World War II Navy Radio
Portables
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NOTE - This is a re-creation of Rob Flory's original site which crashed some time ago - unfortunately some photos are still missing but most of the text is here - if you can help with any replacement photos, please send e-mail to Rob or to Nick K4NYW

Click here for Nick's 1950's-60's Navy Radio Pages -  www.navy-radio.com

TBX, TCS,  TBY and SCR-300

TBX
 
The TBX is an HF set carried by 4 men.
 
Click below to move to my page on the TBX portable set.
 

TCS
 
The TCS is an HF set for vehicle or shipboard use.
 
Click below to visit my page on the TCS Transmitter/Receiver:
 
 
 

TBY
 
The TBY is a UHF(in WWII terms) portable set that operates on AM and MCW in the 28 to 80Mc band.  It puts out 1/4 of a watt from a push-pull Hartley oscillator.  The receiver is a regenerative type and quite broad, which is appropriate, as the transmitter is quite unstable. 
 
The TBY uses a sectional whip antenna, with differing numbers of sections being used for different frequencies.  In TBY through TBY-2, the whip was rigidly mounted on the side of the transceiver with 2 mounts.  In TBY-4 and up, the whip mounts on a rotatable mount that allows one to adjust the angle of the whip, so that you could lay the rig flat on the ground and have the whip vertical.  In TBY-4 and up, there is also an SO-239 socket to allow the connection of another antenna via a concentric(coaxial) feedline. 
 
There were three different power supplies that could run the TBY.  One was a dry battery pack, another was a wet storage battery and vibrator, and another was a rectifier for 110VAC input.
 
I recently did an experiment with my TBY, setting it to each of the lowest channels and measuring the frequency.  I found channels 1-4 to be spaced on the order of 300kc, and found the frequency to vary by over 100kc as I adjusted the antenna loading.  My conclusion is that the TBY is best suited for communication with others of its kind, and that trying to communicate with narrow-bandwidth receivers will be quite difficult.
 
In an experiment with Joe N3IBX, about 7 miles away from me, I was able to successfully communicate with him while he was using modern amateur equipment.  Since I could not tune my transmitter very precisely, I told him to tune 29.0Mc plus or minus 100kc and call me where he found me.  This worked out fine.  I was using a coaxial sleeve dipole(vertical) at about 40 feet and Joe was using a similar antenna.

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TBY-4 with AC Power Supply

I put my TBY in my car and hooked it up to the car-mounted whip, and powered it with an inverter.  I recorded the signal at home on my RBK receiver in wide bandwidth mode.  This recording was made from a distance of about 2 and 1/2 miles.

Click here to hear my TBY

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TBY-4 Antenna Mount

RADIOACTIVE PAINT ON TBX AND TBY
 
Some of these sets had flourescent paint so dials and settings could be read in the dark.  These paints are made up of a phosphor and radium to excite the phosphor to glow.  In most cases the phosphor has degenerated so that the paint doesn't glow any more, but the radium is still there.  On the TBX, some models have white numbers on the frequency dials and other labels, while others are sort of orange.  Both types can be radioactive.  The only way to know for sure is to check with a Geiger counter. 
 
To avoid rubbing the paint off onto my hands or into the environment where it could be eaten or inhaled, I have covered the radioactive paint with clear nail polish.  Other exposures due to proximity to the equipment are not so hazardous, because the levels are low enough to be safe at ordinary distances. 

SCR-300/BC-1000
 
This is a quarter-watt FM transceiver on 40-48Mc. 
 
This set is quite a challenge to get working, as it is full of paper capacitors, some in rather inconvenient locations.  The culprits are the Micamold-type paper caps in the same package as common mica capacitors. 
 

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BC-1000 with OE socket adapter installed

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BC-1000 IF transformer with shield removed

The photo above shows a new silver-mica capacitor(red) installed in the IF can.