Military Collectors Group Post, Nov.7/97 Index: BASIC JAPANESE RADIO COLLECTION PART VI; The Japanese Type 94-5 Wireless Station, by Bill Howard SCR-536(BC-611); What's the scoop Dennis? Bill Needs Some Spiders; Coils that is. HUMOR; a little better, but Bill's at it again. ************************************************************ BASIC JAPANESE RADIO COLLECTION PART VI; The Japanese Type 94-5 Wireless Station, The Type 94 - 5 was considered the Company and Battalion level sets. The Battalion signal company would send a radio team down to each company to provide communication back to the battalion. The battalion also used these sets to stay in touch with regimental headquarters. The set was transported in two chests. I have never seen the No 2 chest but assume there must have been one. The No 1 Chest held the transmitter, the receiver and the accessory bag. It is assumed the No 2 chest held the generator and everything else. This station is made up of a receiver, a transmitter, a hand cranked generator and related accessories. The transmitter is a small, one tube set, powered by a hand cranked generator. A detailed analysis of the set was done by Ken Lakin in Electric Radio Magazine. Ken got the set on the air using a US type 19 tube, which has a 1.5 volt filament rather than the 6 volt UZ 12 C tube, which is a very rare tube. He also used a power supply as he did not have a hand cranked generator. Even with the generator, I doubt he could have talked his wife into cranking it! This also explains why most GI?s did not bother to bring home the generators, a major factor in the high cost of finding a generator today! Ken also got a Type 94 - 5 receiver that was out of the case and in very poor condition. He did a marvelous job of restoring the set, probably more work than anyone else would consider doing. This set was also described in an article in Electric Radio. I can not say very much more than Ken about the technical aspects of the set. This set was one of the sets that was the subject of a technical bulletin in WW II as it was felt that these sets could be used by U.S. personnel to supplament their own communication systems. The transmitter is a 5 watt transmitter and the range is adequate for it?s intended purpose. For HAM radio use, it will reach out but does not have the range the more power ful sets have. By comparison, a Citizens Band radio, which is limited to 5 watts has a range of about 5 miles in a mobile unit, more when operating a base station. With a good antenna system, the range is increased considerably. Seldom does one find these sets together. You may be lucky and find the receiver and then go looking for the transmitter or as was the case with Ken Lakin, find the transmitter first and then go looking for the receiver. These sets came in metal cases which had leather side flaps and top and bottom flaps. In many cases, the GI who brought the set home, cut the leather flaps off as it makes the set easier to use and easier to display on a shelf., however it cuts down the value considerably. The first set I got had the leather flaps cut off. After that, I picked up sets with leather flaps. I was very fortunate to get both receiver and transmitter and accessory case in the transport chest along with numerous accessories. Interestingly enough both transmitter and receiver had matching serial numbers, a rare find. Both transmitters and receivers had carrying slings and were also fitted with hooks for a back pack. Shortly after this set came in, another transport chest was located but the inner compartment dividers were removed. I have been fortunate to find almost all of the accessories for these sets but am still looking for a generator and the power cable. I was loaned a generator by Lou Demers for study so have many excellent photos of the generator. I also made up some power cables but have yet to find a genuine one. WHAT IS THIS SET WORTH?? Japanese Type 94-5 Radio Set In 30 years of collecting military relics, I had never seen any Japanese radios. In 1987 I found one Type 94-5 receiver. Then in 1992 these sets began to show up all over. Military shows, Radio Magazines and the Inter net. As a result, I have established the following guide lines for establishing a fair value for these sets. I have generally gone for the higher prices on these sets as that represents the top dollar value. Many of the items can be found for a lot less. Type 94-5 Receiver in near mint condition $350.00 Less the leather flaps, deduct -$ 50.00 Less operational tubes at $20.00 per tube -$ 60.00 Damaged Case: Visible damage, deduct - $ 30.00 per item This includes missing hinges, data plates, extra holes Invisible Damage - $ 20.00 per item This includes missing battery cables, missing battery plug Damaged Receiver Missing a control dial or knob -$ 30.00 Missing a major component, capacitor, rheostat ,panel -$40 to -$50 per item Missing a major, non panel component such as transformers -$20.00 per item. Missing a minor component, resistor, capacitor -$5 to -$10 per item. Receiver only, complete, no case $75.00 Type 94-5 Transmitter in near mint condition $300.00+ With original UZ 12 C tube with good filament, add $ 82.00 Less Leather Flaps, deduct - $ 50.00 Visible and invisible damage, same as for the receiver It should be noted that these transmitters were rarely used by HAMs and seldom