Marmite!! Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 (edited) Anyone know what this is for? it's marked: Light Beacon Director Mk1 O.S. 545 G.A. H.M. 1996 It's got 3 different colour filters, Orange, Green & White. Edited October 25, 2010 by Marmite!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marmite!! Posted October 28, 2010 Author Share Posted October 28, 2010 No one??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marmite!! Posted October 28, 2010 Author Share Posted October 28, 2010 Looks like the bracket could fit on a Land Rover door top?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fv1609 Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 Lee it is 6210-99-964-0154, I'm very surprised that is not marked on the box. Although I think that label was the COSA label once. I think of stores that are lost, stolen or damaged something like 80% goes missing because the label comes off & nobody knows what it is! The NSC 6210 is for indoor & outdoor electric lighting fixtures, which isn't a great help. The manufacturer's no is V60S545GA it was used by NZ & Australia as well as UK. Yes I know I haven't answered the question! If I have time I'll search the NSN through my fiche, then I'll be able to retrieve a DMC. This might help a bit. I'll look in books on road movement etc, might have something. Yes the 2-pin plug looks Roverish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marmite!! Posted October 28, 2010 Author Share Posted October 28, 2010 I'll look in books on road movement etc, might have something. Yes the 2-pin plug looks Roverish. Thanks Clive, yes I thought about the plug, it also plugs in the back of the box & is powered by the batteries in there.. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fv1609 Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 Thanks Clive, yes I thought about the plug, it also plugs in the back of the box & is powered by the batteries in there.. Cheers Dooh! Yes forgot that. So if it was for a Rover & clipping on the door it would be easy to get the supply. So having its own batteries suggests perhaps for some abnormal load where power is not readily available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
protruck Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 (edited) Hi Lee. This may not be much help. Could only find this info. but for V60545GA it all so states ( Beacon, Police, for use on vehicle ) NCAGE: U1515 NCAGESD: A Type Code: E NCAGE Information: DLO TECHNICAL DOCUMENTATION INFORMATIO N RESOURCE CENTRE G6 13 BLDG 400, DLO ANDOVER, MONXTON R OAD ANDOVER UNITED KINGDOM Clive Edited October 28, 2010 by protruck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Suslowicz Posted November 3, 2010 Share Posted November 3, 2010 Anyone know what this is for? it's marked: Light Beacon Director Mk1 O.S. 545 G.A. H.M. 1996 It's got 3 different colour filters, Orange, Green & White. Artillery related, I think. O.S. is "Optical Sights" as far as I'm aware - found on gunsights, binoculars, etc. A "Director" is a sort of small (portable and less accurate) theodolite. The coloured sleeves as so that the different beacons in a battery can be told apart at night. See: http://nigelef.tripod.com/fc_laying.htm Best, Chris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marmite!! Posted November 3, 2010 Author Share Posted November 3, 2010 Artillery related, I think. O.S. is "Optical Sights" as far as I'm aware - found on gunsights, binoculars, etc. A "Director" is a sort of small (portable and less accurate) theodolite. The coloured sleeves as so that the different beacons in a battery can be told apart at night. See: http://nigelef.tripod.com/fc_laying.htm Best, Chris. Cheer for that, yes when I read "Director" my first suspicions were Artillery related, but could not find any info on the Beacon.. did wonder about the O.S. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fv1609 Posted November 3, 2010 Share Posted November 3, 2010 Artillery related, I think. Chris ah yes that would explain the NSC 6210 because if it was a vehicular electric lighting device, the NSC should have been 6220. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marmite!! Posted November 3, 2010 Author Share Posted November 3, 2010 Moved the thread to the Artillery section as it's looking like it's going to be Artillery related.. So Artillery in use 1996?? FH70?? 105mm Light Gun?? Thanks for the info so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Harrison Posted November 13, 2010 Share Posted November 13, 2010 1996 is a bit after my time, but a "Director" is indeed a type of theodolite used on the gun position to align the guns and part of the process involves the gunsight laying on the director. Therefore at night a light is needed to enable the gunlayer to identify the director. I suspect this box of bits is that lighting set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watcher Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 Last photo shows the beacon assembled upside down! Yep, used as a beacon on a director, obviously only at night. Some sort of beacon arrangement probably goes back about a century, I think the model shown goes back to the 1930s. Which explains the OS number. Directors were used to orient the guns of a battery, see http://nigelef.tripod.com/fc_laying.htm and Figures 22 and 23, the bracket indicates it was for a No 7 Director IIRC, which basically went out of service in 1966, IIRC the bracket for the L1A1 was held by a couple of lugs on the side. The old bracket seems a bit odd for the date, but its possible that with L1A1 directors the beacon mount was part of the director kit, thinking about it I'm fairly sure this was the case, it was a properly engineered item not a bit of pressed metal The beacon was used when the battery occuppied a position at night, it enabled the guns to point their dial sight at the director in order to receive their angles to orient them in centre or arc (or zeroline pre-1956ish). Light discipline was an important matter in a night occuppation (well some armies made it like a well light circus, but not the Royal Artillery). Directors (aiming circle in USspeak) were used throughout FA until guns, etc, became autonomous, eg MLRS early '90s, AS 90 mid '90s, L118 2001. So never used with AS90. Also used for FA radars, OPs from c.1978 until Warrior OPV, and I think R Sigs with some sigint devices. UK infantry mortars never used them but some nations' mortars do. Different colour beacons were used to distinguish main director from check director, and if btys (or troops in days of tore) were close together to identify which was which - coloured skirts were used on director tripods in daylight for the same reasons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken H Posted March 29, 2019 Share Posted March 29, 2019 This lighting kit was used by the Royal Artillery. It fixed on top of the Director (a type of theodolite, used for survey and orientating guns) so that it could be seen by other optical instruments, mainly other directors and gun sights when being used at night. The different coloured filters meant that you could use more than one director, distinguishing them by the various colours. I was the Survey Sergeant in an Artillery battery and still had these on my charge up until I left in 1990. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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