[MRCA] Eisenhower Farm WW II Reenactment Event AAR

Wed Sep 24 13:48:51 EDT 2025

Hi Matt

Sorry to hear of your experiences.   I will make some inquiries and see if
I can help you.

Mark K3MSB

On Tue, Sep 23, 2025 at 9:55 AM Matthew Halsey <rftb_cowboy at yahoo.com>
wrote:

> I am beyond frustrated with most of the shows around me, including
> Eisenhower.
> I am a one man band with an SOE display, including an original suitcase
> spy radio.
> I cannot get much, if any, interest from folks in the US for a display as
> I am not associated with any recognized organization.
> Well, yes that was the way that SOE operated!
>
> I have also tried joining a French Resistance group but, despite their
> acknowledgement of what I can bring to the group, I have still yet to be
> invited to any events for over a year.
>
> It would have been nice to operate a CW contact using your gear and mine.
> I also have a working HRO which I could set up as the UK base.
>
> Sorry for the rant.  I am passionate about SOE and educating folks on
> their critical and highly risky role in WW2, but I just cant seem to get
> any opportunity to share with the public.
>
> Matt
>
> On Tuesday, September 23, 2025 at 09:45:49 AM EDT, Ray Fantini via MRCA <
> mrca at mailman.qth.net> wrote:
>
>
> Great job, often think today we may have more in common along the lines of
> shared interest with the Military Vehicle and collectors and reenactors
> community then what currently passes for the Ham radio community. In these
> days of micro size transceivers and automated contacts. But at the end of
> the day if you want to use your radios on the air you got to have the
> license, and we do have a thriving Boat anchor and AM community.
>
> Doing just WW2 you have a harder road to travel. Your limited to AM or CW
> and unless you are using some level of power and a good antenna your not
> going to get much love on 3885 beyond local contacts. Hamvention always has
> a good turnout of local AM QSO on 3885 and MRCA Gilbert will be beating the
> drum this weekend but unless you are doing a medium or high power set up in
> the field would not expect any success. Only time I have pulled off a QSO
> on 3885 under twenty watts was at the home QTH with a good antenna. Least
> that’s been my results.
>
> If you move a couple generations up, like Korean War or Vietnam you can
> start to use way better radios . The T-195/R-392 (GRC-19) can give you a
> 100 watts in the field or in my case running a GRC-106 allows you SSB and
> high power and with that gear its more of a real possibility of checking
> into existing on air nets. I regularly take part in things like the MMRCG
> RTTY Net on forty and the 7296 and sometimes 5357 USB Nets on Saturdays
> from shows, just running something like a BC-654 into a small vertical is
> not going to get you much more then local communications.
>
> The issue I found is that the reenactor community can sometimes get sticky
> about things, maybe my biggest complaint about the Reading show where they
> push this WW2 thing only mantra. One of my favorite local shows is the
> annual Delaware Goes to War event held at Fort Miles and have been doing
> that for years now but the local historical group the Fort Miles Historical
> Association has strict rules about it being a ww2  only and because I work
> directly with the state park people I and several other post war vehicles
> are allowed to set up only on the periphery of the event but not in the
> main compound.  Talked with the people up at Reading before about bringing
> my Vietnam – Cold War road show up and been told no thanks.
>
> This weekend will be the event at Gilbert, the Red Ball MVPA Show and Sale
> and for twenty years now they have supported the MRCA and our military
> radio show and field exercise in the Howell building and we are a mixed
> event not just limited to WW2 stuff but will have equipment there and
> operating that represent all generations. The field exercises will feature
> a large sixty meter net on Friday that includes multipole backpack and
> field radios and the ability for them to net with distant stations at the
> same time. We typically have at least a half dozen local participants on
> air and at least as many distant stations take part. We will also have a
> 3885 AM Net but see that as being just a local thing like our 51.0 and
> 144.25 opps.
>
> Anyway its great to see what your doing and hope this encourages others to
> get out in the field also.
>
>
>
> Ray F/KA3EKH
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* milsurplus-bounces at mailman.qth.net <
> milsurplus-bounces at mailman.qth.net> *On Behalf Of *Mark K3MSB
> *Sent:* Monday, September 22, 2025 6:46 PM
> *To:* ARC5 <arc5 at mailman.qth.net>; Military Radio Collectors Association (
> mrca at mailman.qth.net) <mrca at mailman.qth.net>; List Milsurplus <
> milsurplus at mailman.qth.net>
> *Subject:* [Milsurplus] Eisenhower Farm WW II Reenactment Event AAR
>
>
>
>
>
> Hi Everyone.
>
> I spent last weekend participating in the World War II Weekend reenactment
> event at Eisenhower National Historic Site in Gettysburg PA.
>
> Photos and videos:
>
> www.k3msb.com/Eisenhower_Farm_2025/setup1.jpg
> www.k3msb.com/Eisenhower_Farm_2025/df_1.MOV
> www.k3msb.com/Eisenhower_Farm_2025/df_2.MOV
> www.k3msb.com/Eisenhower_Farm_2025/cw1.mp4
>
> Objectives:
> Educate people on the HF radios used on Allied Bomber Aircraft in WW II.
> Describe the differences between the Command and Liaison radios.
> Demonstrate netting a receiver & transmitter using a frequency Meter.
> Demonstrate how a DF unit works, and try to receive a real navigation
> beacon.
>
> Equipment used:
> SCR-247N.   Everything is dynamotor driven.
> BC-221-K Frequency Meter
> Bendix DU-1 Direction Finding Unit, ARA CBY-46145 Broadcast band (500 to
> 1500 Kc) navigation receiver, SCR-247N BC-453 Beacon band (190 to 550 Kc)