show any signs of damage. They are usually missing the original tube and seldom have any crystals. They are relatively rare items, there being about one transmitter for every three receivers. Accessories for the Type 94-5 set Transport case, complete with all shelves, holders and parts list $200.00 Missing the shelves $125.00 F19 Hand cranked generator (very rare item) $325 to $500 Generator Power cable (Another rare item) $50 to $75 Headset/throat mike, complete, operational, with plug $150.00 missing the mike or the plug $ 25.00 Most of these have deteriorated cables, decomposed rubber boots. Mike rubber straps are badly stretched. Headphones usually do not register on continuity checks so test with a 9 volt battery. Accessory bag ( A rare item) $75.00 Key, with base, cable and plug $75.00 Transfer cable, receiver to transmitter, with both 5 pin plugs $50.00 Receiver bench test power cable,usually found missing one end $25.00 Antenna, antenna lead in, counterpoise wire, These are rare items, get good documentation on these items as any copper wire can be claimed as AOriginal@ and stuck on bamboo insulators. $30.00 per item if documented Seldom does one encounter the accessories and when found may be cheaper because the owner does not know what they are. THE WILLIAM L. HOWARD ORDNANCE TECHNICAL INTELLIGENCE MUSEUM e-mail wlhoward@gte.net Telephone AC 813 585-7756 ************************************************************ SCR-536(BC-611); Dennis, Whats the real scoop on the BC-611? I've seen the propaganda put out by Motorola on it & the BC-1000. Also the BC-1000 scoop would be nice. Fred ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------- Fred, It's about time somebody asked! The Motorola propaganda that you mention is a real sore subject with me. For those that don't know, it takes the form of an Info-mercial & was printed in a multi page article in various trade publications starting a couple years ago. The reader, thinking all along, this is some interesting stuff, neat to know history. Doesn't realize until he has finished reading that it's all just a big advertisement. Then if he doesn't know any better thinks it all to be true. In fact it's full of BULL SHIT with just a little truth thrown in. Upon reading it, I wrote numerous nasty letters to both Motorola & all the publications that were printing it. Don't know what good that did! None of these letters netted a response. In this printed Bull Shit, Motorola claims complete credit for the design & development of the BC-611, BC-745, BC-1000, & FM! The later two subjects are the most disturbing. While it is true that Galvin did tour europe just prior to WW-II, & he did envision a major storm brewing that would require lotsa radios. And he did return home to begin development on these sets. But that is about as far as it goes. Without the aid of the Signal Corps, none would have been suitable for Military use. In the case of the BC-1000 & FM, Motorola also claimed to be the pioneer that made FM possible, & claimed credit for it's development, and that of the BC-1000, & just about every FM radio built till this day(including the smallist FM radio currently in production in the world, which is also BULL SHIT!). They at no time mention Armstrong(the greatest man of all time), nor August Link. Both these men were needed to make the BC-1000 work, & the patents DONATED by Maj. Armstrong to his country in the time of most urgent need. Nor is it mentioned that the first BC-1000 submitted to the Signal Corps for evaluation by Galvin was not FM at all, but AM. It was re-designed at the insistence of the Signal Corps, at which time the help of Maj. Armstrong & August Link was enlisted. These men, working around the clock, hand built in their own home garage/work shops, because their manufacturing facilities were completely swamped, many of the FM prototypes & even pre-production radios, that went on to change history & radio forever! Fact is, August Link was building FM radios before WW-II, & Galvin was swayed only because of the governments insistence. Then after the war, Galvin/Motorola capitalized on all that free engineering & patent access. While it is true that Galvin/Motorola did make some very noteworthy & Heroic contributions during WW-II, it would have been more proper for them to brag on those. This would include the very first FM repeaters ever, & their pretty much "under enemy gunfire" development, very worthy of further discussion. Are you yet sorry you asked? I suppose I should now get off my soap box, because this could go on for a very long time. Suffice to say, it was Armstrong(a true American Hero) that invented FM, & it was Link that made it happen before ANYBODY else, in very close cooperation with Armstrong. BTW, August Link is still alive today, & kickin around. The below is extracted from a plaque that I put on display with the BC-611 when I'm on tour. It will save me some typing, & I'll include some further remarks at it's end. The BC-1000 on the other hand deserves an entire volume, so will be addressed another time. Originaly designed for use by Para-troopers, the SCR-536 was the first true hand held transceiver, & the second radio set to be called the Handie Talkie. Being the most familiar military radio of all time,it is often refered to as the "John Wayne Radio". First introduced to the U.S.Army by Galvin Corp.in February 1940,an intial order of 3500 units took place later that year. However these first sets were diverted by Galvin to fill a Dutch contract. This probably do to their impending attack by Japanese forces in the Dutch East Indies.