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Military Collector Group Post Backmail #56 (11 pages) Index: EYES FOR YOUR RECEIVER - THE PANADAPTER PART 1 - Introduction,
by John Mackesy MORE AUSSIE QUESTIONS,COAST WATCHERS RADIOS? A DEFFERANT
COAST WATCHER RADIO STORY. COASTWATCHERS RADIOS; by David Prince COAST
WATCHERS STORY/BOOK; From Steve Hill SCR-522 QUESTIONS FOR HMCS HAIDA;
from Jerry Proc *********************************************** EYES FOR
YOUR RECEIVER - THE PANADAPTER PART 1 - Introduction, by John Mackesy
Most of us will be acquainted with the "Panadapter", an oscilloscope-type
device which displays signals within a receiver's passband. Although the
word Panadapter tends to be used as a term to describe all devices of
this type, it was in fact a trade name used by Panoramic Radio Products
(later Panoramic Electronics, then Singer Metrics) for their PANoramic
ADAPTER. Panoramic called it the Panadaptor, but popular usage is panadapter.
Both spellings will appear in this article. Panoramic was one of those
companies who derived a large part of their income from government agencies,
both military and otherwise. All their equipment was built to MIL specs,
only the nameplate changing between the military and the "other" versions.
Panadaptors were used in aircraft, ground and shipboard applications.
The panadapter is basically a scanning receiver in which the tuned frequency
is swept around a CENTER FREQUENCY by the CRT horizontal deflection. The
horizontal (X) position of any received signal is therefor a function
of its frequency. The demodulated signal is applied to the (vertical)
Y amplifier, Y deflection being a function of signal strength. This results
in a "pip" appearing on the CRT, its X position being relative to center
frequency, height proportional to signal strength. Sweep width for a panadapter
used for signal monitoring is typically 50 Khz, 100 Khz, 0 Khz, 1Mhz or
more, depending on the receiver frequency or application. One of the earlier
application of panadapters was in aircraft, where it was important to
be able to find slightly off-frequency signals. Input to the Panadapter
is derived from the receiver converter stage. In practice, this means
that the receivers IF frequency must fall within the Panadapters input
center frequency. Although a 500 Khz (+/- 100 Khz) center frequency caters
for a goodly proportion of receivers, there are many other IF's out there.
And what if you want to test a transmitter (or oscillator), which could
be on any frequency? Enter the Panalyzor (Panoramic trade name, as in
PANoramic anaLYZER). This is essentially the same as the Panadapter, but
input is to a broadband input converter. 2 signals are required: an input
signal and a beat signal equal to n input + n center frequency. The resulting
difference signal (typically 500 Khz)is then processed exactly as in the
panadapter. For very little extra complication, our basic panadapter has
suddenly become a very much more versatile instrument - the RF Spectrum
Analyzer. It also provided Panoramic with a business opportunity for producing
VFO's, Range Extending Converters, Band-Pass Amplifiers and two-tone generators.
Input center frequency is commonly 500 Khz, tunable through one or two
hundred Khz, although there are 10.7 Mhz models and other frequencies
up to 30 Mhz. Microwave models go up to 44 Ghz! At this point I must confess
to having a long-standing weakness for this type of equipment (due to
a misspent youth in the military business). Currently, I own a couple
of Singer/Panoramic "Panalyzor" RF Spectrum Analyzers, a (relatively)
late Model SB12b-T100 (also known as SSB-4 and URM-134A) and an SSB-50.
Prior to this I owned a Panoramic SB8b T-0 and an earlier-model SB12b.
The SB8b was a general-purpose device, the SB12b more oriented towards
SSB analysis. Both were of very rugged construction, beautifully built
and excellent examples of vacuum-tube technology. The newer SSB-50 is
all solid state, except for a 12AU7 X amplifier and a 12AX7 Y amplifier,
and of course the 5ADP7 CRT. I guess this is probably a good time to explain
the Panoramic (later Singer) model identification. This is quite straight-forward,
although I'll cover only the more common variations. SA prefix =3D Panadaptor
- a device with a (relatively) fixed input frequency SB prefix =3D Panalyzor
- a device with a broadband input converter T-*** =3D max sweep range
in Khz, commonly 100, 200 or 1000 Khz Z suffix =3D 5ADP7 CRT, illuminated
graticule, camera mount bezel This last item deserves some explanation.
