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500kc/s Recordings

16K views 63 replies 23 participants last post by  djringjr 
#1 · (Edited)
#3 ·
I haven't listened to all of that yet but in the first one (top line) I can hardly believe that was WCC. The morse was terrible. WCC like all American coast stations was fast and slick. I must listen to the whole tape because I was a Cunard cargo ship in March 1966 and might just be on there somewhere.
 
#10 ·
So you've proved your point on professionalism.
One small parameter that you may have missed.
Who the hell wants to spend their time falsifying a recording that is completely meaningless to anyone other than a mere handful of interested parties.
 
#14 ·
This is a fair question with no easy answer - the only thing I can guess at is some amateur trying to show, his cleverness in fooling everyone, or, that he could have been a professional operator ?
Perhaps an oscillator/s being keyed into the AF stages of a receiver might account for the horrible tones ?
Vague I admit.
 
#11 ·
Ah Nostalgia Ain't Wot It Used To Be ! But those tapes are genuine I'd swear. Admitedly I was far east, not western ocean in those days but there were some highly variable 'fists' in all areas. A lot of QLF ( Are you sending with your left foot?) could be heard any time anywhere. But thanks for the memories I was between a laugh and a tear!
 
#12 ·
Have to agree with R65..., it would be totally pointless making up a false tape like that, although there are amongst us "Walter Mitties" who do that sort of thing for their own peculiar reasons. I don't think it was that unusual to hear rubbishy morse all over the place and one thing that does lend the tape an authenticity is the number of selfish ars*holes tuning up and drowning out other operators' transmissions.

John T.
 
#15 ·
... the number of selfish ars*holes tuning up and drowning out other operators' transmissions.

John T.
John, when changing frequency how did you tune your transmitter without causing interference to others nearby? If there was a way, I never found it. In a high-traffic area, having waited for a gap in nearby signals, it was a pound to a penny that as you pressed the key to tune the final stage and antenna, someone else launched into a call.
 
#13 ·
I don't think there can be much doubt that the tape is genuine and there is the occasional burst of decent morse to be heard. Who on earth would want to falsify a tape like that. I think Ron is correct and it would sound better with no AGC on the receiver.
I spent a fair bit of time crossing the Atlantic on the Cunard cargo ships, unfortunately, so have considerable experience of the stations operating in this area. I still find it almost beyond belief that WCC and WSL amongst others are using such appalling morse. I don't think I can ever recall a U.S. operator sending anything other than perfect morse and usually very quickly. The US Coastguard stations could be a bit more variable and there was always iffy morse from some ships but it is the coast stations that mystify me. I think it is on SN but there is a recording of KPH and KFS somewhere and that is exactly what you expect from a top US coast station, those blokes weren't hanging around.
 
#19 ·
Always John, and in support of that I would point out that the guys were not tuning the transmitter (the frequency did not change) but matching and loading the output circuits to the antenna.

I never found the click-stop settings of much help and the end results tended to be more accurate when also done on full power rather than solely on medium or low power settings. With the Oceanspan you had so little power to start with, every little helped as they say.

Other than on all-aft ships (which I never sailed on but worked on often after I left the MN), the long-wire antennas never seemed to stay the same two days running, affected by the movement of the ship and the amount of rain/spray. The presets were about as helpful as the frequency markings on the dial of the CR300 receiver (thank heavens for the receiver logging scale).

So, each time I changed frequency on the transmitter I first adjusted it on a lower power setting and then on full power to finish off. If the new frequency happened to be 500 kHz, so be it and I may have caused brief interference to another station. But I was smug enough not to care; they were trained and able to deal with it as was I when they were changing frequency.

I never sailed as an operator when the new self-tuning transmitters came along and can't remember how much QRM they caused when starting up on a new frequency. I think it was but milliseconds although I can't recall the figure. Information that I don't need of course, so it has been dismissed from my smug mind.
 
#17 ·
To avoid excessive QRM all the MF transmitters I sailed with had the ability to reduce power for tuning and close-by work.
I recall the Marconi Oceanspan from full to quarter and there were of course the tuning preset click stops which you could set to avoid unnecessary tuning. Did anyone ever use them?
 
#18 ·
For info this is the gentleman who made the recordings.

WILLIAM B GOULD III, Radio Pioneer - amateur radio call signs 1NP, W1NP, K2NP

Born on March 14, 1902. Radio Engineer, Radio Officer, USA Flag, US Army until retirement. He made a series of tape recordings of 500 kc/s in 1966 during March. He was very much a pioneer not only for his being the first ***** which is now called black, radio engineer of a radio station and radio officer at sea, but for his visionary work with communications and electronics with United States Army. He retired in 1969 after twenty-nine years in the service of the USA Army as a section chief in the Electronic Warfare Laboratory where he directed a research and development section.
 
#20 ·
Ron: "I would point out that the guys were not tuning the transmitter (the frequency did not change) but matching and loading the output circuits to the antenna."

OK Ron, but I don't think that rates highly in the "smugness" stakes, that's more like "nit-picking".

"So, each time I changed frequency on the transmitter I first adjusted it on a lower power setting and then on full power to finish off. If the new frequency happened to be 500 kHz, so be it and I may have caused brief interference to another station. But I was smug enough not to care; they were trained and able to deal with it as was I when they were changing frequency."

OK - 10 Smugness points, but knock off 1 point for not using your Emergency Transmitter which should have been tuned to 500 kcs already.

