The 600M transmitters both on board and ashore had a device in the keying line called a \"chopper\". this was to modulate the CW signal and broaden out it\'s BW a bit in order to make it easier to copy in an SOS situation, the idea being that if you were not tuned exactly to 600M (500 kcs.) that you\'d still hear the broad signal, and ditto in case your BFO somehow was turned off. I have read that spark transmitters were still used afloat as late as the 30\'s on some vessels. I have read and account by one shore op who stated that he ran the chopper all the time on 600 because he \"liked the sound of it\", even though it\'s use was only required under SOS or TTT situations. The chopper was not used anywhere else but 600M, though I caught a thread on the Glo-Bugs list a while back about hooking a buzzer in your key line to act as a chopper (!!!!) I\'m not sure if the modulated CW, or \"A-2\" emmision was used by the Navy, either ours or theirs...

Some of the most unique fists I\'ve heard are those of bug operators. Some are so \"unique\" as to be un-dechiperable! One fellow I know would slur his \"dahs\" slightly, not enough to qualify as a \"Banana Boat Roll\" or other styles, but just enough so that I knew it was Homer in only about 3-4 letters. It was a very easy to copy fist. the various electronic keyers are, for the most part, compleatly devoid of any \"personality\", since the basic ones cut everything to the same 1:3 dit-dah ratio, and the better ones (like the built-in one in my Ten-Tec) let you play with the \"weighting\" of the ratio. I use 1:3 or maybe 1:2.8 at speeds slower than about 15 WPM, and I shourten it up just a bit at speeds abpve 22 or so.I have my bugs set the same way. The \"slow\" bug is set for a 1:3 ratio and 23 WPM, and the \"fast\" bug (30 WPM) shortens up the dits slightly. I have heard lids (yep, that\'s what I all \'em) who send their dits at 40 or so, and their dahs at 15 WPM...Who they trying to fool? It\'s un-copyable...

I\'d think that as long as you had sea water running down the antenna wires and dripping across the insulators, you\'d have the spluttering noises. Key down, antenna current \"boils\" the water, makes a spluttering noise, key up, arc out, more water drips across, key down, whole scene all over again. I\'m not sure how the humidity inside the boat would affect the gear. I\'d imagine that it was left on all the time, just to have it in a stable and ready condition (no warm-up drift) and to also keep in insides dry. American gear was usually given the \"MFP\" treatment, which was a varnish with a fungicide mixed in, usually on gear destined for tropical destinations. There were DC-DC motor-generator sets in the hold below the radio room on a US fleet boat, because the transmitters required more voltage than the battery buss could supply. I think the DC was converted to AC, because some of the old gear I have,Like the rAL, and RBB, which were used in subs, was set for 110V, 60Hz mains...

I\'d like to find out more info on just what kind of comms gear was carried on U-boats. I\'ve read some of the inventory lists from captured U-boats, and I was left with the impression that they had the US ship\'s cook inventory the German radio shack...Either that, or the state of German Naval radio was even more sad than when US hams \"sent their shacks to war\" because your average US Ham had better\'n the military.

73,
John R. WB9OFG