Proximity fuze questions...

[Dave Hayes]

On Sun, 10 Jan 1999 09:38:06 -0800, Mike Silva <mjsilva at JPS.NET> wrote:

>Hi all,
>
>Well, it *is* military electronics, even though there aren't any CQ
>conversion articles on 'em...  Anyway, I've been reading Baldwin's
>"Deadly Fuze" (a pick-it-out-yourself Christmas present) on the
>development of the proximity fuze, and I wish there was a little more
>technical detail.  Does anybody know what frequency was used in the
>oscillator, and what the total circuit looked like?  Thanks.
>
>73,
>Mike, KK6GM

Somewhere in an old McGraw-Hill book of circuits circa 1968 hidden in the
garage, I have some schematics of a few proximity fuses. As I recall, they
were powered by a small motor-generator that was energized by the rotation
of the shell. That is, the rotor stayed more-or-less fixed while the
stator, attached to the body of the shell, rotated with the shell. The
circuit, from memory, was a single subminiature tube oscillator. Some part
of the shell formed an antenna, so it must have been operating at UHF. When
the loading on the oscillator changed, as when passing near an aircraft,
the change in grid or plate current was detected and this caused a fuse to
fire thus exploding the shell.

Apparently these were first used only on American naval ships so that they
could not fall into enemy hands. Later, they were used by anti-aircraft
battalions in England to effectively shoot down V-1 Buzz Bombs.

I think I saw a web site a while ago that had some information on proximity
fuses.

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