g0ozs

In some ways this concept reminds me of the Swedish "S" tank - in particular the use of the suspension for elevation and tracks for traverse of the main gun - does anyone know if there is a connection (if only that one was aware of the other) or were they independent developments ? Iain

See http://www.land-rover-lightweight.co.uk/ClansmanE.html for diagrams of a 351 clip in installation Iain

Jak If doing a proper semi permanent installation using the vehicle antennas you need a DCCU charger and battery cable to float charge the radio from the vehicle supply and a TUAAM and an Initiate box to tune the antenna - the Initiate creates the signals needed to key the radio and trigger the TUAAM into operation after retuning the radio. The antenna needs a no.31 base with the cylindrical matching unit for VHF. Regards Iain

Jack If only because 105mm gunned tanks were successful in 1967 and 1973 against the JS3 I guess the 120mm Conqueror ought to have had a fair chance - from what I have read the problem with the Conqueror was mostly that its weight was more due to large size and internal volume rather than thickness of plate, nor was it particularly fast, so it wasn't that well protected for its size. I am sure those with practical experience of the Conqueror will prove me wrong ! Iain

Slightly off topic but regarding "As far as I know the Cent easily defeated Russian armour in the Arab-Israeli wars." I think the Israeli 105mm Centurion of 1967 or 1973 was a major advance on the 20-pdr original Centurion of 1945 - certainly having overtaken the 100m gun T45/55 - not to mention the gain in penetration from using HEAT or Sabot compared with traditional WW2 AP ammunition - so perhaps one of the reasons the Conqueror became unnecessary after the early 1960s was improvement in the Centurion and (for the British Army by the time it was withdrawn) imminent arrival of the Chieftain with a more manageble weight and a comparable gun. Certainly I remember seeing photos of destroyed JS-3 in Sinai so the 105mm was good enough. Slightly more on topic perhaps the fair comparison would be Centurion or Pershing with Tiger II as all three were around in 1945 and all combined decent sloped armour with a gun in the 85 to 90mm class - Tiger 1 is really from an earlier (Churchill/KV-1) generation of heavy tanks in service by 1943 and really only JS-3 was in production with a Conqueror sized gun before 1950 that I know of Regards Iain

Regarding loss of text layout, I use Iceweasel (a Firefox derivative) with the NoScript plugin v2.6 and if I forget to enable scripts from hmvf.co.uk I have similar symptoms - easily cured by setting up the plugin at least in my case Iain

I think the 40m green string is to allow the GSA to be suspended from a suitable elevated point like a tree if the 5.4m mast is not available or inappropriate to the circumstances. From EMER L212 section 8 "The antenna ground spike may be elevated in 2 ways: a. by use of a 5.4m mast (not part of kit) or b. ny use of a 40m cord". The cord has rings at one end which fit above and below the GSA base unit so it is held vertical (although I think it would be best making a loop to secure the top of the antenna element as well. There are supposed to be strain relief cords either end of the cable between the base and the inductor/choke unit to provide strain relief for the BNC cable between the base and the inductor. I did capture the CES from the EMER so you can check that you have everything.

Shaun I havent got the CES or instructions to hand but I have used the kits. The kit should consist of at least Mast head adapter to hold GSA base "Choke" unit that clips over 5.4m mast 3 different length BNC to BNC cables In operation the GSA elements are fitted to the base as normal, the pin on the base is fitted to the mast head adapter (instead of the spike) and the choke is connected to the GSA base by one of the BNC cables - the longest below about 45 MHz and the shortest above about 60MHz or the medium one in between. The normal feed cable goes from the other end of the choke to the radio. The combination of the choke and the correct length BNC cable is supposed to provide an elevated substitute for real ground (or at least stop the feed cable from being a radiating part of the antenna). One thing I have found is that the spring clip in the choke doesnt grip the mast very well so it is worth doing something to prevent it sliding down and putting strain on the BNC cable to the mast base - I have had various intermittent contact problems if it does end up being pulled tight. A few turns of tape round the mast to stop the choke sliding down seem to do the trick. Regards Iain

