[Milsurplus] L.O. radiation

[Albert LaFrance]

I just came across this ad in a 1943 issue of the "Proceedings of the I.R.E." (Institute of Radio
Engineers) and thought it might be relevant to the topic:
http://coldwar-c4i.net/Other/ProcIRE-43-Aug-8A1.html

Albert LaFrance

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "J. Forster" <jfor at quik.com>
To: "Richard Brunner" <rbrunner at gis.net>
Cc: <milsurplus at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2005 8:03 PM
Subject: Re: [Milsurplus] L.O. radiation


> This afternoon, I had a chance to chat with a ex-Navy Airborne Radar Tech who
> trained for the Pacific theater, but the war ended just as he was about to ship
> out, and I asked him about the LO business.
>
> He confirmed that airplanes were electrically noisy, especially the engines and
> magnetos, despite the shielding. He was also unaware of any real effort to DF
> ships by their LO emissions, but commented that the Germans and Japanese were
> VERY good at DFing clandestine transmitters (coast watchers, for example).
>
> His opinion is that the LO DFing is largely a myth to cover up the cracking of
> Enigma and Purple Ciphers and also microwave radar. (He was trained on X band
> search radars), Also, until about 1943, subs had to surface to recharge their
> batteries and made good radar targets. X band was important because the Germans
> had no X band warning receivers, so the airplanes could sneak up on them.
>
> -John