From: Dennis R Starks To: arc5@ix.netcom.com,glphilli@mail.isbe.state.il.us,frw@gvi.net, hassec@mailer.Uni-Marburg.DE,ralph.hogan@vmic.com, Duece6x6@aol.com,tc0654@mesh.net,jh@mhztech.com, wb0aaq@juno.com,carlos@cie-eng.com,OLDRADIOS@aol.com, jim.mahaffey@gtri.gatech.edu,kenscom@juno.com, swheaton@sky.net, gjang@mail.portup.com,smithr8@juno.com, MARK1G@AOL.COM, garandguy@hotmail.com,david.ward@nist.gov, WLHOWARD@GTE.NET, ka0zdd@juno.com,kc5ijd@sprintmail.com, SHILL@onaustralia.com.au, gah@koyote.com, ezeran@concentric.net, carruth@geo-thermal.com, johnkidd@ozemail.com.au, wood_jim@hotmail.com, aa7jv@hypercom.com,yir@scn.org, lhunter@alleg.edu, mack@melbpc.org.au,gbunza@synopsys.com, Mikhael_Brown@hp.com, mblair1@home.net,sarge@nist.gov, bwhiting@oeminc.com, tbryan@nova.org,richard@wizard.com, Rmaruska@juno.com, stimber@lakemartin.net, jim_karlow@takata.com, kb9olm@yahoo.com, lambmd-ce@salem.ge.com, johnmb@mindspring.com,mblom@mitre.org, NBroline@aol.com, n0ntc@train.missouri.org, rmccord@skyblue.ocn.ne.jp, saipan59@juno.com Date: Thu, 11 Nov 1999 06:28:48 -0600 Subject: MILITARY COLLECTOR GROUP POST, Nov.11/99 Message-ID: <19991111.062850.-137643.1.military-radio-guy@juno.com> X-Mailer: Juno 3.0.13 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Full-Name: Dennis R Starks X-Status: Sent X-Juno-Line-Breaks: 0-11,15-19,21-33,35-38,41-49,51-52,63-64,67-68,75-76,78,82-83,85-86,88-89,92,95-96,98-127,129-259,261-272,274-371,378-380 X-Juno-Att: 0 X-Juno-Fcc: Sent Items X-Juno-Size: 15049 X-Juno-RefParts: 0 MILITARY COLLECTOR GROUP POST, Nov.11/99 Index: THE HORSIE TALKIE IN FRENCH HANDS; by Jack Feyssac MEMBERS WRITE; Poles & the Enigma, HUMOR; *********************************************** THE HORSIE TALKIE IN FRENCH HANDS; by Jack Feyssac Hello Dennis A small article on the Pogo stick view from the French side! The SCR-511 and its use in the French Army during WW-II This equipment was supplied to the Army both in North Africa and in the UK in preparation of the D-Day envasion, it would be used up to the end of the War by the First and Second French Army and would shortly after disappear off the official inventory. After the War , the Army made a complete survey of the communication equipment used during the European campaign, and I did extract the following informations about he SCR-511. The BC-745 was used by the Infantry to assume communications between Battalion and Company, the survey was made among Signal and Infantry officers and the following answers were done: -Did the SCR-511 gave satisfaction in operation? On 34 answers : 14 YES by 6 Signal and 8 Infantry Officers 20 NO by 11 Signal and 9 Infantry Officers The Signal Officers gave a judgment based more on technical problems than operational. Their comments were: connectors and switch weakness ; limited range ; vulnerability of the equipment and the user during operation. The Infantry Officers were a little more satisfied but they add the following comments to those already above mentioned : too big volume; too short time of operation on dry batteries : not waterproof. The other comment was to propose the replacement by the SCR-300 , as this equipment was only introduced in operations during the winter of 1944 and quickly appreciated by the users. The 511 was unknown from the majority of French collectors as it was never advertise in the Radio newpapers of the 50; except for the TU that was sale for the equivalent of one dollar without the crystals ! There are now few examples of this equipment with French collectors to-day References 1- Mystery Radio SCR-511/BC-745 by Dennis Starks MCGP Backmail 47 2- Musee des Blindes –Saumur ; WWII, Signal Reports 1946 Jack Feyssac ed) When I wrote the Pogo-Stick series of articles last year, we learned several most important things. #1, Every capacity the SCR-511 found use in was completely out of the realm of it's original design intent. That original intent(horse cavalry) having been extinct by the beginning of the war, the 511 instead saw service in almost every other military capacity, in every theater of the war, and with every branch of the U.S. military(including the Marine Corps, & Airborne). Yet history reflected very little of this. Even the 511's use at D-Day was debated among members who didn't believe it was there because they found no official accounts mentioning it(even though we know it was because of orders that were placed for support equipment, batteries etc). And now, thanks to Jack's input, we now learn of Allied/French use as well. #2, We learned that the advent of the new generation of FM equipment would spell the beginning of the end for the 511, and for that mater, every other radio of it's ilk, the BC-611(SCR-536) included. #3, Though the performance of the 511 by all war time user accounts was admirable, it's physically high profile was it's own worst enemy and that of it's user who was forced to expose himself to enemy fire to operate the radio(it's PTT switch being located high up on the radio). But then, we must always remember how the radio set was originally intended to be used. We would never fault a Jeep for not performing well at Indy 500, or a Formula 1 racer for doing badly out on the back forty! Any adverse comments made about the radio either then, or now, must always be reviewed in the proper context: "Limited Range", it worked farther than it was supposed to, and was used at higher echelons, at greater ranges, than it ever should have been. It worked as good, or better than, any other radio of a similar design intent. "Not water tight", neither was any other field radio of the time, nor would be for another 10 years.