[Milsurplus] Radio Prepares for War

[Nick England]

 FWIW. No warranty express or implied.....

Has anyone read " Topics in Radio Technology, Applications, Techniques and
Countermeasures in WWII and Early Cold War" by John Guntharp? Looks
interesting.
Available only in eBook evidently.
https://books.google.com/books?id=utisDwAAQBAJ

The book description says:
Why: To provide selected examples of World War II and early Cold War
events, operations, procedures, systems, and equipment related to the use
of electronics and radio measures, countermeasures, and surveillance.
When: WWII and early Cold War.
Where: Geographically, the events and actions addressed in this document
occurred in Britain (primarily the WWII Battle of Britain), Germany
(Luftwaffe actions over Britain and British special operations in WWII
occupied France), cold war events in London (surveillance and
counter-surveillance), and Russian electronic surveillance within the
United States embassy in Moscow.
Who (the players): Royal Air Force (RAF), German Air Force (Luftwaffe), MI5
(British Security Service), MI6 (British Secret Intelligence Service),
British Special Operations Executive (SOE -- primarily British F-Section
French operations), Government Code & Cipher School (GC&CS --Bletchley Park
codebreakers), British Y-Service (communications intelligence and support
to SOE), German-British-Soviet counterintelligence, Soviet KGB (Committee
for State Security), and Soviet GRU (Main Intelligence Agency).
What (equipment and support): Radio electronics in general. More
specifically: Radar (ground and airborne detection, warning, weapons system
control), radio navigation and bombing aids, general radio communications,
covert radio operations, radio countermeasures, radio
counter-countermeasures, electronic surveillance, espionage (electronic
surveillance and agents), WWII SOE agent operations, procedures, codes, and
codebreaking.
How: Operational procedures, techniques, support, and equipment

EXTRACT (OCR of a screen shot)
B. Y-Service Radio Receivers
Radio receivers were used by the Y-Services in great numbers. l11e
US-manufactured National
HRO receiver (Figure 111-1) met the Y-Se1vice communications requirements
for frequency
coverage, sensitivity, and bandwidth selections. Receiver operators would
affix cardboard circles
around the large tuning knob and mark important frequency settings in
pencil for quick referral.
An estimated 1.000 units were initially ordered by the UK. but a total of
approximately 10,000
units saw use by the British Y-Service operations, diplomatic
communications, aboard ships. and
for clandestine use before and during WWII. A number of other receivers
were also used, but the
National IIRO was a favorite of the wireless operators who had to use them
in uncomfortable
conditions to search for weak signals for long hours. Examples of other
receivers that were used
by the Y-Stations include the RCA AR-88, the Hallicrafters SX-28, the
British R-206, and the
British Army Set R-109.

The four standard sets of HRO coils, A, B. C. and D. covered 14- 30. 7-
14.4, 3.5- 7.3, and 1.7
-4 MHz. respectively. Two other sets of coils. E and f'. sold separately,
covered 960-2050 kHz
and 480- 960 kHz. respectively. Each of the four main sets ·of coils also
had bandspread modes
sc1 by moving screws that limited the frequency range 10 28- 29.7, 14-
14.4, 7- 7.3, and 3.5-
4 MHz, respectively. The original HRO-M and HR0-5 models in use by the
Y-Service had
several radio frequency bandwidth selections 10 optimize reception of both
Morse and voice
signals.

FWIW. No warranty express or implied.....
Nick England K4NYW
www.navy-radio.com

On Wed, Apr 29, 2020 at 3:24 PM Todd, KA1KAQ <ka1kaq at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I recall reading a story that, prior to Lend/Lease, British citizens
returning home from the US were instructed to visit the British Embassy
first to collect funds and instructions for purchasing either a new HRO,
Halli S-27, or several other receivers on the list from the commercial ham
and radio stores of the day. Might've been ER, ARC, or online. Interesting
story.
>
> ~ Todd/KAQ
>
> On Tue, Apr 28, 2020 at 9:46 AM <k2cby at optonline.net> wrote:
>>
>> FWIW
>>
>> Wartime photos of British intercept and communications stations
typically show HROs in every operating position. This is true even before
Lend Lease, which means they must have bought them either during the first
years of the War or pre-War.
>>
>> Miles, K2CBY
>>
>>
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