SCR-522 info wanted (demo charges in radios)

[Ron Thomas]

Some of the early APX gear (aircraft IFF transponders) had demo charges in them.  But I
have never seen demo charges in comm gear.  When I used to fly in Navy ASW aircraft, most
of the comm gear (except for one UHF radio) was identified with a piece of reflective
white tape for jettison.  This meant that if you were going down, this gear was to be
removed and thrown out of the aircraft prior to bail out or ditching.  This supposedly
accomplished two things:  it lightened the aircraft which would allow it to fly farther on
less fuel, and it got rid of "sensitive" equipment that we didn't want falling into the
wrong hands.  But IFF equipment stayed on board until the very last second when the
aircrew would activate the destruct switch, igniting the charges and destroying the
equipment.  I doubt that much of this equipment escaped the military system with charges
installed, however.

Regards,

Ron  N4RT

> John,
>
> Have a look at http://www.qsl.net/vk4czt/larkspur.htm where Steve has
> photos of C-42 and C-45 transceivers. In the last pic you can clearly
> see the two dessicators (red cylinders) in the upper left corner.
>
> regards  Nigel VK3ZNQ
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Boat Anchor Owners and Collectors L
> Sent: Monday, 29 October 2001 15:48
> To: BOATANCHORS
> Subject: Re: SCR-522 info wanted (Things that go Bang in the night)
>
>
>         Hello John,
>
>         what do the red things look like?
>
>         The folklore says some mil radio gear did have demolition
> charges
>         fitted, but I've never seen any & don't know any specific
> models.
>
>         Moisture absorbing cannisters were installed in some British
> gear
>         like Plessey's C-43 and C-45 transceivers used in tanks & other
>         land mobile/front line installations. These were about 5/8" dia,
>         4 or 5" long in a finely perforated aluminium cylinder with red
>         anodising. They screwed into chassis mounted sockets and were
>         mounted in pairs about 1 - 2" apart. Scared me witless when I
>         first saw them...
>
>         73 Nigel VK3ZNQ
>
>
> Date:     27-Oct-2001 16:02 EST
> From:     Boat Anchor Owners and Collect
>
> TO:  BOATANCHORS        ( BOATANCHORS at LISTSERV.TEMPE.GOV@NET at VAXC )
>
> Subject: SCR-522 info wanted
>
> Does anyone know if the SCR-522 was ever fitted with a destruct
> charge(s)? A
> friend has one with some unidentified red things in it and has no
> documentation.
> He would rather not get a nasty surprise.
>
> TIA,
> John
>
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