question clansman 344

[chevpol]

afternoon folks,

 

I have a clansman 344, can anybody tell me what the following means on the dial:-

 

LOCAL

Mute O/R

REM

AUTO

IC

BEACON

 

There is also a centre off switch, Lamp I understand, Call?

 

Hope to hear from you soon

 

TTFN

 

Mark

[airportable]

Hi Mark. Printed off spec. sheets on radio.

This is a UHF(AM) radio. In it's own league.

Not a users book though but does give details. i.e. Homing using battle antenna:

(2) To aircraft at 2000 feet 160Km

(19) b. Homing beacon working on tone modulation to VIOLET PICTURE and the homing element to NGASR 819 in aircraft.??

Can be used with clansman control radio set local/remote (CRSL/R).... That is the little box I set up at Mill Meece.

All a little beyond me. But I want one!

Andy.

[g0ozs]

Hi

 

The mode switch settings are as follows:

 

LOCAL Use with normal Clansman headset and microphone

Mute O/R Overrride receive squelch to listen for weak signals

REM Remote operation with handset or remote combining unit over D10 field telephone cable

AUTO Re-Broadcast (when linked to remote terminals of another radio e.g. RT351/2 or 353)

IC Intercom (between RT344 headset and remote handset connected over D10)

BEACON Continuous transmit for use as a beacon that aircraft can home on to

 

 

Please note that the 344 operates in the Military Aircraft UHF band (from memory, without retrieving mine from storage to check) from 250 to 500MHz by 50KHz steps), and there is no amateur band in this range. So transmitting use is not possible in the UK - it may be of use as a receiver at air shows however.

 

Regards

 

Iain

[g0ozs]

Mark

 

I should have added - the Lamp / Call button lights the dial lamps in one position and sends a call tone to the remote handset in the other position (when a handset is connected and the radio is in IC or REM mode)

 

The CRL/R box should not be necessary with this radio as there are terminal posts on the side for D10 cable connections, similar to those on a 351/2.

 

Regards

 

Iain

[AlienFTM]

Pull up a sandbag. Not a UK/PRC344, but its immediate Larkspur predecessor (whose designation escapes me.

 

As we have heard often enough by now, I attended the last Larkspur-based RAC Control Signaller AFV Class 1 upgrade course at Bovington in the summer of 1978 (as Clansman was about to roll out).

 

One of the instructors was a sergeant in the Royal Hussars (now the King's Royal Hussars following their merger with 14th/20th The King's Hussars in 1992 and not to be confused with my own regiment, 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars who merged with 13th/18th Royal Hussars (Queen Mary's Own) to become The Light Dragoons in the same year.)

 

He was a young sergeant and very keen, probably newly qualified as in instructor. He rarely wasted time with preamble at the start of of a lesson, but one morning he did ...

 

There had been a Signals Instructor course running in the same building. The Signals Wing at Bovington did all such courses above the basic recruit radio course which didn't itself even warrant a change of pay grade but was a pre-requisite to Crewman Gunner B3 and Crewman Driver B3. Bovington being the Royal Armoured Corps Centre, the Signals Wing had a veritable antenna farm on the roof and in theory it was possible to communicate with RAC regiments around the world.

 

Anyway ... a trainee instructor was tasked to give a lesson on the Larkspur predecessor to the UK/PRC344 (whose designation I cannot remember, but we did have one in our Regimental Signals store back in Paderborn and John McG and I had spent a happy morning one morning working out exactly what this piece of kit was for).

 

He went through the lesson. He came to the BEACON setting and started to explain. "The Forward Air Controller sets the radio to BEACON and it will broadcast a signal which will guide an attack aircraft to it and the attack aircraft will use the location of the beacon as Initial Point for a run at a target designated by the FAC." He switched the set to BEACON and carried on with the lecture.

 

Now, this particular man had a friend in the Fleet Air Arm (or whatever it was called that day) at Yeovilton, flying Phantoms. Unbeknownst to the course - or the instructors - previous night he had phoned his mukker in Yeovilton, explained about his lecture and "Can you arrange a training flight during the morning and launch an attack via my beacon [details followed]?"

 

So trainee continues with his lecture and five minutes later a Phantom passes over the Signals Wing at zero feet. He broke off and pointed out, "...and that's how the BEACON works."

 

Then came the crash as the antenna farm came down in the back-draught from the low-flying Phantom.

[g0ozs]

AlienFTM

 

The precursor was the A43R - the one with 6 xtal controlled channels that had positive earth so care had to be taken in vehicle installations to insulate the case!

 

http://www.wftw.nl/larkspur/a43r.jpg

 

Regards

 

Iain

73 de G0OZS (a happy RT321 user to this day)

[AlienFTM]

AlienFTM

 

The precursor was the A43R - the one with 6 xtal controlled channels that had positive earth so care had to be taken in vehicle installations to insulate the case!

 

http://www.wftw.nl/larkspur/a43r.jpg

 

Regards

 

Iain

73 de G0OZS (a happy RT321 user to this day)

 

And frequency changes implemented by changing a crystal IIRC.

 

Edit having looked at the pic: That's the baby: I now remember the tape antenna with the loop.

[chevpol]

Hi

 

The mode switch settings are as follows:

 

LOCAL Use with normal Clansman headset and microphone

Mute O/R Overrride receive squelch to listen for weak signals

REM Remote operation with handset or remote combining unit over D10 field telephone cable

AUTO Re-Broadcast (when linked to remote terminals of another radio e.g. RT351/2 or 353)

IC Intercom (between RT344 headset and remote handset connected over D10)

BEACON Continuous transmit for use as a beacon that aircraft can home on to

 

 

Please note that the 344 operates in the Military Aircraft UHF band (from memory, without retrieving mine from storage to check) from 250 to 500MHz by 50KHz steps), and there is no amateur band in this range. So transmitting use is not possible in the UK - it may be of use as a receiver at air shows however.

 

Regards

 

Iain

 

thanks for that mate,

 

when I have listened to the radio, it wa on local, but with no pressel between the headset and the radio

 

Mark

[Surveyor]

Just found this thread, I have purchased one as well.

My question is I assume i set the dial for hand set if using a speaker?