(excepting the Navy's TBX, & MAB) "vulnerability of the equipment and the user during operation." Very true, as I've already written, but not if your setting on a horse! It's true, by the end of WW-II, the SCR-511(BC-745) was an outdated relic, and it's contributions, despite it's being used were it was never intended, almost completely forgotten. It's interesting, the variance of those reports from French officers, those who used it being largely favorable, and those who supported it, not. My thanks to Jack for his addition to our sorrily limited knowledge of this radio's war time contribution. Member's interested in the complete story of the SCR-511 should request MCGP Backmail #47(23 pages) which includes: MYSTERY RADIO; BC-745/SCR-511, Part I SCR-511 DISCUSSION; by Lenox Carruth, & Dennis Starks BC-745/SCR-511, Part II, III, IV, & V, by Dennis Starks POGO STICK DEBATE; Bill Howard, & Dennis Starks POGO STICK DISCUSSION; Hue Miller, and Dennis Starks SURVIVING EQUIPMENT, AND INFLUENCES ON IT; by Brian Scase Dennis Starks; Collector/Historian Midwest Military Communications Museum email: military-radio-guy@juno.com *********************************************** MEMBERS WRITE; Poles & the Enigma, Hi Dennis, > The breaking of the Enigma codes so often claimed by British > intelligence is owed directly to the Poles I agree. I have seen several programs where the Poles are not even mentioned! > Polish customs agents intercepted an > Enigma machine in route to the German embassy. Almost overnight, this > machine was scurried off to England where it was completely dissected, > documented, re-assembled, and returned to Polish customs agents who then > repackaged the set, and sent it on to the German embassy without them > ever knowing what had taken place. My understanding is that the Poles disassembled and copied it overnight. Sent the machine on to the Germans without them knowing. They then made one, and designed the "Bombe" to decrypt the messages. They did this all themselves. They offered all this to the French who turned them down. They then offered this to the British. Regards Ray vk2ilv PS there was an article recently in Radio Bygones about a polish spy set, with photos, the BP4 maybe, can't recall. I have it somewhere. ed) I have also read the story of the enigma as you relate it. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Help from French or Belgian or other european speakers please. I have been sent a JPEG picture of what is supposed to be a clandestine radio receiver of WW II vintage, probably one of the Polish sets made a Bletchly Park. The main tuning dial is marked :STP or possibly STR The regeneration control(Volume) is marked SILA Does any one recognize these abbreviations? What language is it probably in? Bill Howard THE WILLIAM L. HOWARD ORDNANCE TECHNICAL INTELLIGENCE MUSEUM e-mail wlhoward@gte.net *********************************************** HUMOR; How to annoy people, At lunch time, sit in your parked car and point a hair dryer at passing cars to see if they slow down. Page yourself over the intercom. (Don't disguise your voice.) Find out where your boss shops and buy exactly the same outfits. Always wear them one day after your boss does. (This is especially effective if your boss is the opposite gender.) Send e-mail to the rest of the company to tell them what you're doing. for example: 'If anyone needs me, I'll be in the bathroom.' Put mosquito netting around your cubicle. Insist that your e-mail address be xena_goddess_of_fire@companyname.com or Elvis_the_King@companyname.com. Every time someone asks you to do something, ask if they want fries with that. Encourage your colleagues to join you in a little synchronized chair dancing. Put your garbage can on your desk and label it 'IN'. Develop an unnatural fear of staplers. Send e-mail messages that advertise free pizza, doughnuts, etc., in the break room. When people complain that there was nothing there, lean back, rub your stomach, and say, "You've got to be faster than that." Put decaf in the coffee maker for 3 weeks. Once everyone has gotten over their caffeine addictions, switch to espresso. In the memo field of all your checks, write 'for sexual favors'. Reply to everything someone says with, "That's what you think." Finish all your sentences with "in accordance with prophecy." Adjust the tint on your monitor so that the brightness level lights up the entire working area. Insist to others that you like it that way. Don't use any punctuation As often as possible, skip rather than walk. Ask people what sex they are. Specify that your drive-through order is 'to go'. Sing along at the Opera. Go to a poetry recital and ask why the poems don't rhyme. Five days in advance, tell your friends you can't attend their party because you're not in the mood. