[Milsurplus] LF in a B-17?

[Bob Camp]

Hi

I have seen data that indicates that up through the 1930's most of the 
shipboard radio traffic was CW in the region just below the AM band. I 
can certainly remember maritime CW in the same band well into the 
1960's. If you wanted a "universal" frequency to talk air to ship I 
suspect that you would go for the band that everybody was set up for. 
That would seem to be the 425 to 510 (or 410 to 550 or 325 to 490 or 
what ever) band.

Certainly US warships had a wider range of frequencies available. The 
issue would be warships of other nations and merchant vessels. The 
whole driver may have been distress communications in the vicinity of 
500 KC.

The whole radio at sea thing is fairly well documented in terms of the 
transition from pure LF to a combination of LF and HF and then finally 
the demise of LF altogether. There is also documentation of German use 
of LF for shore to submarine communications during the war.

Another possibility along the same lines. There was a very extensive 
shore network of stations monitoring 500 KC. There may have been 
significant chunks of ocean that the only coverage was from this 
network.

	Take Care!

		Bob Camp
		KB8TQ



On Aug 24, 2004, at 11:18 PM, Hue Miller wrote:

>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Bob Camp" <ham at cq.nu>
> Subject: Re: [Milsurplus] LF in a B-17?
>
>
>> Hi
>>
>> If most of the ART-13's with low frequency oscillators are Navy, then
>> what's the odds that the main use for LF in the air was to talk to
>> ships? Certainly there was significant LF marine traffic at the time.
>> In the case that you are flying over a *lot* of water being able to
>> talk to ships (as in rescue) might be worth the weight of the extra
>> gear.
>
> But, when you reckon the odds, factor in that in these years, ship 
> mobile
> LF radio ( strictly speaking, actually "MF" ) was practically entirely 
> in the
> narrow range 425 - 510 kcs.
> ( Which reminded me: didn't one of Don Johnson's mobile ham radio books
> have a kHz to kcs. conversion chart? )
> -Hue Miller
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