On most models, the standard CRT is the 5UP7, which is used with a couple
of different types of bezel, both unattractive. This is a curved-face
tube, used with a somewhat flexible plastic graticule. As the (flat-faced)
5ADP7 requires both + and - HV, there are also power supply differences
between models. PART 2 will cover circuit concepts - stay tuned! John
Mackesy mack@melbpc.org.au *************************************************
MORE AUSSIE QUESTIONS,COAST WATCHERS RADIOS? A friend & myself are very
interested in obtaining a TELERADIO. We wonder if they can still be found
in Australia,& whether they are still yet very common? It is my understanding
that these radios were in use prior the WW-II as part of the outback school
system,I/E children in extremely remote areas attended school via radio.
& that with the outbreak of WW-II these radios were pressed into service
as coast watches radios. It is also my understanding that most of the
radios used by coast watchers were of Australian manufacture,& with the
exception of the TELERADIO,a small army of indigenous personnel were required
to transport the radios & their ancillary equipment to their locations
of Operation.(In other words,they were big!) We'd also like some detailed
info on the TELERADIO. Thanks, Dennis Starks; MILITARY RADIO COLLECTOR/HISTORIAN
STARKS ELECTRONICS,wholesale supplier of used communications equipment.
-------------------------------------------------------------------- >From
John Mackesy You're generally right about Teleradio. They were manufactured
by Amalgamated Wireless Australasia, better known as AWA. AWA was affiliated
with RCA. Teleradios are not uncommon, but have lately become quite collectible.
The authority on them is Tony Bell. I'll pass yr msg on to him - don't
know if he's on the net, but I'll phone him tonight. Regards, John Mackesy
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A DEFFERANT COAST WATCHER RADIO STORY. At 06:42 02/07/97 EDT, you wrote:
>A friend & myself are very interested in obtaining a TELERADIO. We wonder
>if they can still be found in Australia,& whether they are still yet
very >common? I am not familier with them. >It is my understanding that
these radios were in use prior the WW-II as >part of the outback school
system,I/E children in extremely remote areas >attended school via radio.
& that with the outbreak of WW-II these radios >were pressed into service
as coast watches radios. Not to my knowledge. The outback radios were
mainly made by Traeger, a company set up in South Australia by a gentleman
named Traeger. He invented "pedal radio", in that he mounted a generator
on a diecast housing containing gears and was driven by a bicycle crank
and pedals. These are not too common and the only one I've seen was in
a museum. There are a few of the Traeger radios around. The Traeger company
continued making HF transceivers, portable & mobile up to the 60's or
70's. >It is also my understanding that most of the radios used by coast
>watchers were of Australian manufacture,& with the exception of the >TELERADIO,a
small army of indigenous personnel were required to transport >the radios
& their ancillary equipment to their locations of >Operation. The sets
mainly used by the coast watch were Aussie built 3BZ's made by AWA (Amalgamated
Wireless Australia). The comprised a seperate receiver & transmitter,
a speaker box, wet cell batteries & a gasolene generator for charging
the batteries. These were all man handled. The gen sets were similar to
the single sloping cylinder Johnson motor US sets, mounted on a combined
sump (oil pan) base. Although the Aussie sets, I'm sure were made by Cooper,
who were mainly into sheep sheering equipment. >We'd also like some detailed
info on the TELERADIO. Can't help. Maybe someone else can help. ______________________________________________________
John A. Kidd Collector: military radio. Tullamarine, 3043. Interests:
military aircraft Victoria. AUSTRALIA & vehicles, Chrysler cars. ***********************************************
COASTWATCHERS RADIOS; by David Prince Forward; In the past I've asked
from our Aussie collectors several questions about the coast watchers
radios. The response was a little fragmented and conflicting. The following
from Dave will clear up this conflict, and provide us with some of the
reasoning behind it. I could never understand way, when a radio set needed
be relatively portable so that it could be regularly moved to avoid DF'ing
and capture by the enemy, the Coast Watchers had such large and cumbersome
sets, Now we know why. To further understand this confusion, see Backmail
#27. As I read it myself, each paragraph rased another question with me,
but all were answered as I read on, Thanks Dave. The origins of the Coast
Watcher network, and the equipment they used, is very similar to those
clandestine stations operating in the early part of WW-II for the OSS
in China, Vietnam, and various other Indo-Chinese countries. I/E foreign
businessmen, plantation owners, miners, and oil companies, that once hostilities
started, went underground using their company equipment to transmit vital
information out of the country. As the war progressed, and their equipment
began to age, also proving sourly suited to these type activities, the
OSS, and Naval Intelligence provided these operators with more suitable
equipment, and some measure of logistic support. You might also note that
until late in the war, U.S. Naval Intelligence operated a network of clandestine
operatives in these countries that was far greater than that of the OSS.
