andym

Thanks Clive, I wondered about the "Roger" reference.

I'll look out my collection when I next have a chance, I think I have several you haven't listed.

Andy

There is/was a seller at W&P who used to have an interesting selection of SEME publications.  I can't remember his name but think he may have been responsible for writing some of them in the first place.

It would be nice to know if there was such a thing as a SEME library that held reference copies of all their publications.  Another thing to check when I finally manage to organise a trip to Lyneham?

Andy

Clive -

As a by-product of discussions with Openreach when trying to improve my sister's 2Mbps-if-you're-lucky broadband, I was told that they'll only install an FTTC cabinet if there are at least 30 premises for it to serve.  If it's less than that they will (eventually) install FTTP, which is why I'm typing this from deepest unexplored Cornwall on an 800Mbps fibre connection!

Andy

On 6/19/2022 at 3:32 PM, Larkspur-man said:

Andy,

Pity I wasn’t interested in this when I was at the school of electronic engineering (SEE) at Arborfield in the early 70s! I seem to recall there was an abundance of ‘Précis’ documents based on various equipment’s EMERS.

I haven’t been to Lyneham yet but it’s on my list.

Brian 

That raises another interesting question - is there such a thing as a list of SEME documents?  The ones I have for FV432, RB44 and Stalwart are excellent.

Andy

I have D325, which relates to updates to the Clansman fit. The only version I've seen of D320 was at the old REME museum at Arborfield and was entirely Larkspur. There must be later versions, possibly at Lyneham but I haven't yet paid them a visit.

Andy

In photographs I've only seen a 352 fitted, but how authentic that is I couldn't say.

Andy

I wondered why he couldn't get the VDUs to do anything useful!

Andy

I think that Simon Shillabear (2E0MRS) has a complete working setup if you haven't already come across it?

Andy

I'm not sure where I found this photo, which I believe to be a fully populated Vixen cabin:

Shot on Slab Common, 20 November 2011.  Funnily enough, as a result of something I saw in Windscreen magazine I've given a set of these to the editor, so they may appear in print shortly.

This one is my favourite!

This one? 😀

Vixen was an electronic warfare system manufactured by Plessey.  The radio cabins for them ("shelters") are taller than the usual ones you see on the back of RB44s, you can actually stand up in them.  They have a Clark SCAM mast that sits horizontally along the roof and is winched into the vertical position when deployed.

Noting the degree of polish I suspect you've picked up a couple of ex-mess doorstops/ashtrays!

Andy

There should be four batteries in the locker, wired in series parallel to give 28V.

When you say you've acquired a vixen plessey, do you mean the Vixen radio body?

Andy

It's a Desynn sender, also used in the FV430 vehicles and probably others as well.

Andy

I haven't seen those connectors on a military vehicle before - they look rather like Edacs, or clones thereof.  The last time I saw any of those was on an audio mixing desk!

Andy

I've never seen it quoted anywhere, but if you're asking for the reason I suspect you're asking, yes, I know that at least one person has fitted an Abbot with electric fans instead.

Andy

Or Armourgeddon in Husbands Bosworth although further away (40 miles)?

Andy

3 hours ago, attleej said:

I though that it was a very helpful video because I certainly did not understand ERA.

 

John

Ditto - very interesting.  I'm now hunting for a copy of Paul Hazell's book that doesn't require a small mortgage ...

Andy

A number of the photos I've seen suggest that the "ERA" is just slabs of steel plate.  The real scandal here is what the tank crews were told - sent into battle with completely ineffective armour (which should have defeated NLAW) while some official is lurking in his dacha built with the proceeds?

Andy

I think those are CVRT, Bob?

The FV432 ISPL, which I assume the OP has, shows the outer as either FV594639 or FV616497 and the inner as FV481851.

Andy

1 hour ago, attleej said:

I can't fail to think of all those fine young men on both sides losing their lives in such an unnecessary war.  It really pains me.

On a technical note, it is interesting to see so many T72s with their turret having been blown off by the ammunition initiating.  It is also hard to understand why the ERA blocks appear to be so insensitive to the heat.

John 

Absolutely agreed, John.

On the ERA front, that has intrigued me too.  I'm wondering if they are actually ERA or just something put there for show. That in turn makes me wonder about things like the Armata which is conspicuous by its absence.  How many of those are just mockups for parades?

Andy

When you say "external" is this a Mk2 or Mk2/1 FV432?

Andy

This one may need a bit more work, but I'm sure that Rick would have it good as new inside a month.

As I've separately discussed with Terry, these things are a complete nightmare.  I have several dead ones so decided to dismantle one a while ago in the hope that it was a failed SCR.  I ended up with a mass of assorted screws, bits all over the place and although I could see evidence of overheating (a melted wire) I still couldn't get to half the components I needed to, which are completely buried.  As I said to Terry, it's as though they've been designed to be as awkward as possible to repair.

Andy