[Milsurplus] Research Help Requested

Mon Aug 28 10:15:05 EDT 2017

Think the USMC used a four man crew to support the TBX the radio was not suitable for small patrol type of operations.  Difficult for one or two men can carry all that’s involved with that set once you add the long antenna, battery box and hand crank generator, there was also a gasoline powered generator for more weight and difficulty.
I have owned and operated several TBX radios including the four and six and have to say that the radio is not something that you just throw on the ground and start operating. The receiver is battery powered and once the accessory box is connected and the antenna put up you can start operating that but the transmitter requires someone to crank the generator along with the person who is operating the radio itself and if it’s the older non eight series it’s not “push to talk” so you had to throw the send receive switch before talking or sending CW. Also the receiver lacks AVC so when operating in a net you have to ride the gain control to compensate between week and strong signals.
So I would assume that any company that had a TBX radio would only use it after setting up CP or some other form of encampment and not attempt to use it as a field radio. The TBX family was used at Tarawa and was an operational disaster being too complex, to easily damaged and underpowered in its roll in coordinating shore support fire control. Poor radio communications were an issue at Tarawa.
Web link with pictures of TBX in operation:

http://www.tarawaontheweb.org/usmcradio.htm

Ray F/KA3EKH

From: milsurplus-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:milsurplus-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Al Klase
Sent: Monday, August 28, 2017 9:51 AM
To: milsurplus at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Milsurplus] Research Help Requested

Hi Joe,

I checked the TBX-8 manual and couldn't find the weights, except for the accessory box at 28 pounds.  So, I suspect it was a three-man carry:  Transmitter-Receiver, hand-crank generator, and accessory box containing RX batteries, antenna equipment, cables, etc.

This was pretty much state-of-the-art for the time period, with a claimed range of 30 miles on CW and 15 miles on voice.  The Army's stop-gap SCR-288 had similar characteristics, but the SCR-284 weighed almost twice as much.  The SCR-694/BC-1306 wasn't available until 1944

The BC-611 HT or Navy MAB would only do about a mile on a good day.  I'm not sue if either were available in the early going.

Al
On 8/27/2017 10:18 PM, Joe Connor via Milsurplus wrote:

The patrol that went to rescue the Goettge patrol carried a TBX transmitter-receiver.

Does anyone know what a TBX weighs? The rescue patrol was much larger than the original patrol, so I'm thinking the TBX was too heavy and bulky for the smaller Goettge patrol.

        Joe Connor

On Sunday, August 27, 2017 10:34 AM, Joe Connor via Milsurplus <milsurplus at mailman.qth.net><mailto:milsurplus at mailman.qth.net> wrote:

Guys, I need some help on a research project I'm doing on the Goettge patrol, a 25-man Marine patrol that was slaughtered on Guadalcanal on August 12-13, 1942.

One curious and unexplained issue is why the patrol did not bring a radio with them. Because of that, when they needed help, they had to send a guy to swim back to the Marine perimeter, about four miles away.

Can you think of any reason why they wouldn't bring a transmitter/receiver? Size? Weight? Bulk? Lack of availability in the shoestring days of the Guadalcanal campaign? This was before the advent of the BC-611 walkie-talkies, right? In August 1942, what type of small transmitters/receivers (if any) would have been available to a 25-man Marine patrol on Guadalcanal?

As always, thank you for your help.

                        Joe Connor
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Al Klase – N3FRQ

Jersey City, NJ

http://www.skywaves.ar88.net/

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