2E0AIV
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« on: June 07, 2012, 08:34:34 AM » |
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The Eastern Daily Press (Norfolk) have been present when an old Anderson Air Raid shelter was opened up after being bricked up at after the end of the WW2 in 1945. Inside there is an hams dream treasure find. A sealed Box crate unopened with the following inscription "METHOD 2 PACK - NOT TO BE OPENED UNTIL REQUIRED FOR USE : EXCEPT FOR RENEWAL OF DESICCANT DATE OF LAST CHARGE 14 Sep 1951. further sticker states : 10D/18253 TRANSMITTER TYPE T1951 SER No 4.5.1. Qty 1.
There is a further hand written sticker on the box which states :
Mess Abbey Radio
2 St Johns Road
Hall Road
Norwich
The Eastern daily Press Newspaper Group are asking for assistance from Local Radio Amateurs in the hope that they can identify the Transmitter. Inside the packing box is another box which is sealed in wax (common practice during the war years and up to the 1960s for military radios to be packed for delivery in this way), which is at present unopened. The EDP news will be running a story tomorrow with photographs, in the hope that someone may be able to identify this transmitter. After they have completed enqs i believe the sensible thing would be to donate it to a radio museum in Norfolk for display.
I will be uploading the photos to this site under my pictures - take a look people see if you can help. PS all the usual internet searches have proved negative.
Andy 2E0AIV
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2E0AIV
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« Reply #1 on: June 08, 2012, 12:40:08 PM » |
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I don't know if anyone has come up with any positive info on the mystery TX but I have found zilch on a magazine and net search. I would make a guess that the addressee on the box, Abbey Radio was a shop on what is now St Johns Close off Hall Road. There is still a row of shops and businesses there, see Google Earth Streetview. Is that maybe when the Anderson shelter is located? As for the TX, there's nothing listed on the Net I can find; I did look at the list on http://home.btconnect.com/gmb/airequip.htm which has a lot of Air Ministry info, but the T1951 entry seems to have been skipped. As for Charles Britain (Radio) Ltd, the firm is defunct and the only on-line reference I found was to a 1964 Practical Wireless and that was of no help - all my PWs are 1940s era. If anyone has PWs from 1950s-60s era then an advert search might show the basic details of the TX. It's an interesting find and may be a rare beast, perhaps we'll see more photos once the EDP have had a look in the box. I see that the news is on a couple of ham radio forums already so we may get to find out more. Once there's a EDP link I will post it to the VMARS group forum. 73 all, Roger/G3VKM - Haddiscoe, Norfolk |
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2E0AIV
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« Reply #2 on: June 12, 2012, 02:51:16 AM » |
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The mystery of the transmitter in the box - solved
The story continues of the transmitter in the box which was found in a bricked up Anderson shelter
(in the garden of a shop in Norwich) which featured in the Eastern Daily Press last week.
Yesterday (Monday) I was invited by the EDP and the owners of the shop to open the box - with
an EDP photographer present. Inside was the T1951 transmitter in absolutely perfect condition. A
T1951 is actually a T-39/APQ-9 radar jamming transmitter - manufactured by the Hudson Ameri-
can Corporation. It was rebadged T1951 when supplied to the UK. The transmitter was airborne
and was used to jam the German gun laying Wurzburg radars. It swept a frequency range 450-
530MHz with an output of 20W. The annotations on the box show that it was supplied by Charles
Britain Radio in London to Abbey Radio in Norwich. Presumably Abbey Radio was located at what
is now the hairdresser’s shop. I’m not sure why Abbey
Radio would want to acquire such a device - except
that of course a transmitter that operate at 400MHz+
in the 1940’s/early 50’s was at the forefront of
technology. The EDP will be runningpart two of the
story in the Norwich Evening News today.
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ZL1DAS
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« Reply #3 on: June 12, 2012, 02:56:05 AM » |
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Great stuff! I love these things. I have an old Magnetron [type number from memory CV-12??] somewhere from WW2 employed in one of the the first ever radar transmitters used at that time...
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2E0AIV
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« Reply #4 on: June 12, 2012, 03:00:48 AM » |
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Photos to follow when i get the paper today and scan them in - Radio history  |
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2E0AIV
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« Reply #5 on: June 14, 2012, 11:17:37 AM » |
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Usual Sensational Reporting by Local Newspaper
World war two box found in Norwich garden could “wipe out most television in the area”
Rosa McMahon
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
6:30 AM
The mysterious sealed box marked ‘transmitter’ found in a war shelter in a hairdresser’s garden was opened yesterday, revealing a jamming device that could today “wipe out most television in the area”.
Michael Pope and Steve Appleyard, a volunteer at Muckleburgh Military Museum and former radio engineer, open up the as new WW2 radio transmitter that was found in an Anderson shelter behind a Norwich shop. Photo by Simon Finlay
The wooden crate was found in a second world war Anderson Shelter, by hairdresser Kirsty Pope, 30, at her salon Hair to Impress, on St John’s Close in Norwich.
She told the Evening News last week that she was “very curious” about what was inside the box, which is marked “not to be opened until required for use”.
A stamp on the box states its last charge was September 14, 1951, six years after the war ended.
Yesterday, Miss Pope’s father, Michael Pope, an insurance assessor, and Steve Appleyard, a volunteer at the Muckleburugh Military Museum in Weybourne, peeled open the box to reveal a T1951 radar – also known as the T-39/ARQ-9.
Mr Appleyard, former head of navigation systems at the Marconi Company in Chelmsford, said the radar would have been carried on British and American planes as they flew over Germany during the second world war.
Their sole use was to disable the German Wurzburg radars, which helped the German gun aim.
He said: “The transmitter sweeps across frequencies that are now used for television, so if it was switched on today it would wipe out most television in the area.”
Miss Pope said: “Now that it’s open I just can’t believe what a brilliant condition it’s in.
“I never expected that inside there would be something that looks so new.” She added: “There is no point in packing it up and putting it in the attic. We may as well give it to a museum.”
Mr Pope, 57, said: “We can’t believe how long it’s been down there and no one has found it until now.”
It’s thought there were a total of 4000 manufactured, with a range of 43 miles, reaching a frequency of 450-500 MHz.
Mr Appleyard said: “To anyone interested, this is quite an exciting find.”
Evening News readers emailed their thoughts on the box.
One, Chris Jones, said: “We are all waiting with baited breath as though an Egyptian mummy was about to be unwrapped.”
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KC9PDY
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« Reply #6 on: June 15, 2012, 11:07:43 AM » |
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2E0AIV
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« Reply #8 on: June 15, 2012, 01:33:53 PM » |
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The Chaps blog on uncovering the Anderson Shelter is quality and raised a smile worth a look www.myandersonshelter.co.ukhave fun Andy 2E0AIV |
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