg after the war

Sadly, online searches are currently worse than useless! Neither Google 
AI nor Bing can recognize what we're looking for from the power rating 
or tube complement, nor by the purpose, location, and dates of 
deployment. Did the 50 W transmitter gear have a regular Signal Corps 
part number? (That alone would help searches!) Are there tech manuals, 
schematics, or any other specs?  Who made them, for that matter? Were 
they built to task, or were they customized low-fi comms gear?

Odds are against us having anyone in this group who was in the Signal 
Corps back then, but if anyone had family members who were involved in 
any way with AFN London from 1943 up to D-Day 1944, I'd be delighted for 
any recollections, photos, or tech info you might be able to share.

73
John AE0CQ




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