From: military-radio-guy Full-Name: Dennis R Starks To: military radio collectors#3 Fcc: Sent Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 04:55:21 -0500 Subject: MILITARY COLLECTOR GROUP POST, Oct.27/99 Message-ID: <19991028.045523.9078.7.military-radio-guy@juno.com> X-Status: Sent X-Mailer: Juno 1.49 MILITARY COLLECTOR GROUP POST, Oct.27/99 Index: FRENCH BC-312/314; By Feyssac Jacques MORE ON THE W.J. SELLOUT; SPECIAL EVENT REPORT; Rickreal OR. hamfest MEMBERS WRITE; WW-II Italian Radio Web Site, Member Nere Ft Gorden Needed, Antique Radio Auction, Ray Needs URC-101 Help, HUMOR; *********************************************** FRENCH BC-312/314; By Feyssac Jacques The Story of the French BC-312/342. It all begin in 1943/44 with the supply of american equipment to the french forces in north africa. The supply of SCR-188/193/299/399/499 made this receiver very popular with all the operators and technicians.The fame of american equipment at that time was very great, it was modern per comparison to the surviving french signal equipment, small in size, had good sensitivity/selectivity, and was easy to operate. When the war came to a close and the french army began to reorganise per benefit of the Marshall plan. More radio stations where supplied where the BC-312, & -314 were the "de facto" standart receivers. As time passed, and these receivers began to age, their came also a decline in performance, yet it was decide to maintain them. For this reason contracts were passed with the industry for the overhaul of these receivers. In 1955 it was in full activity, the receivers were fully dismandle, cleaned, repainted, new panels painted or engraved in the french language.The variable condenser was fully dismantled the plates treated by chemistry and plating, after reassembly the variation curve of the capacitor was checked per reference to a template. The IF transformers were rewounded, the AC transformer was rewounded also, then impregnated with MFP and dryed in an oven. All the wiring was redone with new wires , resistors and capacitors were new as were the tubs sockets. At final tests the receivers were showing equivalent performances to when they were originally built 15 years before. These receivers were used in service until 1964(after the end of the Algerian operations)and slowy remanded to training units or storage. But !!! it was not the end, the SCR-399 shelter was allocated to the CRS (Republican Companies of Security) as their own means of radio communication and it did remain in service until the beginning of 1990, then slowly it did appear on state auctions for generally a low price! In the French Army the receiver was never modified and remained exactly as in 1943. One known modification of the set is when used in the AN/MRC-2, one receiver oscillator could be used to drive the second receiver via an external buffer , the two receivers were then called OA65/MRC-2 and were use to receive RTTY signals in diversity (one of our member commented about this modification not long time ago). Well 50 years of operations under all the skies, good service record isn't it? Feyssac Jacques *********************************************** MORE ON THE W.J. SELLOUT; Investment firm Fox Paine to acquire Watkins-Johnson Oct 26, 1999 --- Watkins-Johnson Company, a maker components, subassemblies and equipment for fixed and mobile networks, has agreed to merge with an acquisition company managed by Fox Paine & Company, LLC. Through a recapitalization merger, FP-WJ Acquisition Corp., a new company formed by certain investment funds managed by Fox Paine, will convert all outstanding shares of Watkins-Johnson into the right to receive $41.125 per share in cash, a 30 percent premium above Watkins-Johnson's closing price of $31.625 on October 25. The transaction is expected to be completed in early 2000. After the recapitalization, Watkins-Johnson's primary operations will consist of its Wireless Products Group (WPG), which makes radio-frequency components and subsystems for wireless and wire line communications equipment, with fiscal year 1998 revenues of $63.6 million. WPG is focused on wireless communications, high-speed fiber (SONET) and broad band cable applications. WPG's president, Malcolm Caraballo, will become the president and chief executive officer of the company and WPG's existing management team is expected to remain intact. WJ's chairman and co-founder, Dean A. Watkins, will retain an equity investment as part of the financing for the transaction. On March 31, WJ began a chain of divestitures that would prune its businesses down to it RF components business when the company agreed to sell its Semiconductor Equipment Group's high-density plasma chemical vapor deposition intellectual property assets and associated hardware to Applied Materials. In July, WJ sold the rest of its chip gear business to Silicon Valley Group Inc, followed by the August agreement to sell its Telecommunications group assets to Marconi North America, a subsidiary of the U.K.'s General Electric Company plc. *********************************************** SPECIAL EVENT REPORT; Rickreal OR. hamfest I went to the Rickreal OR hamfest. I was a little