Subj : Navy SRT14, 15, 16 TX
To : Tom Walker
From : Mike Luther
Date : Mon Aug 04 2014 10:04 pm
Hi Tom!
As you posted ...
TW> That is true. Except in energancies we maintained radio silence when
TW> on partol. And receptionof traffic was VLF. The subs used a
TW> floating wire antenna that could be trailed out of the rear of the sail
TW> structure. It was retracted when no needed. Transmissions were on HF and
TW> there was a retractable, like Periscope, antenna that was used at
TW> periscope depth.
TW> In my day they experimented with burst transmissions. I am sure in this
TW> computer they are a little more hi tech but in my day they used a reel
TW> to reel tape deck. The radioman prepaired the message and put it on the
TW> tape with cue marks for triggering the transmitter. The tape deck was
TW> run at FAST forward speed and sent the message
Bet this will be also fascinating to you! My cousin Bobby Dunkin was an
original telecom expert back in even the end of WWII into the 50's. As a kid
my Dad forbid us from even having a television set where I grew up in College
Station, Texas until one of my uncles, Bill Schuster, who was actually part of
the creation of the original Emerson operation and at that time the largest
competitor to Allied Radio -forced us- to have a TV set in my parents home here
so Dad could watch Armstrong set foot on the moon! I watched that TV with my
Dad and Mother for that episode here in the now Historic House. As fact, that
black and white TV set has been donated to the Children's Museum in Bryan,
Texas for their exhibition of how TV came to here over uears and years.
As for my first TV view ever, it was up in Erie, Pennsylvania on WICU-TV where
Bobby was creating this stuff. My first TV ever seen was actually on a
Hallicrafters 7-inch black and white relay rack TV set in my Uncle Bobby's
house there during our 'normal' visit to Erie every summer. Leap forward!
Bobby wound up as part of the engineering operation and was involved in the VLF
naval communication design for submarines at sea. He was a part of the design
team for the antenna system which was used to punch the VLF signals into the
Pacific ocean for I think exactly what you are talking about. He eventually
retired from his job up in the Dallas, Texas area long ago. Passed away a
number of years ago.