On the Churchill theme - details for both 6pdr and 17pdr turrets with photos: http://churchilltank.com/radio/

As Pete has noted the B-Set was withdrawn in the 1950s - actually a lot of WS No 19 units were refurbished by REME in the 1950s with the B Set components removed and survived well into the 1960s in various roles. So finding a working WS19 with a complete viable B set can more difficult than finding one that is viable for HF use. if you do find a complete one it's also best not to use the B set with an antenna as its frequencies just above 200MHz are used for military air to ground traffic today ! Iain

Rick The WS19 yahoo group and the related web site www.royalsignals.org.uk are the best source of free information and manuals regarding the WS19 (and many other wireless sets of similar vintage). One of the moderators is a member here and I am sure he will introduce himself (and maybe recommend which document to download) in due course Regards Iain

Hi Terry & Welcome You will find quite a few of us who share an interest in vehicles and wireless here ! Iain 73 de G0OZS

Another thought for something that lasted - the Vickers Maxim machine gun - I see the Wikipedia article gives first regular army purchase in 1888 and I believe they were still around until the late 1960s so around 80 years in the front line ?

I guess if the Centurion AVREs at Withams latest tender sale count as being "in service" until last month then anything else will pretty much have to be pre-1945 and still going to beat them as the longest lasting armour ? I suppose the Kings Troop RHA guns (18 pounder?) must be the longest lasting wheeled vehicle of any kind ? Iain

I think I agree with Chris S. that it is electrical - certainly the two metal contacts at the top lead to that idea and it looks to be a 4 turn coil too short to be an electro-magnet. Are the (metal?) bars horizontally just there for strength ? It looks like it was designed for large currents and I do seem to remember a previous MO was an underwater transmitting antenna - I wonder if this is another part of that radio system ? Iain

Richard, All I have never found a 12 pin cable with different keying or less than 12 cores - so I think all of them are interchangeable for harness, ARFAT or RT322 use. All the 2 pin power cables are the same. There is one thing to watch out for with e-Bay purchases - there was a 2/3 size version used with some hardened computers which is indistinguishable in photos without any other objects for scale. I have some to this day as a result ! The 10 pin CPU curly cable is I think universal - I have found they fit everything from ULS16 3 line extension units to French BX-33 ATUs (TUUAM equivalent for their TR-PP-13 PRC-77 clone). There are at least two different non mating key designs for the 7 pin audio and TUUAM-ARFAT cables. As far as I know the audio and TUUAM-ARFAT 7 pin are the same but I will check the keyways to be sure and post a correction tomorrow if I have to. The non-mating ones I have found were used with data terminals - the Trend 813 printer and the teleprinter sockets on the Adapter Telegraph Radio were among the odd ones out. Given that there is potentially 80 volts on the ATR output in high voltage mode when used with a T100 printer it probably makes sense to be incompatible with the radios ! What has caught me out - with audio compatible plugs on usually male both ends cables - is ones intended only to power ancilliary and test equipment from a headphone socket. These only have the ground and power pins connected and there was one with every test set condition, test set audio, and probably other test sets as well. Next time I find one by accident I should make a note of the NSN ! Regards Iain 73 de G0OZS

