[Milsurplus] Re: British Army Radio During WWII

Sat, 24 May 2003 21:18:44 -0400

The WS 19  was an innovative and well performing radio for the purpose it
was made for. It's unique that it has a  low power UHF set built in for
short range communications (relative security from intercepts) but the HF
section is a true transceiver, with a single VFO tuning both the receiver
and the transmitter to the same frequency by heterodyning. No other set of
that era had those feature. No US military radio of the era was so easy to
use, versatile and was as small a package for the power output and the
frequency coverage as the WS19 (US field sets such as the BC-654, the
BC-1306 and the TBX). The 19 sets are  at least as reliable as any US
military radio of the same era. In fact, none of my 19 sets (6 of them) ever
had a bad capacitor and they were manufactured according to their tags
between 1943 and 1945. OTOH  about 60% of my US military radios needed
capacitor "transplants" .

Most of the  complaints about the sets were really about not  having the
proper radio issued for certain missions. For example, in several instances
the British troops were issued the WS22 which is a short-range HF set
(about 1 W output) for some deep penetration/parachute drop missions in
Europe and in their isolation were effectively left without communications
with their headquarters. If Wireless Sets 19 were issued, they would not
have been practically left stranded and left to fend for themselves.

I'm sure similar problems plagued the US troops as well, due to bad
planning.

Then, for example take the British R107 receiver - it's far better and more
serviceably built than the mission-equivalent BC-312/342. Its bigger an
heavier but in side-by-side operation,  they're equivalent, the R107 drifts
less, probably due to the larger and sturdier chassis.

The R1155 receiver which is the functional equivalent of the BC-348 is also
just as good a performer as it's US counterpart, and it's a little smaller
due to its external dynamotor supply, and the receiver includes a D/F unit.
The T1154 transmitter wins hands down against its US bomber "Liaison"
transmitter counterpart, the BC-375, but definitely not against the ART-13!

73, Meir WF2U

British/Allied military equipment:
Wireless Set 19 Mk II and III (Various US and Canadian manufactured)
Wireless Set 52 (Canadian Marconi)
R107
R1155/T1154
B28 (Marconi CR100)
Royal Australian Air Force A.R.7 (Kingsley, Australia)
A.679-J (STC Australia)
Royal Canadian Air Force AR-2/AT-1 (Canadian Marconi)
Royal Canadian Navy CSR5, CM-11, FR-12, MSL-5, PV500 (Canadian Marconi)
Post War:
Wireless Set 62 (Pye, England)
R209
R210
B40 (Murphy)
AP100335, 618 series (Murphy)

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of J. Forster
Sent: Saturday, May 24, 2003 5:42 PM
To: Hue Miller
Cc: Milsurplus; Wireless-Set-No19 @ yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Milsurplus] Re: British Army Radio During WWII

Hue Miller wrote:

> -Also, notwithstanding the above, the WS38 still looks, to me, "cheesey".
But that doesn't mean
> unlikeable.
> Hue Miller

To me, most WW II US Army radios look like baroque toasters or juke boxes.
The WS 19 looks like a
RADIO.

Asbestos overalls on.

-John