I hope when next we hear from Dave, he tell's us more of the W/S No.108's,
208's and ATR-4a's and b's. Dennis Starks; MILITARY RADIO COLLECTOR/HISTORIAN
military-radio-guy@juno.com -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
G'day Dennis, I don't know if you ever did get any detailed info apart
from what was in #27 as I have not yet requested all the Backmail up till
I joined the group. Anyway, Here's the story as I have been able to glean
from various publications. In 1913, the company of Amalgamated Wireless
Australasia, more commonly known as AWA, was established to combine the
interests of the Marconi and Telefunken companies. In the early 1920's
the Australian Government became a part owner of the company. In the 1930's,
AWA was given the task to set up a wireless communications network around
Australia and the South West Pacific islands such as New Guinea, Fiji,
Solomons to name just a few. The idea was to provide communications to
widely separated airfields, mines, plantations and settlements, etc. This
network was to become known as the Teleradio network because AWA, in order
to set up the circuit, developed a range of equipments called the Teleradio.
Naturally enough, the first of these was called the Teleradio 1. Initially,
some 200 Teleradios were installed and base stations in major towns and
islands were set up as links back to Australia. By about 1940, the series
had developed to the Teleradio 3A and then in 1941, AWA made big changes
and produced the 3B model. The Tx (Type 1J6798) was two channel crystal
controlled AM/CW with a separate vibrator type power supply (Type D6799)
which incorporated a speaker for the Rx. The Rx (Type *C6770) was 5-band
200kHz to 30MHz general coverage with one crystal channel. All three of
the above units were built into identical sized and shaped metal boxes.
There was also a small Aerial Coupling Unit (Type J6847) that went with
the Tx. Prior to WW2, the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) had organised many
civilian Teleradio operators into Spotters nets to report on any unusual
activities in and around the various islands. These 'spotters' were able
to give suggestions as to what was required in these radios and AWA developed
the 3BZ during 1942. The 3BZ Tx (Type J50062) had 6 crystal channels and
the Aerial Coupling Unit was built in as was a heavy duty vibrator unit.
The Rx (Type *C6770) had 4 bands. There were several versions depending
on frequency range required and battery voltage available i.e. 6 or 12
volt. The version was identified by a number placed in front of the 'C'
in the type number. When the war came to the South west Pacific area and
the Japanese started moving into the islands, many of these operators
from plantations and mines and townships took the teleradios and moved
back into the mountains and jungle to form a very brave band of spotters,
The Coastwatchers. A Coastwatchers typical station would often consist
of a mix of 3A, 3B or 3BZ components depending on what was available at
the time. The station obviously consisted of the Tx, the Rx and Speaker
Box, as well as the various cables, aerials, key, microphone, headphones,
tools, lead-acid storage batteries, petrol-motor driven battery charging
generator. It was also necessary to carry oil and fuel for this generator
of course as well as any other pack that the operators carried. The weight
of the entire station came in at around the 200 pounds mark. It can be
seen from this that the Coastwatchers had to rely heavily on local natives
to assist with manhandling of the station and this assistance was invaluable
to the effectiveness of the Coastwatching network as a whole. As the war
progressed the civilians operators were eventually given some military
status by being incorporated into the Navy (this was mainly to enable
some sort of assistance to the spotter's families should anything happen
to him). These 'navy' civilians were eventually joined in the task by
Army and Airforce spotting groups, one such being the formation of the
New Guinea Air Warning Wireless Company. U.S. Forces also provided 'spotters'.
Also, as the war progressed, newer and smaller wireless sets such as the
W/S No.108's, 208's and ATR-4a's and b's made spotting life a little 'easier'
if one can use that word to describe a dangerous operation. Much of this
description has been gleaned from a story in HRSA Radio Waves, January
1996, written by Colin MacKinnon, a book called "The Private War of the
Spotters: A History of the New Guinea Air Warning Wireless Company",the
original manuals for the 3B and 3BZ Stations and from a report by Sub-Lieutenant
Reid on his activities on Bouganville Island 1942/43. Teleradios 3A and
3B are very hard to find these days. There does appear to be quite a few
3BZ's still around but these are mostly now in the hands of collectors.