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Budget Reduction Program As a result of the reduction of money budgeted for department areas, we are forced to cut down on our number of personnel. Under this plan, older employees will be asked to go on early retirement, thus permitting the retention of the younger people who represent our future. Therefore, a program to phase out older personnel by the end of the current fiscal year, via retirement, will be placed into effect immediately. This program will be known as SLAP (Sever Late-Aged Personnel). Employees who are SLAPPED will be given the opportunity to look for employment outside the company. SLAPPED employees can request a review of their employment records before actual retirement takes place. This phase of the program is called SCREW. (Survey of Capabilities of Retired Early Workers). All employees who have been SLAPPED or SCREWED may file an appeal with the upper management. This is called SHAFT (Study by Higher Authority Following Termination). Under the terms of the new policy, an employee may be SLAPPED once, SCREWED twice, but may be SHAFTED as many times as the company deems appropriate. If an employee follows the above procedures, he/she will be entitled to Get HERPES (Half Earnings for Retired Personnel's Early Severance) or CLAP (Combined Lump sum Assistance Payment) unless he/she already has AIDS (Additional Income from Dependents or Spouse). As HERPES and CLAP are considered benefit plans, any employee who has received HERPES or CLAP will no longer be SLAPPED or SCREWED by the company. Management wishes to assure the younger employees who remain on board that the company will continue its policy of training employees through our Special High Intensity Training (SHIT). This company takes pride in the amount of SHIT our employees receive. We have given our employees more SHIT than any company in this area. If any employee feels they do not receive enough SHIT on the job see your immediate supervisor. YOUR SUPERVISOR IS SPECIALLY TRAINED TO MAKE SURE YOU RECEIVE ALL THE SHIT YOU CAN STAND. ----------------------------------------------------------------- After a long, bumpy flight, our passengers were glad to finally land. They disembarked, and the other attendants and I checked for items left behind. In a seat pocket, I found a bag of home-made cookies with a note saying "Much love, Mom." Quickly, I gave the bag to our gate agent in hopes it would be reunited with its owner. In few minutes, this announcement came over the public-address system in the concourse: "Would the passenger who lost his cookies on Flight 502, please return to the gate?" ----------------------------------------------------------------- Some things to you might not have known: 1. Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated. 2. Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite. 3. There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar. 4. The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing. 5. A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes. 6. There are more chickens in the world than people. 7. Two-thirds of the world's eggplant is grown in New Jersey. 8. The longest one-syllable word in the English language is "screeched." 9. On a Canadian two dollar bill, the flag flying over Parliament is an American flag. 10. All of the clocks in the movie "Pulp Fiction" are stuck on 4:20. 11. No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, or purple. 12. "Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt." 13. All 50 states are listed across the top of the Lincoln Memorial on the $5 bill. 14. Almonds are a member of the peach family. 15. Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room, during a dance. 16. Maine is the only state whose name is just one syllable. 17. There are only four words in the English language which end in "dous": tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous. 18. Los Angeles's full name is "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula." 19. A cat has 32 muscles in each ear. 20. An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain. 21. Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur. 22. In most advertisements, the time displayed on a watch is 10:10. 23. Al Capone's business card said he was a used furniture dealer. 24. The characters Bert and Ernie on Sesame Street were named after Bert, the cop and Ernie, the taxi driver in Frank Capra's "Its A Wonderful Life." 25. A dragonfly has a life span of 24 hours. 26. A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds. 27. A dime has 118 ridges around the edge. 28. It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open. (DON'T try this at home!) 29. The giant squid has the largest eyes in the world. 30. In England, the Speaker of the House is not allowed to speak. 31. The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar in his pocket melted. 32. Mr. Rogers is an ordained minister. 33. The average person falls asleep in seven minutes. 34. There are 336 dimples on a regulation golf ball. 35. "Stewardesses" is the longest word that is typed with only the left hand. *********************************************** 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 ***********************************************