(really sounded to me more like "money over country", & the Signal Corps wasn't happy about the delay) It's first battle field service began on the beaches of Operation Torch(the North African Invasion of 1942). Subsequently,the SCR-536 saw service in virtually every theater of the war by all combatants. In the case of the latter, examples of the radio captured in Sicily were judged by their new German owners as"extremely effective","ideal equipment for forward observers & companies". Japanese admiration was expressed by their post war cloneing of the set as the JBC-611. It is strange that in light of this enemy admiration, no veteran that either used, or serviced the set had anything good to say about it with the exception of,"it was good for talking from the bottom of a hill, to the top". The BC-611, it's glider mounted cousin, the BC-721(SCR-585), & one BC-191 were the fue radios to survive the airborne landings of Operation Market Garden. The later was in operation only hours before it's capture by the Germans, whereupon they pitched it! Use of the 536 continued in U.S. hands until it's successor (the PRC-6) could be fielded in quantity,approx 1952. International Allied use continued until the early 1960's, aided by CIA proliferation under the counter to various groups all over the world, including Cambodia, Tialand, & Loas. Postwar examples have been imported in recent years via NATO surplus that show French, British, Italian, & Greek markings. So it can be seen, even though it really wasn't much of a radio, it did carve itself a significant niche in our history as well as that of the world. Again, our now official group motto; "We thank you for your interest in our history as it is represented in this equipment." Dennis Starks; MILITARY RADIO COLLECTOR/HISTORIAN military-radio-guy@juno.com ************************************************************ Bill Needs Some Spiders; Coils that is. Dennis, Please ask the group if: Does anyone have two spider wound antenna coils, one winding about 5 inches in diameter? Circa 1930-1940 Does anyone have a smaller coil, about three inches in diameter, mounted on a base with a shaft to allow the coil to be moved back and forth in an arc? Can anyone think of a vintage transmitting tube, four or five pin, S or ST shaped with a plate cap that could double as an RF amplifier in a receiver? Thanks Bill Howard THE WILLIAM L. HOWARD ORDNANCE TECHNICAL INTELLIGENCE MUSEUM e-mail wlhoward@gte.net Telephone AC 813 585-7756 ************************************************************ HUMOR; a little better. This just in: The local bar was so sure that its bartender was the strongest man around that they offered a standing $1000 bet. The bartender would squeeze a lemon until all the juice ran into a glass, and hand the lemon to a patron. Anyone who could squeeze one more drop of juice out would win the money. Many people had tried over time (weight-lifters, longshoreman, etc.) but nobody could do it. One day this scrawny little man came into the bar, wearing thick glasses and a polyester suit, and said in a tiny squeaky voice, "I'd like to try the bet." After the laughter had died down, the bartender said OK, grabbed a lemon, and squeezed away. Then he handed the wrinkled remains of the rind to the little man. But the crowd's laughter turned to total silence as the man clenched his first around the lemon and SIX drops fell into the glass. As the crowd cheered, the bartender paid the $1000, and asked the little man, "What do you do for a living? Are you a lumberjack, a weight-lifter, what?" The little man replied, "I work for the IRS." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------ AND YOU THOUGHT YOU KNEW SOMETHING ABOUT CANADA! ALL ABOUT CANADA The French and the English were always rivals and at war with each other which got to be costly for the British who had to build a lot of ships to transport troops to France and messey for the French who had to clean up the battle sites so they created Canada, an out of the way place where the French and English could continue their disagreements with out bothering the French or the British. Canada was quicky populated with a bunch of surly and hearty drinkers which gave rise to the countries motto, ?Drink Canada Dry?. Canadians have been drinking ever since. When they created a new flag, they were so bleary eyed that the used a maple leaf but with blood shot eyes, they thought it was red. Canadian?s all belong to a drinking club. It is called Canadian Club and they mostly drink whiskey. Unlike Australia, where some people are rich and some are poor, everybody in Canada is poor. How many times have we heard the phrase. ?The poor Canadians, they...and so forth. This is why they give such small tips when the come to the civilized world. Most Canadians live in the southern part of the country as they were trying to get into the United States but the border was closed before they got across and had to stay where they were. Canada has provinces, probably because they were so provincial. They showed great imagination when they named their provinces. Newfoundland