Hope this is of some use, Dennis. -- Dave Prince VK4KDP Brisbane, Queensland,
Australia davprin@gil.com.au http://www.gil.com.au/~davprin Collector
and restorer of Military Radio, Signalling Equipment and WW2 Canadian
Military Pattern (CMP) Vehicles. ---------------------------------------------------------------
Dennis, Enjoyed the article on the coastwatchers. Nothing really new but
at east it is consolidated in a short space and we have some nomenclature
and back ground on AWA. Bill Howard THE WILLIAM L. HOWARD ORDNANCE TECHNICAL
INTELLIGENCE MUSEUM e-mail wlhoward@gte.net Telephone AC 813 585-7756
ed) Personally, I thought Dave's article on the Coast Watcher's provided
considerable info that we didn't earlier have. It also cleared up the
confusion we were in via previous (seemingly conflicting) input on the
subject. We now know that the early material we received from John Mackesy
and John Kid were not conflicting, they just covered different time periods,
or angles of the same story. Next we need to find out what our U.S. counterparts
used? The TBX has been named, but by persons on the selling end, in the
same light as BC-611 "Spy Radios". Other possible radios come to mind
like the TCH, or MBM, but there just isn't enough data to speculate. I
recon I screwed up the date again on yesterday's post, at least you don't
hafta wait 11 months ta read that one, so ges I'm gettin bedder. Er ya
cud luk at it tha other way, ya got yesterday's news the day before, er
taday's news yesterday. Whatever! ***********************************************
COAST WATCHERS STORY/BOOK; From Steve Hill Gday Dennis, I finished reading
the book about about coastwatchers. The book is entitled "Missionary Turns
Spy" It is written by Pastor A Freund and is his story of his adventures
in evading the Japs in northern PNG. Pastor Freund was a Lutheran minister,
working as a missionary in New Guinea prior to the war. The Lutheran Church
of Australia has been and still is actively involved in mission work in
PNG. Most Lutherans in Australia (including my family) originated from
Germany, which led to suspicion of many of the mission workers, however
most of them actively opposed the Japanese and many were enlisted by the
Australian armed forces and worked as coastwatchers. When the Japs first
invaded the Northern part of PNG, Pastor Freund and his co-workers had
no choice but to evacuate all the white workers from his mission. The
mission boats were used to skirt the coastline at night, and were hidden
in trees near shore during the day. Several daytime dashes were made but
no Japanese planes sighted the boats. After reaching a safer area, the
boats were left. Pastor Freund and many of his co-workers were met by
a representative of the New Guinea Volunteer Regiment (NGVR) and drafted
into the military. Pastor Freund objected but was given the choice of
enlisting in the Navy and becoming a coastwatcher, which is what he did.
He and his co-workers were now coastwatchers. Note that they were not
issued enlistment numbers, and did not receive even a uniform for some
time. Each coastwatcher was issued with a Teleradio 3BZ, built by AWA.
This consisted of Reciever, Transmitter, Accessories, Batteries, and Petrol
driven battery charger. It required at least six native carriers just
to carry the radio. Thus every time the party wanted to move, large amounts
of native carriers were needed. Trading material (such as salt) was carried
for this purpose. Note that none of the coastwatchers in this story had
any training in radio, knew nothing about electronics, and did not know
morse code. The coastwatchers were issued general working frequencies,
and a special X frequency for making reports. The X frequency supposedly
top secret but the coastwatchers found it by tuning the reciever while
running the oscillator with the X crystal in the transmitter. Thus they
could listen to reports made by other coastwatchers. Supplies were regularly
dropped by planes. General coastwatching duties continued for some time.
Jap movements were reported whenever sighted. Several failures were experienced
with the radios, and repairs were done by trial and error, as the fault
was usually very simple. One failure was experienced which prevented the
voice section from working but it would transmit in CW. Thus the operator
taught himself CW so reports could still be made. The fault was eventualy
repaired. This continued until the situation really hotted up. The Japs
captured the township only a few miles away. They would be searching the
area very soon. The standing order from Port Moresby was "You are more
useful to us alive than dead". In other words do not engage the enemy,
get out! Thus the gear was collected up and the party ran. Several neighbouring
coastwatchers were captured and executed. To be captured as a coastwatcher
meant certain death. Pastor Freund and his party retreated through the
mountains to Port Moresby. Obviously a lot more than that happened, but
that is basically the story in a nutshell. Cheers -----------------------
Steve Hill VK4CZT |
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