From: military-radio-guy Full-Name: Dennis R Starks To: military radio collectors#1 Fcc: Sent Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 16:13:28 Subject: MILITARY COLLECTOR GROUP POST, Mar.11/99 Message-ID: <19990311.161238.6327.0.military-radio-guy@juno.com> X-Status: Sent X-Mailer: Juno 1.49 MILITARY COLLECTOR GROUP POST, Mar.11/99 Index: ANNOUNCEMENTS; THE "JOAN-ELEANOR" SYSTEM; by Pete McCollum MEMBERS WRITE; MX Series, HUMOR; *********************************************** ANNOUNCEMENTS; Carl K. aka "cameraman" has been removed from our group in response to numerous reports that I've received over the last year from members who have experienced great difficulty in concluding deals with him. If you too have had trouble from him, please let me know. If you have an arrangement with him currently that has not yet been satisfied, let me know. If you have any deals pending with him, be warned. If you have yet to be satisfied with a current, or past, transaction, I might be able to recommend a course of action that will net you some results. Be advised, that while he may no longer represent a direct threat to members of this group via this Post. He is still in business by way of other internet list, and a recently established web site. He is also a regular at many mid-western, lake-states, and near-eastern hamfest and militaria/vehicle shows. I regret very much that I've not done anything about this until now especially as I have had my suspicions for some months. But it is very difficult to maintain an impartial standing as the head of our group. I wanted no chance of their being any personal reason behind my chastising him. It was only after I had received word of trouble from numerous members that I could act without fear of being biased. But this allowed him time to take advantage of his membership in this group and to use that advantage to ill effect on other members who otherwise might have exercised greater caution. For this, I am greatly dismayed, and feel a certain responsibility. This makes the fourth time I've had to remove someone from our number for their unethical practices in our nearly three years of existence. Though this number is low, it's too many, and I sincerely wish it had been no more than zero. My apologies to all. Dennis *********************************************** THE "JOAN-ELEANOR" SYSTEM; by Pete McCollum Hi guys, Here is info on the "Joan-Eleanor" system, based on info provided by "Mr. A" (that's the pseudonym I use for him in my research paper). Within a couple of days, I should have a picture of a "Joan" on my Web page. Copyright 1999 by Peter McCollum. 2.4 The SSTR-6 and SSTC-502 - "Joan-Eleanor" This system, code named "Joan-Eleanor", was developed beginning in late 1942 by Dewitt R. Goddard and others. Mr. Goddard’s wife’s name was Eleanor. The project, originally proposed by Lt. Col. Henry Shore, involved producing a pair of transceivers; one for use by an agent on the ground, and the other mounted in an aircraft flying overhead. The system would be in the UHF band, since it was known that the Germans could not effectively monitor those frequencies. The agent would make his report using plain speech, and the aircraft would record the transmission on a wire recorder. Since Morse was not needed, the agent’s training time was greatly reduced, which was considered a valuable feature in the German theater. The hand-held SSTC-502 transceiver uses a dual triode as a combination super- regenerative detector during receive, and an oscillator during transmit. Two other tubes act as a microphone amplifier and modulator. The antenna is a simple dipole, attached to the top of the unit. The operating frequency is 260 MC - there is no provision for changing the frequency. The only controls are for regeneration and gain. Battery power consists of two "D" cells in parallel for the filaments, and two 67.5V batteries for the plates. Modulation was really a combination of AM and FM, and was received as FM by the SSTR-6. The airborne SSTR-6 transceiver uses an 832A tube as a MOPA, modulated by a pair of 42 tubes. The receiver portion is a superheterodyne with two RF amp stages, two limiter stages, and an FM detector. It was mounted in the space normally occupied by an aerial camera. The types of aircraft used included the B-17 and the British Mark 16 "Mosquito" bomber. The Mosquito was apparently used for most missions. The initial design work for Joan-Eleanor was done at RCA laboratories in Riverhead, NY. The first several SSTC-502 units were reportedly built by Mr. Goddard personally. The non-prototype units for the system were built by Citizens Radio of Cleveland, Freed Radio Corp. of NYC, Dictagraph Corp. of NYC, and Signal-U Mfg. Co. This latter company had a contract for 500 units. Much of the testing for the system was performed at Bovington, England. Antenna problems and frequency drift were among the problems noted. An antenna accessory was tested, code-named "Mud Flat". It was a reflector panel, 0.6 X 0.12 wavelength in size, mounted 0.25 wavelength behind the SSTC- 502 antenna. The Mud Flat proved to greatly improve signal quality, and it’s use was recommended whenever it was practical. A corner reflector was also tested, but it was decided that it was too directional. 