surprised by how small it was, altho i should know that. I did pick up new boxed electronic components, which i always like, more for knowing what they are than using them, i suppose. I also noted: RBO nice shape $200 (marked) sold? PRC-66 2 for $600 ( 200 - 400 MHz AM hardly seems worth anything ) no sale PRC-77 on vehicle mount with some other thing -PA ? $400 no sale PRC-47 guaranteed to be untested $50 ARW-??? radio control receiver in cylindrical package (why?) $10 ARR-15 2 hacked $60 51S1 rec. in FAA dress - rack mount case ( not regular size 51S1 case ) and slightly different color, light green? "For trade only" - no deal done. (Owner sed: "It does everything competently, but nothing exceptionally well. The high current value - about $800 for this model, $1200 for the civilian model - because it looks real nice, and it's Collins". ) I bot a URM-34 signal generator, looks like never used. Dial reads like 2.1, 2.5 but it's kilomegacycles, not Mc/s. "We" probably spent many 100s of $$ for it, i paid $10 so i could take it home and dismantle it. Had 1 nice folddown spinner knob like on ARC-2, that alone is worth the price i paid. Hue Miller Ed) Well, aside from somewhat crazy prices, you at least got to see some stuff. That's much better than most of us. The Southside Kansas City fest was a total dud. I expected as much so didn't bother to make the 145 mile trip. Reports confirm that I did save a great deal of time & trouble. *********************************************** MEMBERS WRITE; WW-II Italian Radio Web Site, For anyone interested in the Italian Military in WW II, below is a web site devoted to Italian radios sets. Army, Air Force and Navy. http://www.qsl.net/ik0moz/ This looks like a very good website for Italian equipment. Bill Howard THE WILLIAM L. HOWARD ORDNANCE TECHNICAL INTELLIGENCE MUSEUM e-mail wlhoward@gte.net ----------------------------------------------------------------- Member Nere Ft Gorden Needed, Dennis Is there anybody in the group that lives near Fort Gordon, Ga? The German Liasion Offixce has an East German telephone for me but something in German Army ruls say he can not send it by mail or UPS. I assume that means a personal pick up. Any live near there? Bill Howard THE WILLIAM L. HOWARD ORDNANCE TECHNICAL INTELLIGENCE MUSEUM e-mail wlhoward@gte.net Telephone AC 727- 585-7756 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Antique Radio Auction, From: Alan L. Waller We will be auctioning on site in Richmond, IN on Sat. Nov 20th, the complete Estate of Mary and Lionel Haid. Lionel was in the radio and television repair and sales business since 1929. He collected as well as restored antique radios for the last 20 years since his retirement. Besides a wonderful collection at home of battery, cathedrals, breadboards, mantles, crystals, transistors, catalin, etc, His shop is still full of parts, radios, and stacked to the ceiling. If you would let your members know about this sale they may be very interested in attending. Free Brochure rdrroller@aol.com or Roger Richert auctioneer 1-765-962-7734 700 Sim Hodgin Parkway, Richmond, IN 47374 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Ray Needs URC-101 Help, Have been working with the URC-101 for a couple months now, have worked out a lot of the little stuff, but still need any service or theory of operation stuff anyone may have. need to find out the pin out of the X-mode connecter in a big way. if anyone else is doing anything with a 101 please let me know, maybe we can exchange information. will have information on how to do a 5 kHz offset soon, and know a little about the codeing and control proto call if anyone else cares. let me know what you think, Motorola rules! Ray Fantini *********************************************** HUMOR; For all of you religious zealots, an interesting treatise on whether it is really correct to say "its hot as hell". The following is an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry mid term. The answer below was so "profound" that the professor shared it with colleagues, which is how it made it to the Internet circuit for the rest of us to enjoy. The Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)? Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law, (gas cools off when it expands and heats up when it is compressed) or some variant. One student, however, wrote the following: First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate that souls are moving into Hell and the rate they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, lets look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Some of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there are more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand as souls are added This gives two possibilities: 1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose. 2. Of course, if Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over. So which is it? If we accept the postulate given to me by Ms. Teresa Banyan during my Freshman year - that it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you, and take into account the fact that I still have not succeeded in having sexual relations with her, then, it cannot