1930's mobile communications equipment

[Triple M]

In the 1930's ('32 - '35) some vehicle manufacturers installed mobile comm's equipment especially for the cars that were competing in such events as the MCC Exeter, Lands end, and Edinburgh trials, although other road race events may have used them as well!
I'm trying to research what equipment may have been employed and if possible any period photos of such installations, and if at all possible any equipment that may have survived?

Any information greatly received...

GB

[AC/HL]

Well, it certainly wouldn't have been compact. This site features one, taking up quite a bit of space in a Bus around that time: http://www.wftw.nl/mobileradio.html. It's probably a bit early to feature telemetry as well as voice.

[Triple M]

Thanks,

an interesting site!.
They had no telemetry, only mobile - base/ base - mobile and AM modulation,
considering the cars were quite small to start with there is an assumption that the comm's gear was fitted in the back (parcel/load space behind the front seats, but no pic's have surfaced as yet.

I'm interested to know who the maker was as (again) rumour has it they were possibly US in origin.

Glenn

[Chris G0EYO]

Eddystone made some of the first vhf mobile equipment for the police just prior to the second world war. It was known as the 400 series and used to fill the boot of the police car. See EUG website for more information
Regards
Chris G0EYO

[M0SOE_Bruce]

Here's a copy of Radio Craft from June, 1934. Scroll down to page 713 as there is a photo of workers installing miniature receivers in the hats of Bobbies.

http://www.americanradiohistory.com/...ft-1934-06.pdf

Portable equipment was fairly small looking at the projects in QST from the 1930s. American motorcycle police were two-way equipped in the mid 1930s.

[Peter.N.]

I used to service the radiotelephones in our local FX4 taxis many years ago, they were all valve with a rotary converter for the HT supply, I think the were made by Hudson, but I doubt they were anything like as old as those.

Peter

[G6Tanuki]

There were indeed various attempts at "radio-izing" the Police in the 1920s; usually these were just a mobile/portable receiver so "suspects on premises at 83 Royal Gardens" messages could be broadcast - if the policeman needed to make contact with the police station he still had to find a phone! In the US the Police would break into ordinary radio broadcasts with their messages, which sort-of suggests the police radios were nothing out of the ordinary.

The first experiments used the top-end of the Medium Wave band [indeed, some 1930s US radios had this area marked as 'Police']

http://www.bpears.org.uk/Misc/Police_on_MF/

[Triple M]

Thanks all,

some interesting leads there, especially the Eddystone one.

Glenn
G0HPS

[Jon_G4MDC]

Thanks for the item on police call sign history.
I knew the regional letters but not why it was so.

[G6Tanuki]

Somewhere in my attic I've got a book called "Memoirs of a motorsporting clergyman" by the Revd Rupert Jones: in the immediate post-WWII period he was a semi-successful rally-driver in Healeys, Austin A30s and the like.
From memory in this he describes the use of two-way radio between the cars and the 'pits' during one of the speed/distance records (10,000 miles at an average of 100MPH etc). I'll see if I can dig out the book and give more detail.

I think the radio gear used was Pye.

I remember going to an Aberystwyth & District Motorsport Club talk given by Revd. Rupert back when I was at college in Aber. He was a real character, even though he was by then rathergetting on in years.

[Martin G7MRV]

Very interesting callsign article. I grew up monitoring XV on I think 152.7125 or thereabouts, and I was probably the last person to use M2RX as an on air callsign - testing between Kippax and the local prisons. I never knew Kippax as a site dated back so far

[ex 2 Base]

Hello Martin G7MRV, I've sent you a PM.Ted