Normal non-encrypted rebroadcast can be done just by connecting the remote ports of a pair of 351/2or 353 radios together with D10 telephone cable and setting both radios to rebroadcast mode on frequencies at least a few MHz apart. In a vehicle with harness this can also be set up on the IB2 or IB3 interface box. I had a chance last year to play with a pair of the Digital Master Units (DMU) which were used for secure speech nets. The DMU is a rather larger and older device than the SANIE and is basically just a connection box that acts as a host for the actual encryption device used with the 353 for speech traffic called the BID-250. The BID-250 fits behind the blue cover on a DMU as usually seen on e-Bay or at shows. The DMUs have come out via Withams and a few test BID simulators also came out - the real BIDs themselves must and should have been securely destroyed. If the BID simulator is anything to go by it converts analogue audio from the user's headset or a data terminal into 16Kbits/s CVSD digital audio (CVSD is a NATO standard) and in the case of the simulator feeds it to a modem to remodulate it into audio tones with about an 8KHz bandwidth - suitable for the "Wide Data" mode on the UK/VRC-353. Presumably the real BID contained crypto circuits between the CVSD encoder and the modem. Encryption Keys were input via a front panel selector and could be selected by one of the front panel switches. It is also possible to build a rebroadcast for secure speech nets but that needed a further box called the IBRU (Interface Box Rebroadcast Unit) which connected to two DMUs and up to four UK/VRC 353 radios and which allowed the incoming signal from one radio to be de-scrambled and then re-scrambled to be broadcast to the other three. The fitting instructions for RT353 x 4 DMU x 2 and IBRU into Landrovers turn up on e-Bay from time to time. So I think the B&W picture is of two independent 353 stations with an HF RT321 on the top shelf above it, rather than a dedicated rebroadcast setup. I think the SANIE pictured at the start of this thread, if it is from BATES (an artillery fire control system usually found in the back of an RB44, I believe) is more likely to be a data scrambler than (primarily) for voice but like the DMU comprises a basically dumb box with all the connectors, switches and wires that can be fitted permanently in a vehicle and an actual crypto device - the BID - that is plugged in to the hole behind the front cover in the front panel and easily removed when not in use. The next challenge will be to find a BID 460 simulator .. Hope this helps Iain

When I had the SUMB I put wire mesh under the tilt stapled to wooden planks bolted to the hoops either side which left only the open back to protect (and stopped water pooling above the roof!) - Maplins used to sell a light beam alarm (separate lamp and receiver boxes for either side the door) which solved that - I also bolted some heavy weld mesh to the tailgate to make it difficult to climb in while the truck was laid up over the winter There are IR shed alarms which may be usable if the sensor can be positioned so as not to see anything outside but I never got round to trying that Iain

Now I picked up on " has anyone else out there got a UK ham radio license" - Happy to help with the remote end if need be - from a quick web search the R123 looks like it will cover 50Mhz or 28MHz amateur bands. Do you know if there is any detailed documentation I English to be found ? I do have access to a Russian speaking local amateur if I need translations failing that. Regards Iain 73 de G0OZS

I have worked for BT for 25 years since university in research, IT and network design - my interest in MVs comes from having grown up on a farm in the Scottish Highlands in the 1960s and early 70s around a lot of retired MVs in second lives as agricultural and estate vehicles.

My last post didn't come out right (Tapatalk crashed) - I meant to say we should manage to chat to Mike M1CCF (who had the station beside the main road next to the animal area at hop farm) or Andy G8JAC (who camped with a couple of champs beyond the field with mostly continental vehicles) assuming they come to the new venue. Both stations are usually active on HF and Mike's group are usually on 50MHz FM too What radios do you have so I can read up before hand. Regards Iain

Happy to pack the license when we make our annual day trip to W&P this year - if nothing else we should manage Mike M1

Ps. i remember exchanging mails with a chap who had done it - he used a ford transit engine and gearbox but I don't remember (or he never told me) what he did about the compressor and generator Iain

Actually RR weren't the only one - I think a farmer in the welsh borders did some and I believe mine was imported in '98 by the gun bus company before they switched to Pinzgauers. You would definitely need to replace the main gear box and engine as a unit if the change will be easy - in that case there is a shaft drive to the transfer box as the interface between new and old - the French Army conversion by Renault also replaced the dash board and reworked the braking system. If replacing just the engine and gear box the main challenge will be to get an air supply for the air-over-oil braking system if the new engine doesn't have a compressor. Iain

Matt The V8 is popular with hot rod restorers in the USA as it is based on the engine originally fitted to their cars and fairly easily made to fit Regards Iain (Who has a SUMB in the classified section for sale ..... )