be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and will not freeze. As a footnote, this student received the only "A" given. ----------------------------------------------------------------- More T-shirt Quotes 1) My Mother Is A Travel Agent For Guilt Trips 2) Princess, Having Had Sufficient Experience With Princes, Seeks Frog 3) I Suffer Occasional Delusions of Adequacy 4) God Made Us Sisters, Prozac Made Us Friends 5) If They Don't Have Chocolate In Heaven, I Ain't Going 6) At My Age, I've Seen It All, Done It All, Heard It All...I Just Can't Remember It All 7) (around a picture of dandelions) I Fought the Lawn and the Lawn Won 8) I Just Do What The Voices Inside My Head Tell Me To Do 9) (Worn by a pregnant woman) A Man Did This To Me 10) If It's Called Tourist Season, Why Can't We Hunt Them? 11) Senior Citizen: Give Me My Damn Discount 12) So Few Men, So Few Who Can Afford Me 13) No, It Doesn't Hurt (on a "well-tattooed gentleman") 14) (on the back of a passing motorcyclist) If You Can Read This, My Wife Fell Off 15) I Used To Be Schizophrenic, But We're OK Now 16) (Over the outline of the state of Minnesota) My Governor Can Beat Up Your Governor 17) Veni, Vedi, Visa: I came. I Saw. I Did some Shopping. 18) What If The Hokey Pokey Really Is What It's All About? 19) I Didn't Climb to the Top of the Food Chain to Be a Vegetarian 20) (on the Front) Yale Is Just One Big Party- (on the back) With a $25,000 Cover Charge 21) Coffee, Chocolate, Men...Some Things Are Just Better Rich 22) Liberal Arts Major...Will Think For Money 23) Growing Old is Inevitable; Growing Up is Optional 24) IRS- Be Audit You Can Be 25) Gravity...It's Not Just a Good Idea. It's the Law. 26) If You Want Breakfast In Bed, Sleep In the Kitchen 27) Wanted: Meaningful Overnight Relationship 28) The Old Pro...Often Wrong...Never In Doubt 29) If At First You Don't Succeed, Skydiving Isn't For You 30) Old Age Comes at a Bad Time 31) In America, Anyone Can Be President. That's One of the Risks You Take living here 32) First Things First, but Not Necessarily in That Order. Id like to add my two personal favorites #33, The Navy, Not just a JOB, It's Joke! #43, To err is human, to forgive divine, neither of which is Navy policy! Dennis ----------------------------------------------------------------- Blondes Strike back What do you call going on a blind date with a brunette? Brown-bagging it. What's the real reason a brunette keeps her figure? No one else wants it. Why are so many blonde jokes one-liners? So brunettes can remember them. What do you call a brunette in a room full of blondes? Invisible. What's a brunette's mating call? "Has the blonde left yet?" What do brunettes miss most about a great party? The invitation What do you call a good looking man with a brunette? A hostage ----------------------------------------------------------------- All drugs have a generic name. Tylenol is Acetaminophen. Advil is Ibuprofen, etc. For the last few months, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been looking for a generic name for Viagra. Yesterday they announced that they have finally settled on "Mycoxafailin". ----------------------------------------------------------------- You know you might be a redneck if: 1. The Halloween pumpkin on your porch has more teeth than your spouse. 2. You let your twelve-year-old daughter smoke at the dinner table in front of her kids. 3. You've been married three times and still have the same in-laws. 4. You think a woman who is "out of your league" bowls on a different night. 5. Jack Daniel's makes your list of "most admired people." 6. You wonder how service stations keep their restrooms so clean. 7. Anyone in your family ever died right after saying, "Hey watch this." 8. You think Dom Perignon is a Mafia leader. 9. Your wife's hairdo was once ruined by a ceiling fan. 10. Your junior prom had a daycare. 11. You think the last words of the Star Spangled Banner are, "Gentlemen start your engines." 12. You lit a match in the bathroom and your house exploded right off its wheels. 14. The bluebook value of your truck goes up and down, depending on how much gas is in it. 15. You have to go outside to get something from the fridge. 16. One of your kids was born on a pool table. 17. You need one more hole punched in your card to get a freebie at the House of Tattoos. 18. You can't get married to your sweetheart because there's a law against it. 19. You think loading a dishwasher means getting your wife drunk. 20. Your toilet paper has page numbers on it. 21. Your front porch collapses and kills more than five dogs. *********************************************** The preceding was a product of the"Military Collector Group Post", an international email magazine dedicated to the preservation of history and the equipment that made it. Unlimited circulation of this material is authorized so long as the proper credits to the original authors, and publisher or this group are included. For more information concerning this group or membership contact Dennis Starks at, . A list of selected articles of interest to members can be seen at: http://www.softcom.net/users/buzz/backmail.html ***********************************************