> navigation receiver.  All mounted on a $3 Hamfest special trashed-out
> FT-220-A    The dynamotor supplies power to the DF unit and either receiver.
>
> What did I expect to happen:
> Use the SCR-274N to talk to others at the event (or on 75 M)
> Use the DU-1 and associated receiver to illustrate how a pilot found his
> position, and give a general explanation of DF-ing.
> Demo the SCR-274N receiver when the generator was not on to power the
> transmitter.
>
> What Happened:
> There were no other active HF setups at the event for me to communicate
> with using the SCR-274N, and I was not able to raise anyone on 3885.
> Demo of the DF setup worked extremely well and was well received.    I was
> able to demo the MW receiver during the mornings as well as the BCB during
> the entire event.
>
> What went well and why:
> As at the Reading Airshow in June, the DF demo went well.  I had the ATA
> receiver tuned to an AM broadcast station and I explained how the operator
> would manually turn the DU-1 loop to find the maximum signal then report
> the bearing to the pilot (yes, I know they went for the null, but I didn't
> think that detail was relevant for my purposes).  I explained that the DU-1
> loop was normally mounted on the fuselage with an extension shaft to the
> operator's table, and I showed them the scales the radio operator used to
> determine the bearing to the station. I had an MN-36  Football next to the
> DU-1 for static display, and I explained that there was a loop inside the
> MN-36  that was motorized and worked the same way as the manual DU-1.
>
> I was delighted to be able to receive BZJ on 328 Kc during both mornings;
>  it is about 50 nm NE of the reenactment site.  I explained what an NDB
> was, how it was used, and the importance of IDing the beacon with the Morse
> identifier.
>
> I pointed out the dynamotor to the right of the Navigation receivers and
> the big TX dynamotor on the SCR-274N and explained their function – convert
>  28V from the aircraft electrical bus to the 200 volts needed by the vacuum
> tubes.  I used a pair of 100 AH 12V LiFePO4 batteries in series to power
> the receiver and loop.     I
>
> I used a 2nd pair of Lead/Acid batteries to power the SCR-274N receivers.
>   These were in series across my Astron 28V power supply to provide startup
> current for the transmitter (which turns on each time the mic button is
> pressed. in Voice mode.).   Without the batteries the breaker will trip in
> the Astron power supply.
>
> I explained the function of the command sets (short range air to ground /
> air to air) and contrasted that to the function of the Liaison radios (long
> distance). I showed them the inside of a command receiver as many of the
> younger people had never seen a vacuum tube. I explained what each box did
> and how they could be located in different parts of the airplane, and what
> the pilot's receiver and transmitter control boxes did.
>
> Instead of using my MFJ Tuner and my custom box containing a 4:1 UNUN and
> series matching capacitor, I just used a wire antenna and counterpoise.
> To determine max power, I used an old Heathkit field strength meter and
> tuned for max reading.  This worked well at my house with the antenna
> straight and the counterpoise running underneath it, giving me about 100 mA
> Ip on the SCR-274N.   At the event, the antenna was bent and the
> counterpoise only ran under it for about 10 feet,  and I was only able to
> get 50 mA of Ip.   Still,  50 mA of Ip would be sufficient to communicate
> over the event area......
>
> What can be improved and how?
>
> As already mentioned, there were no other reenactment groups on the field
> to talk to with the SCR-274N.  I made a point to look for BC-611's and
> found about 4 of them.    For 2 of them, the people watching their setups
> had no idea who owned the 611's or anything about them.  For the 3rd, the
> fellow had the guts removed and stuffed with a modern radio – I'm not sure
> to play a recording through or GMRS.   The 4th was owned by a fellow at a
> Navy display.   He knew what the 611 did and said it was original and he
> wanted to use it but needed to address the battery issue.   We discussed
> options on that.  He said he has two 611s but doesn't bring the 2nd as
> there is never anyone around to use them.  We exchanged emails and plan to
> work together for next year's event.   There was another fellow there with
> working radios in his Jeep,  but they were on 29 Mc which I don't have.
> He said he had radios that would work on 75M, but he never brings them as
> there is nobody around to talk to. So, I took down his name as well.
>
> It seems to be a common theme that people don't bring radios as there is
> nobody to talk to,  and of course there is nobody to talk to if people
> don't bring radios. I need to be more active on the reenactment social
> media pages and try to get people to bring radios to the various regional
> events so that we can have a net going.    I'm planning to do that over the
> winter.
>
> Get rid of the power supply in my BC-221K and use a battery with a DC-DC
> converter so that the unit will be portable.   This is a “nice to
> have”.....
>
> Conclusion:
>
> As with the Reading Airshow, the DF Demos were a hit, and people liked
> hearing CW from the 40M SCR-274N receiver.    The demos of netting the
> receiver and transmitter to the frequency meter were well received.
>
>
>
> In general people like seeing 85 year old stuff that still works, whether
> it's a radio or a Jeep.  I don't think they care if I can talk to anybody
> (but I do.....).
>
>
> I had one couple that were taking detailed photos of my radios as they
> said their uncle is 102 years old and was a radio operator during WW  II.
> I hope seeing the photos brings him fond memories.
>
> 73 Mark K3MSB
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