Richard Farrant

Lee, The one you have linked to is a bit more elaborate than I was thinking of for motorcyclists, they were pure intercoms, that one would connect with other bikes, not sure how good the range would be inside a vehicle. The ones we used on AFV's was purely switch on, then it used the voice activated boom mike, no frequency changes, etc. Richard

Just had a thought that no one appears to have come up with, that is two way intercom used by motorcycle riders and their pillions. A friend of mine flew 2 seater microlights and used a similar set up. If you can hear each other over the row one of those make, then they must be pretty good. Also, when we used to take armoured vehicles out for road test, all the tels. equipment was dekitted and we had AFV helmets converted with a very short range radio. It was about the size of a cigarette packet on a lead, slipped into your pocket, no plugging in to the vehicle, which made it handy if you demounted to direct them, etc. Range was about 100 yards. Seem to remember the unit was made by Midland and had rechargeable batteries in it. Richard

Lee, Clive will give you the technical reasons for that I'm sure, but all I was going to point out was that in HGV's, they plug in a voltage dropper 24 to 12v to run things such as CB, phone chargers, the more reliable way which will not affect one battery. Richard

Clive, I have just come back to me, that version was known as Panga, the turret made by Peak as already pointed out. I would think it was only a trial vehicle in British service, believe it was a mod. aimed at export market. Also remembered the Mexico contract, the new turrets proposed for them were to have 25mm McDonnell Douglas chain gun fitted. Richard

Hhmm......getting the feeling this Saracen shot has been rigged to get one over Jack and his flying orbs. The socket end on that wheel brace is highly unlikely to actually fit those wheel nuts :-D

Oh..and the Saracen had just been moved, see wet patch on tyre, so could be exhaust smoke lingering......always a logical explanation ;-)

Lee, Come on... :-D You can clearly see John has a smoke on the go, and with all the puffing trying to tighten those wheel nuts to the required torque of 280 lbs/ft with a small wheel brace, I'm not surprised there is a haze :whistle: Richard

Clive, I thought that was odd for a Vixen to be on GM, all ones seen are SP, then saw caption to Chris's pic in following message, it was a Peak turreted CVR(W). Richard

Clive, There was a 00HA?? that used to come in, and another odd number was 01GM45, don't remember too many in the GM range. Richard

Clive, Looking through some of my old time records from work, I see that I worked on 11FD21 in 1980 and it was touring Kent on a recruitment drive with the 2RTR. As these Foxes appeared to have been issued in batches to units with following numbers, this ties up with your pic of 11FD27. I particularly remember the vehicle, because I had the steering unit out for repair and the 2RTR team wanted it for Beltring.....which it was. Whether I got a beer from them, I cannot remember :-) Richard

Chris, No idea with the photo, but think it is after they left Ricardos at Shoreham. Where did the photo come from? I remember someone from R Yeo telling me, before they were withdrawn from their unit, that they were re-equiping with L/R recce vehicles and that the Foxes were going to Mexico, with a differnt turret. Some I saw much later in a dealers yard, post-Ricardo, had feint chalk wording, "Mexico"on them ,so story ties up. So it looks like R Yeo vehicles were used for this project, as to how many, don't know. I believe your Fox is from A Sqn (Royal Wilts Yeo) R Yeo, so again this ties in.

Chris, Those that went to Ricardos, if distant memory serves me right, were destined for Mexico after conversions. The project fell though and I thought that all this batch had been stripped of engines and ancillaries. I do remember seeing some in a local dealers and thought they may have come from Ludgershall sales, going back to around 1996/97 here. Richard

Lee, I looks as I thought, it was issued from VSD N. Ireland a few weeks after they recieved it, to D Sqn Royal Yeomanry, a TA unit. I used to work on C Sqn and HQ Sqn Foxes, as well as all the other A vehs that came in from them. Looks like it went to 34 Base for overhaul and then to storage at Ludgershall depot. Then issued to 1 Queens, I cannot recollect Queens ever using them, I know Royal Irish Rangers and Royal Green Jackets did. So doubtful it was used in NI peacekeeping role. Richard

Lee, Do you know what unit used your Fox? There was a squadron of The Royal Yeomanry based in Belfast, who were equipped with Foxes. A TA unit, D (North Irish Horse ) Squadron, I do not think they would not have been involved in internal troubles, their role being in Germany in recce work if every a conflict occured with the East. I am sure Neil Stevens could tell you more, as he was once with A Squadron R.Yeo according to some of his past messages on here. Richard

:-D nor snoring........on the 1990 Guernsey Tour, we must have had the All England Snoring Champions in the camp, some could be heard from 50 yards away, ear plugs were a must.

Clive, Over the many years of rallies and shows, you have just about covered it all, except one, a demented idiot at Beltring in 2005. One o'clock in the morning he decided to drive a Ransomes MG crawler around the site with an air raid siren going. Now these crawlers do only crawl and it seemed to take for ever before he dcided to park up. I like the philosphers one, you have to listen to a slurred meaningless discussion........ I can't wait till showtime, I am missing it all already. :-D

condoms ? :oops:

Colin, No hammers required here :-) Take a look at the front brake plate, there is an arm fixed to it, that extends up the inside of the fork leg, a bolt secures it, make sure this bolt is removed. Disconnect speedo cable, slacken off the spindle nuts well clear of fork ends and if neccessary, prise fork legs apart slightly to allow wheel to drop out. I am assuming you have the front end off the ground, usually a block of wood under the bash plate. Unfortunately, BSA did not have any pics of the front wheel in the manuals. Richard

The driveshafts should be disconnected if towing more than a short distance, but main brakes are still operational with out engine running.

Colin, The wheel spindle nuts have shoulders which locate in the fork ends, you may not have undone them enough, also don't forget the bolt through the brake backplate torque arm. Richard

Well for a start, it depends a lot on what tank you are thinking of, its state, whether it is in good order, or needs a lot of work done to it. And that is just for starters.......... Give us a clue to what tank is in your dreams :-)

Whats that, a UFO ? or some new secret flying machine from Boscombe Down :-D

Jack, I can give you three big considerations first; 1. Running costs 2. Transport...low loader hire, and again, cost of. 3. Maintenance Not a project to be taken on lightly, most owners are competant mechanics and you will need good tools and equipment. Before going too far, you should visit a few tank owners to see what is involved, you will then get more of a picture of what it is all about. Richard

You were not really wrong the first time, because I know of 3 BARV's that came out of that yard, one in D-Day Museum, Southsea, second one in REME Historic Vehicle Collection and the third one, Rex Cadman displays at Beltring. A good deal of WW2 armour has been saved from there in the past. The founder member of MVCG (later MVT), Peter Gray, had a M10 from there, one of the first private tanks to be rallied in Britain. Churchills, Daimler and Humber scout and armoured cars, carriers, Stuarts, etc.... Richard

Jack, The fact that a German message was intercepted and decoded, would be reason for secrecy, so that the Germans would be unaware of the minefield and reason for it to have been laid. From the records, these U boats had no records of sinking ships so were relatively inexperienced maybe? Richard