On Jan 11, 6:49�pm, "Michael J. Coslo" wrote:

What manner of batteries did they use? I'm imagining salt water
batteries, but not sure.

I'm not sure what you mean by "salt water batteries", Mike.

The book and QST articles only mention "dry batteries", which in 1947
pretty much meant carbon-zinc batteries. They A batteries wore down
before they ran out of B batteries, so some B batteries were taken
apart and resoldered to do the A job. (High humidity was a
majorproblem.)

"Wet" storage batteries were rejected because of the danger of acid
spillage. A hand-cranked generator was the backup source.

They were on the raft 101 days, so they must have had a considerable
battery supply.

btw, the transmitter designs were based on QST articles. They used
quick-heating 2E30 tubes, so they only used power when transmitting.

The receiver was almost certainly modified to reduce the battery drain.
No need for the last audio stage if headphones were used, saving a
considerable amount of power. No need for AVC or dial lights, either.
Still, a heater drain of over 2A would result.

An amazing adventure, even today.

73 de Jim, N2EY