Lennie,

Scroll down dipweed.


wrote in message
oups.com...
Mike Coslo" wrote in message
Dan/W4NTI wrote:
"an old friend" wrote in message
Dan/W4NTI wrote:



That is my point Mike. Just because it is old....does not make it
useless.
I believe in the KISS method. And CW, in emergencies, is the easiest and
simplest thing to get running.

No modems, no regulated power supplies, no computers. Just the basic
stuff.

I was asked once by my Battalion commander while in the field in Germany.
( I was talking to the Feldburg 2m ham repeater while standing on top of
the
Command track). He asked how I could communicate with Frankfurt, and all
of
his radios could not......I said...."Well Sir, it takes two things to
communicate.....an operator on both ends"

He ordered me to take my H/T every time we went to the field from then on.

Tsk, tsk, highly UNlikely story for the 1972 times.



Unlikely you say? How is that ? Because YOU didn't see it. Because YOU
have NO KNOWLEDGE ABOUT AMATEUR RADIO other than what you conjure up in your
distorted mind?


You'll have to be more clear on that location. "Feldburg" could
be 'Feldberg' or even 'Frieberg' or 'Freiberg.' Was that in
Bavaria or elsewhere?


The Feldburg Amateur Radio Repeater, located in the Frankfurt area. Our
normal field site was towards the Fulda Gap area.


In 1980s, Feldberg-Schwarzwald was a
troposcatter station from the north-central part of West
Germany with relay to Italy; before that it was part of the LOS
microwave multi-channel relay system.


This is the place, I remember the microwave site up there in the 70s.
Great place to play with my two meter Handi.

I could care less about the 1980s in Germany. You know full well I was
discussing the 70s time frame.

Frankfurt was, may still be, USAEUR-Germany Hq and would be
roughly 150 miles north of Feldberg-Schwarzwald (I don't have a
good map of the FRG at the moment). Bavaria borders Austria
and Switzerland as well as part of East Germany; in 1972 the
German unification was still distant in time. It is HIGHLY
DOUBTFUL that there would be: 1. Ham HTs good enough or
inexpensive enough for a GI to get (even with NCO and overseas
pay) in 1972;

A Handi Talky made by Standard Communications was available, its
nomenclature was SRC-146A. It ran about 2 watts output using 10 Nickle
Cadium 1.35 volt cells. All this into either a telescoping whip or a rubber
duckie. You could, of course, also use standard AA cell alkaline if you
wanted to. It had five (5) crystal controlled channels, for a total of 10
crystals required.

The German repeaters ALL operated with a "whistle up" tone access. Just
whistle it up and start to talk. Of course a Amateur Radio license was
required. And a German call. Mine was DA2LJ.


2. Permission to USE one IN THE FIELD, certainly
on a "command track" (field Hq vehicle) that close to
unfriendly territory.


Not a problem at all. I showed my CO the German License, my US License,
and my MARS license. And after he seen it in action, he told me to KEEP
bringing it.

Being close to "unfriendly territory" was not a problem at all. You NOT
BEING a ham of course, would not comprehend these things.

"Command tracks" (field Hq-Commo vehicles), presumably the
kind with all tracks and not wheels, but the name applies


I forget the nomenclature of the "Command Track" but it was basically a
double decker M-113 carrier.

It was big enough for lots of radios and several troops.

Being the ranking NCO I was also the track commander. Giving me the
"pleasure" to ride with my helmeted and usually masked head out of the hatch
to guide the driver.


to the fitted Bradleys of the 80s and 90s...all had lots
of radios...and antennas, that making them easier for
"other-side" recon units to spot. In 1972 the radios
normally in such field Hq-Commo vehicles could hack
up to 300 miles on NVIS cloud-burner bounce; the technique
was already known then (Rommel's Afrika Corps knew about
it in 1942 and that is documented). I can't believe an
armor unit has been rendered as radio-SILENT as you say,
not even with 1972-era radios in the U.S. Army.

There it is guys, Lennie showing not his ignorance, but his stupidity. He
sits there in front of his keys and decides everything based on incorrect
assessments. What a world class dumbass.

Do you remember the Vietnam War Lennie? The US Army in Europe was at the
bottom of the list on new goodies. You can figure that out, right? Now
let me address your ignorance further;

USAEUR was assigned blocks of frequencies by the German government. Some
not in the best spots. A local commo officer then determined which ones to
use at what time and on what day/night. Normally these comm officers had no
knowledge of things like "skip", NVIS, or groundwave. Not to mention
broadcast QRM (Short Wave). So it was a shot in the dark if any frequency
chosen would actually work for the distance, time, day/night that it was to
be used.

For some reason the comsec officers liked to put us in the 2 Mhz range at
night, and the 7 as an alternate. 2 would work, but for the way to short
whips. And no we never bother to deploy the GRA-50s.....you DO know what
they are don't you?

The 7mhz was eat up with broadcast QRM, so forget it. And the 2 never got
out of the woods.

The reality of it was this; Using 100 watts output on RTTY (RATT in Army
Speak) into a 15' metal whip and sitting in the GAP you were damn lucky to
make commo with your units, especially at night. Sometimes you got lucky.
Not like today I am sure.

The most reliable commo was usually on the 40 mhz range FM VRC-12 units.
Range was extended by deploying "radio relay teams" to hilltops to act as a
manual repeater.

RATT Short Wave Commo was spotty to say the least.

Believe it or not...I was there...you were NOT.


Sorry, but use of REPEATER techniques, particularly UN-
manned repeaters, was pioneered by the U.S. Army in Italy
in late 1943, then used in France and Germany 1944-1945,
starting with the SCR-300, the VHF FM Voice manpack called
the "Walkie-Talkie." There's a specific repeater
connector on the front panel of every BC-1000 ever made
just for that purpose...designed-in by Signal Corps
request when the contract was signed with Motorola. With
REPEATERS, those can very easily operate WOTHOUT operators
"operating" things (taking any active part in the repeating
process of the radios). Repeaters are DESIGNED to operate
unattended.


None of which was available to any of the ARMY units I was with in Germany.
And what you said has NOTHING to do with what I said. AMATEUR RADIO
REPEATER OF FELDBURG. At least TRY to stay on topic Loser.

They were as follows; 23rd Engineer Battalion, Hanau FRG (Federal Republic
of Germany)

1st Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalery Regiment, Fulda, FRG.

143rd Signal Battalion, Frankfurt, FRG.


1972 was THIRTY THREE years ago. By all appearances you've
done considerable "editing" of the ACTUAL FACTS surrounding
your field commo adventure. MANUFACTURING the story is more
likely.

nah non



And it is obvious to anyone that bothers to check what I say that you are
the liar and not I.

Dan/W4NTI

Air Force Specialty Code: 29350
(Ground Radio Operator)
1964 to 1968

US Army Military Occupational Specialty: 05C40 (RATT Team Chief/CW
Qualified)
Secondary MOS: 31V20 (Tactical Systems Oper/Mech
1971 to 1979