was one. Every few years somebody goes there and knowing nothing about the place decided that it was newly found land. After a few weeks, they decided it wasn?t worth staying and left. One of Canada?s greatest heros was a man named James Souviens. Know as Jimmy to his friends, he left the Newly found land and started his own province and named it Quebec. In honor of his founding of Quebec, they put his name on all their license plates. They all have Jimmy Souviens name on the bottom of the plate but they use the French spelling. Je Me Souviens! At the other end of the country was another province called British Columbia. The original settlers thought the were going to Columbia, South America. It was a long voyage and they fell asleep and forgot to tell the Captain of the ship to stop at Columbia. He sailed around South America and when he landed they though it was Columbia. Every one of the natives knew they were from Britain so the place became know as The Britisher?s Columbia. Many of the early settlers in Quebec heard about the Britishers Columbia and they decided to head west in hopes they could cath a return voyage and get to South America. So they packed up and headed west. The rallying cry was ?On Ta Rio!? Some just gave up on travel and stayed put and just kept the rallying cry alive by naming the province after the intrepid travelers. Ontario eventually became the most populated province. Two of Canada?s most famous explorers had a province named after them. They originally started in the newly found land and were looking for an over land route to the Britisher?s Columbia. They blazed a trail across the land. Their last names are un remembered but their first names were Bertram and Albert and Bertram?s son Earnest. Much like Johnny Appleseed did when he travelled across the United States, Bertram and Earnest also dropped seeds. They however chose sesame seeds from the rolls they carried as provisions and left them behind at every camp site. Nobody knew their last names so Al and Bert became famous and Alberta was named after them. Albert and his son, Ernie were best known for the trail of Sesame seed they left behind them. To this day, Canadians refer to the trail they blazed as Sesame Street. One of the provinces got started but because the conditions were so rugged, there weren?t many people out there. Those who visited simply said ?Man? its bad ? out there! There was a shortage of women out in that area so one small town decided to hold a raffle and raffle off the few women that were there. They advertised all over Canada, ?Buy a Raffle ticket, Win a Peg or a Mary or a Sallie.? Eventually it was shortened to Win A Peg and the city became the capital of Manitoba, as ?Man? its bad ?out there became known. Canada has an abundant wildlife population. The most prevalent is the Nyaga. Canadians hunt Nyaga year round. They skin them and sell the Nyagahides to the automobile industry for use in making car seats and steering wheel covers. Canadian?s always go to sleep facing the west which meant that mothers of young children, who sang the children to sleep, were always singing about the Canadian Sunset. There is an old folk lore story told that they went to sleep facing the west so the morning sun would not get them up too early. Crime in Canada is controlled by the North West Mounted Police. This force was started by Nelson Eddy, after he retired from a singing career. The Mountie?s motto was that they always get their man however Mountie Nelson Eddy was best known for chasing after Jeannette Mcdonald. She was considerd a very eligible young lady as her father owned a chain of hamburger restaurants across the United States. Canada?s leading export is Canadians, which they export to Florida and California each winter. When not engaged in producing more Canadians, they usually work at jobs in the United States. The Canadian military consists of the Air Force and the Army. The Air Force is made up of Geese which fly south during the winter to protect the Canadians which were exported to Florida and California. The Canadians were very progressive and allowed women in the air force. They are called Canadian Womans Air Corps, CWAC?s. Sometimes pronounced Quacks, possibly in emulation of the geese, but being smaller, were only allowed to quack like ducks.. I once had a cousin who was a Quack. The army is an all volunteer force except when there is a war. Then they conscript people for the military, as the volunteers went some place else in advance of Canadian involvement in the conflict. Canada contributed to the Defense of North America by establishing the DEW line. Officially called the Distant Early Warning Line, it is usually refferred to as Doesn?t Ever Work. The Canadian operators of the radars usually spent the night before at the Canadian Club and in the morning were thinking about the Canadian Mist and not the Morning Dew. Their main task is to warn the United States when Santa Claus leaves the North Pole at Christmas time. THE WILLIAM L. HOWARD ORDNANCE TECHNICAL INTELLIGENCE MUSEUM e-mail wlhoward@gte.net Telephone AC 813 585-7756 THE WILLIAM L. HOWARD ORDNANCE TECHNICAL INTELLIGENCE MUSEUM e-mail wlhoward@gte.net Telephone AC 813 585-7756 --------- End forwarded message ---------- When finished reading use browser back button or go to http://www.prc68.com/MCGP/MCGP.html