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Vintage Amateur and Military Radio Amateur/military receivers and transmitters, morse, and any other related vintage comms equipment.

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Old 9th Aug 2009, 7:50 pm   #1
hundon19
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Default Transmitter T1396

Hello all. I am trying to clear up some confusion relating to a radio identification, and in the process have become even more confused, so I was hoping that a definitive answer could be found on this forum.
A Dutch friend-of-a-friend has owned a radio with the inscription T1396 and a comment that it was believed to be from a Spitfire. It was recovered from somewhere in Holland, apparently, but there are no records of a crashed Spitfire in the area concerned.
My understanding is that early Spitfires, Hurricanes etc. were fitted with eg a TR9D, comprising the T1119 and R1120. I have found a reference to the TR9F (T1138 / R1139), but so far no conclusive application to a T1396.
My suspicion is that it may have been a TR9H component, which may then in turn associate it with a heavy bomber (Lancaster?)
Can anyone advise please, and confirm any assumptions?

(Most confusingly the photo supplied was seemingly of a R1147B ! Does anyone know anything about these, particularly the aircraft they may have been fitted to?)

Thanks
Mike
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Old 9th Aug 2009, 8:03 pm   #2
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Default Re: Transmitter T1396

Forum member GMB is our expert on this sort of thing. Have a look at his website here:-

http://home.btconnect.com/gmb/
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Old 9th Aug 2009, 9:58 pm   #3
Nostaticatall
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Default Re: Transmitter T1396

The following is from the Imperial War Museum website:

"The Transmitter-Receiver T R 9 consisted of a two-valve radiotelephony transmitter (Type T 1396) and a six-valve receiver contained in one case. It was designed primarily for use in fighter aircraft, such as the Defiant, Hurricane and Spitfire and was intended to provide two-way communication to a range of 35 miles air/ground and 5 miles air-to-air. Frequency coverage was 4300-6000 kc/s and the entire power supply was derived from an HT dry battery and a secondary cell. In single-seat fighters the set was installed behind the pilot's cockpit The pilot was provided with headphones, microphone and a remote control unit which operated the send-receive switch, receiver tuning and volume control. VHF radio, superior in clarity & reception, was progressively introduced from late 1940 onwards into RAF service.The VHF Transceiver used in RAF fighters was the TR 1143 or the American SCR-522-A, which was based on the former. Both were interchangeable".


The R1147 receiver is a homing device of some sort fitted to the Seafire aircraft along with the TR1196.

Steve

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Old 9th Aug 2009, 10:52 pm   #4
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Default Re: Transmitter T1396

I can confirm that T1396 is the transmitter section of TR9H.

The Imperial War Museum quote is misleading. TR9 was used by fighters but TR9H was a specific variant for bombers, and replaced TR9F. Although TR9's were often powered by batteries the bomber variants were usually not, using power unit 173 instead.

(Apologies for this not being on my web site).
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Old 10th Aug 2009, 9:27 pm   #5
hundon19
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Default Re: Transmitter T1396

Many thanks, Steve and GMB.
I think Steve's reference to the (misleading) IWM info is where my initial confusion related, so thanks for clarifying that. Interesting about the R1147, too. The suspicion from the owner was that there was an F86 jet crashed nearby (Canadian?) and he was wondering if either of these radios were related to that. Any further comments?
Thanks
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Old 10th Aug 2009, 11:29 pm   #6
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Default Re: Transmitter T1396

Unlikely to be anything to do with an F86.

The R1147 was the receiver for a VHF navigation system cooked up by the Fleet Air Arm, basically a homing system which is perhaps the predecessor to the modern VOR system, and dates back to 1941/42. It was specifically for aircraft flying over the sea to find their way home and was briefly tried by Photographic Reconnaissance spitfires as well as other FAA aircraft.

It seems it wasn't a great success, but the FAA retained it for Seafires and their reconnaissance aircraft.
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Old 12th Aug 2009, 10:19 pm   #7
hundon19
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Default Re: Transmitter T1396

Many thanks again. Have forwarded the info to the chap in Holland, and will be interested to hear if he pins down the aircraft. If so, I'll let you know.
Regards
Mike
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