[Milsurplus] HRO

[Hubert Miller]

I don't get annoyed by the normal give-and-take of discussions here. I like it when we can nail things down.
By my comment on the ad, I meant, you really cannot infer anything about shipboard use of HRO from this ad's graphic.
Okay on the BB radio room RAS. I have never seen any evidence that smaller ships, DEs, mine sweeps, corvettes, cargo
and so on, used HROs. I have seen photos of post-war civilian ships with HRO receiver, maybe in a secondary role, and I 
did kind of wonder, with all the HROs surplused about then, why more ship owners didn't buy up HROs. 

HRO was a perfectly satisfactory, uncomplicated receiver for CW. But the SP series variable selectivity through variable
transformer coupling is way superior for different modes and conditions to the HROs selectivity by detuning the the crystal
filter. Also I respect the Hammarlunds over the Hallicrafters receivers on quality of construction. 

The account I read in Radio Bygones, and the installation that Hugh Walker worked at, sounded like a large classroom 
or hall - all men. Haven't read the others you mention; not one of my main interests, but maybe I'll eventually, 
gradually look into them. 
That book I was looking at just recently, about the U.S. Army radioman's memoir of Australia and PNG, addresses another 
complication for message transcribers in the Pacific War: the need to learn the additional characters Japanese required. 
-Hue 

From: Nick England <navy.radio at gmail.com> 
Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2018 12:28 PM

Crikey, Hue! I didn't mean to annoy you.
I've read a lot on Bletchley Park and the Y service and it seems like the majority of British military signals intercept operators were women - WRNS, WAAFS, and ATS. Both voice and Morse intercept. The British Radio Security Service (counter-intelligence) operators were mostly hams and probably 99% male. The US was entirely different evidently with Signal Corps and Navy SuppRad enlisted men operators.
Some books on British ops 
Secret Duties of a Signals Interceptor:
The Enemy is Listening
The Secret Listeners
Women and War: A Historical Encyclopedia 
I just tossed in the National ad because it showed an HRO.
I have no figures on how many were used shipboard just observed that some were in response to someone else's comment about them not being suitable for shipboard use. A 1946 inventory shows USS Texas BB-35 was outfitted with several RAS in Radio Central and another in Radio II (Transmitters).
If I turn up some photos or other info I'll let you know.

When it comes to wartime, "never say never" appears to be a good idea.
Cheers,
Nick