From: military-radio-guy Full-Name: Dennis R Starks To: military radio collectors#3 Fcc: Sent Date: Mon, 28 Dec 1998 07:03:24 Subject: MILITARY COLLECTOR GROUP POST, Dec.28/98 Message-ID: <19981228.070133.3327.11.military-radio-guy@juno.com> X-Status: Sent X-Mailer: Juno 1.49 MILITARY COLLECTOR GROUP POST, Dec.28/98 Index: MORE RADIO ACTIVE RADIOS; From Lenox Carruth MEMBERS WRITE; TCS Power Supply & Manuals? NEW MEMBER; Alan Fryer, N3BJ HUMOR; *********************************************** MORE RADIO ACTIVE RADIOS; From Lenox Carruth Dave Stinson recently wrote a very useful note about radioactive markings in boatanchors. In that article, he expressed a desire that someone publish a list of known radioactive equipment. Here is a list that I have compiled over several years. Some information is from personal knowledge and other data has been contributed by list members and others. TBX Meter faces and markings TBY Meter faces and markings TDZ Telephone channel selector dial ATD BC-620 Meter face BC-654 BC-659 Meter face BC-1335 Gibson Girl(various,maybe) R-174/GRR-5(maybe!) R-390 Meter faces (original meters) R-390A Meter faces (original meters) R-392 Meter faces (original meters) T-195 Knobs Many military knobs have a radioactive marking Switches Ends of some toggle switches are radioactive Tubes 0A2, 0A2WA 0A3 0B2 OC3 0E3 (5783WA) 85A2 372A 395A (5823 gas triode) 5651, 5651A 6081 6143 MPT47, MPT47B Note that tube radioactivity is internal. They are safe unless broken. Some tubes are radioactive in military versions only. Aircraft Instruments - Virtually all older aircraft instruments are radioactive. This probably includes all instruments manufactured through the sixties and, perhaps, well into the seventies. In general, it is not necessary to have a radiation monitoring instrument to determine which markings are radioactive and which are not. Radium paint is much thicker than the normal printed or silk screened markings. It is also, typically, light yellow with an occasional slight greenish tint. Older markings tend to turn brown. Do not be fooled by markings which do not glow in the dark! Old radium paint looses its capacity to fluoresce but does not lose its radioactivity. Radium i226 is a gamma and alpha emitter and has a half life of 1622 years so it won't go away soon. Modern military equipment that glows in the dark uses tritium sealed in glass vials. Tritium is a beta emitter with a half life of 12.26 years. It is safe unless you eat the glass vials being sure to chew each bite like your mother taught you. Lenox Carruth Dallas, TX carruth@geo-thermal.com Collector of WW-II Communications Equipment and Memorabilia Wanted: TCS-14 Transmitter, TBX, BD-71, Sextant ed) It should be noted that NOT ALL variants of the above listed radios will have radio active attributes. Some might distinguish between early and late war examples of the TBY and TBX. But there is no clear dividing line. Versions of both early and late production radios exist that have been found to be radio active, others not. Canadian Mod.19 MK III sets usually are not radio active, yet some versions of the U.S. MK II are. The use of radio active materials was not limited to WW-II or even 50's vintage equipment, but persisted on into at least the late 70's. The paint(or actually Paste) used on WW-II vintage dial markings is now badly oxidized in most cases, and can be dissolved with water, or even wiped off with your hands. So cleaning these surfaces is a very risky undertaking both in the area of personal danger, and permanent cosmetic damage to the radio itself. It is also not a good idea to try to use any type of clear coat over these dial face markings in an attempt to preserve or render them harmless. This because if a brush application is used, you will often wipe off the markings your trying to protect. Even if you attempt to use a spray application the subject markings might be dessolved making a rather nasty mess. It's probably best to just leave all suspect items alone, and treat them with the respect they deserve. The Governments of European countries are far more restrictive of both these perceived dangers and ownership of military radio equipment in general. The Netherlands for instance require collectors be issued permits to own military radios, and with that an inspection of said equipment by a government official. These inspections include a test for radioactivity. For this reason, European collectors should be very cautious about the equipment they import, least it be confiscated and disposed of at great personal expense. Not to mention the possible loss of a rare and valuable item of historic significance. Personally, I like radios that glow in the dark whether or not power has been applied, and feel that there is much worse in this world to worry about. Some more radios that are inclusive: The Navy RBZ(all versions) Original Panel meters of the GRC-106 Toggle switches can be identified by a plastic insert at the tip of the bat handle. Dennis Starks; Collector/Historian Midwest Military Communications Museum email: military-radio-guy@juno.com *********************************************** MEMBERS WRITE; Dennis, Just a quick note to congratulate you on another fine year of Military Collector Group Post. Always something new to learn and share. Always look forward to receiving the next installment. I appreciate the considerable efforts you put out to bring this to us! Happy holidays, Ralph Hogan WB4TUR Huntsville, AL. ralph.hogan@vmic.com ed) thanks a bunch for both the sentament and your past help. With 1999 we begin our third year. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TCS Power Supply & Manuals? Dennis I need a manual for a Collins 52245 transmitter. A unit of model TCS 12.One other question. Are the power supplys for these rigs still around or would it be better to homebrew? Steve ed) Two variants of the TCS manuals are available from W7FG Vintage manuals(w7fg@w7fg.com). Both originally came from my library, and the first is rather thick. TCS,Navy Models TCS-7,8,9,10,12,(rather thick) Radio Telephone & Telegraph Trans & Rec Equip Models TSC-14,& TCS-15, Navships 900,705,Mar.46 TCS power supplies are not real uncommon, one was offered here a couple weeks ago but is now gone. The biggest problem with them is their weight which will make shipping dangerous. Sure, go ahead and home brew one and use it until the real thing comes along, this is what I, and most others, had to do. An old business band radio power supply like from a GE Progress Line will provide all the voltages you need, plus some. For more info on this subject see MCGP Backmail #32 Alternate Power Sources *********************************************** NEW MEMBER; Alan Fryer, N3BJ Hello Dennis Thanks for the invitation to join the group, really appreciate it. This sounds just like what I need to get boned up on the mil equipment I'm interested in..... I'm a Product Service Engineer for General Electric Electric Vehicle Motors and Controls and live in Bent Mountain, VA about 15 miles SW of Roanoke, VA on the Blue Ridge Pkwy. I'm 49 years old, been a ham for 36 years, main interests over the years have been CW, DXCC and contesting. Moved down to the Roanoke area in 1991 from Erie, PA and really got caught up in all the hamfests in the VA/Carolinas area and did some boatanchor trade/swap, not to collect the stuff, but to put it on the air on CW and work DX. I've got a great location here, located on the highest point of Bent Mountain, with tremendous low angle take-off in all directions from a 3200 feet elevation. Really enjoy the CW DX with older QRP sets from the mountain. Worked 8Q7IO in the Maldives a while ago on 30M with my GRC-9 pounding into a dipole, and VK6RU in Perth on 20M into a dipole with the GRC-109. The GRC-9 and GRC-109 are the extent of my mil stuff presently, but really interested in some of the HF CW clandestine stuff from the past, once again, to put on the air and work DX. Also very interested in the history behind the development, deployment and use of the same. Look forward to exchanging info with other members of the group and meeting some of the fellows that may be in the VA/MD/WV/NC/SC/TN area. I'll be at all the large hamfests this spring, including Timonium and Dayton. Happy Holidays ! Alan Fryer, N3BJ Bent Mounatin, VA *********************************************** HUMOR; An Asian guy walks into the New York City currency exchange with 2000 yen and walks out with $72. Next week he walks in with 2000 yen and gets $66. He asks the lady why he gets less money this week than last week. The lady says "Fluctuations". The Asian guy storms out, and just before slamming the door, turns around and says: "Fluc you Amelicans too!" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There were three old ladies sitting on a park bench talking amongst themselves when a flasher came by. The flasher stood right in front of them and opened his trench coat. Needless to say, the first old lady had a stroke, and then the second old lady had a stroke, and the third old lady...well, she couldn't reach that far. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Clinton In Hell Clinton dies and he goes to hell. Satan meets him there and says, "Bill we have to find a spot for you for all of eternity." So Satan takes Bill down a hall and they come to the first door and open it. Inside is Bill Gates being burned at the stake. "No," Bill balks, "I can't do that for all eternity." "Fair enough," replies Satan. Satan takes Bill down the hall to a second door. Inside is Rush Limbaugh being pulled apart on The Rack. "No," Bill again balks. "I can't do that for all of eternity, either." Satan takes Bill to the last door. Inside, Kenneth Starr is being held up to the wall with chains around his wrists. At his groin is Monica Lewinsky giving him a blow job. Bill smiles. "Yes!" he shouts, "that's for me." Satan walks into the room and kicks Monica and shouts, "Get up Monica, and get out...... Your replacement's here ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q. What do Saddam Hussein and General Custer have in common? A. They both want to know where the hell those Tomahawks are coming from! Q: What is the best Iraqi job? A: Foreign Ambassador Q: Did you hear that it is twice as easy to train Iraqi fighter pilots? A. You only have to teach them to take off. Q. How do you play Iraqi bingo? A. B-52...F-16...B-2 Q: What is Iraq's national bird? A: Duck Q: What's the difference between Aeroflot and the Scud Missile? A: Aeroflot has killed more people. Q: How is Saddam like Fred Flintstone? A: Both may look out their windows and see Rubble. Q: Why does the Iraqi Navy have glass bottom boats? A: So they can see their Air Force. Q. Did you hear that Saddam Hussein won the toss? A. He elected to receive ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "BUTTERFLY KISSES" We often learn the most from our children. Some time ago, a friend of mine punished his 3-year-old daughter for wasting a roll of gold wrapping paper. Money was tight, and he became infuriated when the child tried to decorate a box to put under the tree. Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift to her father the next morning and said, "This is for you, Daddy." He was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, but his anger flared again when he found that the box was empty. He yelled at her, "Don't you know that when you give someone a present, there's supposed to be something inside of it?" The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and said, "Oh, Daddy, it's not empty. I blew kisses into the box. All for you, Daddy." The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little girl, and he begged her forgiveness. My friend told me that he kept that gold box by his bed for years. Whenever he was discouraged, he would take out an imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it there. In a very real sense, each of us as parents has been given a gold container filled with unconditional love and kisses from our children. There is no more precious possession anyone could hold. *********************************************** (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) ***********************************************