2.5 Other OSS Projects Following is a list of OSS radio systems, and the cost paid by the government for some of them. The costs are apparently available on a National Archives document: * SSTR-1 HF agent radio set. $450. * SSTR-3 VHF radio set (operated at 40 MC). $235. * SSTR-4 HF radio set, about 100 watts. $290. * SSTR-5 HF radio set, small. $325. * SSTR-6 UHF aircraft transceiver, the "Eleanor" of the Joan-Eleanor system. $1913. * SSTR-7 $250. * SSTR-8 $295. * SSTR-9 $350. * SSTR-10 $240. * D2-FS $375. * D3-SF $550. * SSTC-1 $96. * SSTC-2 $275. * SSTC-502 UHF transceiver, the "Joan" of the Joan-Eleanor system. * SST-101 Press Wireless transmitter. $2669. * SST-102 crystal calibrator used with SSTR-1. * SSA-401 telephone tap (inductive). * SSR-204 remotely controlled switch. * SSR-211 $100. * SSR-212 $175. * SSLD-321 three-cornered reflector (for light), and SSLV-1 light-equipped headset, used as a night landing aid or to pinpoint a drop zone. * SSP-3 battery charger, thermocouple, used with the SSTR-1. * SSP-8 gasoline engine generator. ed) The above list of equipment and their cost were originally compiled shortly after this data was de-classified in the mid-1980's. The original government documents they were compiled from were actually an accounting of expenditures of the OSS during WW-II, and was not at all technical in nature. Some of the listed equipment has not yet been identified in total, and there were many other types known to have been purchased and used by the OSS in great quantities that are not listed. One possible reason for some of these missing items might lay, in part, to the fact that some of these were obtained through various other government offices, and with that, the actual cost accountability lost. >From Ref.#3 * SSR-204, was a small received used for the remote detonation of explosives. * SSP-8 gasoline engine generator.(was for use with the SSTR-1) *SSLV-322, is discribed as the SSLV-1 is above. The cross between AM & FM operation of the SSTC-502 was not at all intentional. It was the direct result of the state-of-the-art at the time of it's design and it's restrictions on equipment size. This equipment size/weight requirement would have mandated the use of an AM modulated oscillator. FM is an unintentional bi product of this method. AM modulating an oscillator in such a manner causes variable voltage across it's plate which in turn varies it's frequency. The Signal Corps BC-222, -322 (SCR-194, -195 respective) and the Navy's TBY, which also used modulated oscillators, suffered from the very same affliction. This system was outlawed after the war, even for ham use, because of it's instability and extremely wide bandwidth. It is this extremely wide bandwidth that most likely made it advantageous to use an FM receiver in the aircraft as fine tuning of the ground radio would have been simplified considering the adverse conditions that all were being used under. Joan-Eleanor system was originally intended to mimic the British Eureka-Rebecca system which included the SSTC-502's counterpart, the 'S' Phone(Type 13/Mark IV, circa 1943) which operated at approx 350mc(this was just above the glide slope signals for blind landings). This system, as did the Joan-Eleanor, had three primary functions which included Radio Telephone, Homing Beacon, and Parachute Drop Indicator. It is the later where both these systems saw their most extensive service. Here they were used to talk-in night time landings, or parachute supply drops to behind the lines operatives. Also included in these systems where ground beacons designed to allow aircraft to home in on a desired location, like the U.S. PPN-1, and the British Rebecca. Secondly, they were used for communications to off-shore ships and submarines which performed the functions of supply, infiltration, or the passing of intelligence. For instance SSTC-502 was used by spotters watching over ship traffic going through the straits of Gibraltar. The spotter would radio his messages to either a station farther inland to be processed, or to an intercept vessel. It is rumored that the Germans had their counter part radio set that they used similarly to transmit intelligence to off-shore submarines. It is further rumored that one of the German stations was in operation at the New York City harbor. Ref. #4 Assigns design credit of the SSTC-502 to Al Cross,"the progenitor was the OSS working from a secret facility in Youngstown Ohio, with a young engineer named Al Cross". In 1948 Cross received permission from the FCC to market the radio commercially for use on the 460-470mc Citizens band. 100,000 radios are reported to have been produced before his patent ran out(built commercially by Citizens Radio Corp, Cleveland Ohio). It goes on to state,"OSS projects were assigned women's names at random". The first successful use of the Joan-Eleanor system took place in the Netherlands in November of 1944. Between January and April of 1945 12 systems where planted in German cities. Between March 19 and April 25 of 1945, a total of 29 missions were flown with the majority being successful. A July 1945 memorandum to the U.S Joint Chiefs of Staff said,"In actual operation, it proved a valuable new tool for penetration of any desired depth into enemy territory". Ref.