[Milsurplus] Torn.E.b. and pot metal

[Hubert Miller]

Here's a shot of the turret holding fixture of a German Torn.E.b. receiver that has the "zinkpest" alloy disintegration.
You can see at the central axis bearing two support arms have cracked off. At the lower edge of the photo you can
see where one bar of the X frame support is completely gone. This Torn.E.b. by the way, weighs like a BC-652, while
the earlier production ones weigh more like on the scale of an RAX or a TBY, that is, bearable. 1943 is the year Germany
started resorting to the cheapened, heavy alloy for ground and vehicle radios. '42 and earlier: safe.  '44 on, used failure
prone alloy. Under some conditions of storage the metal fails sooner. I have one Torn.E.b. where the front panel has
expanded and so far, I have been unable to figure a way to pull the receiver from the case.
[cid:image001.jpg at 01D31888.F1D2CFA0]

Here's a photo of a Torn.E.b. showing a little use. I "repaired" this one around 40 years ago, replacing all the capacitors and the output
transformer, which must have been open, altho I don't remember now. Probably the capacitors did not need replacing. I replaced the
blank meter cover with a U.S. surplus meter which looks quite a bit like the original. I think nowadays I would leave well enough alone.
Not sharp looking and now needs cleanup but it does work like a gem. Interestingly, the original tubes in it are stamped "RLM" =
Reichluftministerium"  = Reich Aviation Ministry.
4-tube regen 100 - 7100 kHz.
-H
[cid:image002.jpg at 01D31888.F1D2CFA0]
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/milsurplus/attachments/20170819/41541deb/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 14406 bytes
Desc: image001.jpg
URL: <http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/milsurplus/attachments/20170819/41541deb/attachment-0002.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 21201 bytes
Desc: image002.jpg
URL: <http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/milsurplus/attachments/20170819/41541deb/attachment-0003.jpg>