German Army Wireless Equipment

A critical survey of the mechanical and electrical features

By W. Farrar, Bsc.

Signals Research and Development Establishment

Ministry of (UK) Supply

Copy of The Royal Signals Quaterly Journal, 1947

This article reflects a fair survey, in which he shows to have a rather good fealing for German military electronics

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Keywords: The marks and conclusions presented in this article are based on the results of examination of German wireless equipment captured during the war ... ; The nomenclature employed for German army wireless equipment gave some idea of the use for which it was intended; Special equipment, such as direction finders and intercept receivers, were described (in abriviated form) on the nameplate, as were ultra-high frequency (decimetre-wave) equipment. This system of nomenclature, which applied to valves, vibrators, power units and the like, would appear to be better in many ways than the Britsih number method. .. ; Some of the German army frequency bands were different from functionally corresponding bands used in the Britsih army. ... ; As a general rule frequencies increased as the frontline was approached, reliance being then placed in the limit ranges at the high frequencies to make interception by the enemy army difficult; The germans were intercept-conscious is shown by the large number of intercept receivers used, covering frequency ranges from 10 kC/s up to 305 Mc/s ... ; The capture late in the war of a development model of a small high-frequency transceiver with both amplitude and frequency modulation facilities showed that the Germans were considering the use of frequency modulation for normal short-range communications purposes; The outstanding feature of German army wireless sets was the almost universal use of lightweight alloy in teir construction ... ; Ceramics were used extensively in various ways ... ; Elektron ... ; Precision gearing was also used in tuning devices to obviate backlash, conventional spring-loaded gears were employed. The absence of backlash and the use of large circular scales (the largest was 11½ inches in diameter) extending up to 270° degrees of arc made acurate calibration of the equipment possible; Where an equipment had more than one frequency band it was customary to paint the sections of the tuning scale or the movable escutcheon with different colours, to correspond with similar colours on the various positions of the band switch or indicator ... ; Another form of simplification of operation was found in rangeof intercept receivers. Here the tuning control (coaxial fast and slow) was positioned to the left of the centre-line of the panel, near the bottom, and adjacent to it on the centre-line, were edgewise controls for bandwidth and volume, and an A.F. tone filter switch. The operator, using only his left hand could, while listening to a signal, vary the tuning with his fingers, and the bandwidth, volume and tone-filter with his thumb, thus leaving his right hand free to take down the signal on paper ... ; The circuits employed in German army wireless equipment were, except for old sets, well designed and efficient, but to British wartime standards not up to date. The reason for this was designs were frozen at or before the outbreak of war ... ; The exception, which was manufactured at least up to 1942 (actually 1944, AOB) was an eight-band low and medium frequency receiver(s) with two R.F. stages, detector and A.F. output, which nevertheless performed quite well (meant are Lo6K39 and Lo6L39, AOB); Sensitivity of all superhet receivers, even those dating from 1936, was good, being of the order of 1-5 µV R.F. for 10 mW output, and compared well with similar British equipment. Signal noise ratio was also good ..;  ..... Take time to read it all further yourself!

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