Abe's Radio Shack
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Abe's Radio Shack
From Abe’s letters we learned that “the boys” would gather around the BC-344 longwave receiver and would listen to music at night. Commercial Long Wave broadcasting was common in Europe at the time. The S.I.A.M. group was issued multiple receivers covering the entire 20-37.9 MHz FM range used by tanks and armored vehicles, which makes it clear that they would have monitored this frequency range as well. The unit was issued 26 sections of MS-series whip antenna - a total of 86 feet. This was enough to make several whip antennas, mounted to MP-48 vehicle antenna bases. Since the BC-604 transmitter in the tanks put out just 20 watts, they would have been heard only over a distance of 20 miles or less. Perhaps the S.I.A.M. group monitored the armored unit “base station” which likely had more power and/or a better antenna. They could not transmit on the low VHF band, only receive. The S.I.A.M. group would have to move to maintain proximity to the frontline as it advanced, so installing and tearing-down the antenna farm was no doubt a common event. The SCR-188 technical manual provides detailed instructions for a two-man installation procedure of the two-mast inverted-L. All needed wires, guy attachments, ropes, stakes, and tools were included in the CH-30 chest. Any vehicle-mounted antennas would have simply been bent over and tucked under a clip prior to getting underway. It’s safe to assume the operating conditions were “Field Day-like”, and the S.I.A.M. monitoring shack was not luxurious. |
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