#3, goes on to say that the Joan-Eleanor system was used with great success throughout the European and Far Eastern theaters. Dennis Starks; Collector/Historian Midwest Military Communications Museum email: military-radio-guy@juno.com References: #1, Clandestine Operations, the Arms and Techniques of the Resistance, 1941-1944, by Pierre Lorain #2, Wireless for the Warrior, by Louis Meulstee #3, The War Report of the OSS, by Kermit Roosevelt #4, Electronics in WW-II, magazine article by John Voelcker, IEEE Spectrum for September. 1987 *********************************************** MEMBERS WRITE; MX Series, Great stuff on the MX series. I always regarded them as a high end unit since only the "big boys" in the fire service had them. Thanks for the reminder that these are still viable radios. Ken Sakamoto ed) It is my hope that the series will serve as a little more than just as a reminder. Thanks a lot for the should pat, my ego requires constant support. ---------------------------------- Hi Dennis, It has been awhile since I've written you. I've a couple comments and questions. (1) The MX-300 articles - thanks for the info. on these units! I'm enjoy your articles on them - and kudos to all who are sharing the knowledge. My brief input on these fine radios. I wasn't "into" radios during my service with the UT-Knoxville Police Dept. I daily used a "2 channel" version - sadly I don't recall specifics though. As in the hammer/club senarios, they survive well bouncing around inside the unit. Just like the "pea in a whistle" during rear-end collisions (long story - don't ask). (2) Here at work there are a couple MX-300 std. models "still earning a living" as field equipment. They are single channel, non-split units. They xmt & rcv on 410.150 MHz per the back sticker. Up to four are possible or label space is provide per the unit back sticker. (3) Can you forward the back sticker decoder information? Can you forward the speaker mic connector schematic? What are the prom/eproms Motorola used? Is there a list of them I can be on the lookout for? Do you have any of the MX-300 available? I'd like to get one on 6M, 2M, and/or other ham packet bands someday. Has any group member tried using one as a direct computer controlled transceiver? (4) Thanks again for all of your effort on the newsgroup! Regards, David Ward - N3XRW National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) E-mail: david.ward@nist.gov ed) (2) label space on the frequency sticker dozen't necessarily mean the radio can operate on that many frequencies. (3) If you send me the sticker/model number, I can translate it for you. At the end of this series, I plan to offer up the manuals in my library to copied for members in the customary manner. You might then get the schematics you need. A complete run down on all the proms/eproms these used will be in an up-coming part of this series. I have never seen a 6mtr MX, I've only been told that they existed. As to my having any others, yes I do, but I would not feel compfortable selling them. However, we may have a surprise next week. *********************************************** HUMOR; Two old ladies are sitting on the porch at the old folks home. One turned to the other and asked "Martha, you were married a long time, did you and your husband have mutual orgasm?" The other little old lady sat and rocked for a minute and said, "No, I think we had State Farm" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A man comes to a doctor and, twitching his fingers and stuttering, finally manages to say, "Doctor, I have a sexual performance problem. Can you help me?" "Oh, that's not a problem for us men anymore!" announces a proud physician, "They just came out with this new wonder drug, Viagra, that does the trick! You take some pills, and your problems are history" So the doctor gives the man a prescription and sends him on his merry way. A couple of months later, the doctor runs into his patient on the street. "Doctor, Doctor!" exclaims the man excitedly, "I've got to thank you! This drug is a miracle! It's wonderful! "Well, I'm glad to hear that" says the pleased physician, "What does your wife think about it?" "Wife?" asks the man, "I haven't been home yet." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I believe that, in general, women are saner than men. For example: If you see people who have paid good money to stand in an outdoor stadium on a freezing December day wearing nothing on the upper halves of their bodies except paint, those people will be male. Without males, there would be no such sport as professional lawn mower racing. Also, there would be a 100 percent decline in the annual number of deaths related to efforts to shoot beer cans off of heads. There would be no such words as ``wedgie'' and ``noogie.'' Also, if women were in charge of all the world's nations there would be --I sincerely believe this -- virtually no military conflicts, and when there were a military conflict, everybody involved would feel just awful and there would soon be a high-level