John T
 
#21 · (Edited)
John,

Whichever transmitter you used, it had to be tuned "on-air" in those days. So-called silent tuning was the province of various military/squirrel equipments and did not spread to the MN in my time. So whenever you prepared any ship's transmitter for transmission on 500 kHz, you radiated a signal that was not a call and could interfere with normal calls.

The battery-powered Emergency transmitter (operating from the radio installation's emergency source of energy) was provided for use in emergencies - the clue is in the name. Apart from statutory test transmissions, the battery-powered transmitter was only used for such purposes on ships where I was the R/O in charge.

To nit pick further, I never sailed with an Emergency Transmitter but my ships all carried a Reserve Transmitter instead. That is, in addition to being equipped to transmit in an emergency on 500 kHz (the requirement for an Emergency Transmitter), it could also transmit on other frequencies in the maritime MF W/T band (405-525 kHz). Examples of Reserve Transmitters produced by Marconi were the Reliance, several iterations of the Salvor, a version of the Oceanspan VII and the Oceanlink EMX. To the best of my knowledge (extensive don't y'know?) Marconi did not design any Emergency transmitter post-WW2.

Superior knowledge is a wonderful thing and facilitates a wonderful smugness.
 
#23 ·
John,

Whichever transmitter you used, it had to be tuned "on-air" in those days. So-called silent tuning was the province of various military/squirrel equipments and did not spread to the MN in my time. So whenever you prepared any ship's transmitter for transmission on 500 kHz, you radiated a signal that was not a call and could interfere with normal calls.

The battery-powered Emergency transmitter (operating from the radio installation's emergency source of energy) was provided for use in emergencies - the clue is in the name. Apart from statutory test transmissions, the battery-powered transmitter was only used for
such purposes on ships where I was the R/O in charge.

To nit pick further, I never sailed with an Emergency Transmitter but my ships all carried a Reserve Transmitter instead. That is, in
addition to being equipped to transmit in an emergency on 500 kHz (the requirement for an Emergency Transmitter), it could also transmit on other frequencies in the maritime MF W/T band (405-525 kHz). Examples of Reserve Transmitters produced by Marconi were the Reliance, several iterations of the Salvor, a version of the Oceanspan VII and the Oceanlink EMX. To the best of my knowledge (extensive don't y'know?) Marconi did not design any Emergency transmitter post-WW2.

Superior knowledge is a wonderful thing and facilitates a wonderful smugness.
Ron,
I don't recall any statutory requirements for testing "emergency" equipment apart from auto-alarms and AKDs at regular intervals. However, it is a long time ago and I only did 25 years. I often used the "Reserve Tx" for calling if range was not a problem on the premise that if you didn't use it, it would conk out when you needed it - like those Old Men who would only use radar when they got to the fog!

Please consider your Smugness point re-instated and good luck with the award.

John T
 
#30 ·
All the Brocklebank ships that I sailed on had a BC221 frequency meter that was, amongst other things, used to make up a list of all the HF stations that would be worked on voyage and their logging scale readings noted. It was usually quite straightforward then to find the required station without too much difficulty. That system worked well with the Marconi receivers. The Redifon R50M was a different ball game since they tended to drift badly. I don't recall ever having difficulty with the IMR 54(?), the huge one built by Eddystone, I believe.

Happy days,

GWZM
 
#32 ·
GWZM, I had completely forgotten about the BC221. I can remember using it on a couple of the more venerable ships in the fleet. You are quite right about the R50M, that sure as hell did drift. From memory I think it had a large coarse tuning knob and a smaller fine tuning knob. Even when you had found the station you then permanently had your hand on the fine tuning knob to hang on to it.
 
#33 ·
In defence of the Redifon R50M receiver which GTZB fitted to many of their ships, I never had much of an issue with drift after all to maintain stability it did have a stand-by switch for non-watch periods.
It was a beautfiully engineered receiver ranging from 13.5 kc/s to 32 mc/s with variable IF filtering two settings of which were crystal filters.
For servicing each individual valve stage was separately metered.
It's achilles heel in my opinion was the logging.
When the large tuning knob was moved too quickly the small logging scale at the top whirred round at such a rate of knots it jumped it's gearing and lost the logging point.
Even for its time a receiver of this calibre and construction without a crystal calibrator was a very unusual design omission..
 
#34 ·
I went from a CR300 toan R50M, which I thought was the greatest, I dont remember any of the problems mentioned. I was working for Marconi at the time and the rest of the installation was Marconi. My ship after that was back to a CR300. I managed to do my job OK with both of them.
 
#36 ·
Happy Days,
I used to leave my R50M tuned to the area station on all night to try to get it stable for the traffic list in the morning only to find the 12 to 4 and 4 to 8 bridge watch had been in overnight to find some music to pipe through to the time signal speaker.
My log book of "adjacent stations" was a godsend on HF.
When "phase lock loop" technology arrived it was a blessing.
As I said Happy days.
 
#40 · (Edited)
Hi,
I was on a former dutch ship with an ancient Phillips H/F receiver, there was a note book with all the logs noted down since the ship was new. To find a new station was a bit time consuming comparing log setting to frequency etc.
But it worked very well during my 13 months onboard. The only time I switched it off was when I replaced the brushes on its rotary converter.
I was relieved by an elderly gentleman who had sailed on the wartime convoys. I had a ten day handover to him and during that time all the old equipment starting failing one after the other including the Phillips rx which he was in the habit of switching off, all my remaining time onboard was spent repairing the breakdowns and I will never forget the look on his face of disbelief when I said it all worked perfectly for the previous 13 months. So much for long handovers.
 
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