[Milsurplus] More Piipsqueak

[Jack Antonio]

Hi all

Fired off my Pipsqueak setup today and discovered something.
The following discussion only applies the the SCR-274N setup
not the the SCR-522 installation.

I was laboring under the impression that the Pipsqueak system
transmitted a tone modulated signal on channel one  for the entire
15 second transmit period. 

This is not the case

Relay 23 in the BC-616 is a time delay that controls
the frequency selection, and kills the MCW tone oscillator
in the modulator.

The sequence is this:

At the start of the 15 second period, the system transmits
a tone modulated signal on the frequency selected by the
control box, then when the time delay relay drops out,
it transmits an unmodulated CW signal on channel one
for the remainder of the 15 second period.

Question one is, how long is the time delay supposed to be?
(someone will have to read the manual for this one). In my
BC-616 this is about a second, but the time delay cap
may have lost capacity.

Question two is simple, but with probably a complex answer.

How did all this work in practice? 

Was channel one setup as an emergency frequency and
channel two the working frequency? 

Did the pilot request a fix on channel one or two?

This all assumes a two channel SCR-274N installation, which
seems to have been the case in the majority of installations.  But
I sure would like to see some examples of installations other
than the classic 2tx/3rx setup.

And,  is it true that the Pipsqueak went into
fighters and not larger crew served aircraft?

Thanks

Jack

Jack Antonio WA7DIA
scr287@sbcglobal.net