exchange of thoughtful notes written on greeting cards with flowers on the front, followed by a Peace Luncheon (which would be salads, with the dressing on the side). So I sincerely believe that women are wiser than men, with the exception of one key area, and that area is: clothing sizes. In this particular area, women are insane. When a man shops for clothes, his primary objective -- follow me closely here -- is to purchase clothes that fit on his particular body. A man will try on a pair of pants, and if those pants are too small, he'll try on a larger pair, and when he finds a pair that fits, he buys them. Most men do not spend a lot of time fretting about the size of their pants. Many men wear jeans with the size printed right on the back label, so that if you're standing behind a man in a supermarket line, you can read his waist and inseam size. A man could have, say, a 52-inch waist and a 30-inch inseam, and his label will proudly display this information, which is basically the same thing as having a sign that says: ``Howdy! My bottom is the size of a Federal Express truck!'' The situation is very different with women. When a woman shops for clothes, her primary objective is NOT to find clothes that fit her particular body. She would like for that to be the case, but her primary objective is to purchase clothes that are the size she wore when she was 19 years old. This will be some arbitrary number such as ``8'' or ``10.'' Don't ask me ``8'' or ``10'' of what; that question has baffled scientists for centuries. All I know is that if a woman was a size 8 at age 19, she wants to be a size 8 now, and if a size 8 outfit does not fit her, she will not move on to a larger size: She can't! Her size is 8. So she will keep trying on size 8 items, and unless they start fitting her, she will become extremely unhappy. She may take this unhappiness out on her husband, who is waiting patiently in the mall, perhaps browsing in the Sharper Image store, trying to think of how he could justify purchasing a pair of night-vision binoculars. ``Hi!'' he'll say, when his wife finds him. ``You know how sometimes the electricity goes out at night and . . ' ``Am I fat?'' she'll ask, cutting him off. This is a very bad situation for the man, because if he answers ``yes,'' she'll be angry because he's saying that she's fat, and if he answers ``no,'' she'll be angry because HE'S OBVIOUSLY LYING BECAUSE NONE OF THE SIZE 8's FIT HER. There is no escape for the husband. I think a lot of unexplained disappearances occur because guys in malls see their wives unsuccessfully trying on outfits, and they realize their lives will be easier if, before their wives come out and demand to know whether they're fat, the guys just run off and join a UFO cult. The other day my wife, Michelle, was in a terrific mood, and you know why? Because she had successfully put on a size 6 outfit. She said this made her feel wonderful. She said, and this is a direct quote: ``I wouldn't care if these pants were this big (here she held her arms far apart) as long as they have a `6' on them.'' Here's how you could get rich: Start a women's clothing store called ``SIZE 2,'' in which all garments, including those that were originally intended to be restaurant awnings, had labels with the words ``SIZE 2.'' I bet you'd sell clothes like crazy. You'd probably get rich, and you could retire, maybe take up some philanthropic activity to benefit humanity. I'm thinking here of professional lawn mower racing. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Saving Billy Three young college students are on vacation in Washington, DC. One day they are walking together past the White House when they hear the voice of a man crying out, "Help, Help." Quickly, they respond to the call by leaping over the White House fence, and by following the cries, they eventually come upon Bill Clinton, drowning in the White House swimming pool. In an heroic rush, they pull him from the pool, then give him artificial respiration, clearly saving his life. After a few minutes, Clinton says to them, "Well, boys, today you saved my life! And I am willing to give each of you any wish you desire, as long as it is within my power as President!" The first fellow thinks for a few seconds then says, "I have always wanted to go to West Point. Can you get me an appointment?" "You bet!" said the President, "I'll sign the papers this afternoon!" Then the second fellow said, "I've always wanted to go to Annapolis. Can you get me in?" "You bet I can," said the President. "I'll sign the papers for it this afternoon, too." After a few moments more, the third fellow said, "I'd like to know, can you get me buried in Arlington National Cemetery?" Clinton, a bit startled, thought for a second or two, then said, "Sure, but tell me, aren't you awfully young to be thinking about such things?" "Nope," replied the remaining fellow. "Because when I get home and tell my old man what I did today, he's going to kill me!" *********************************************** (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 conserning this group contact Dennis Starks at, military-radio-guy@juno.com) ***********************************************