Part 1 LF & MF Communications Equipment Aboard USS Ling (SS-297)
Part 2 LF & MF Communications Equipment Aboard USS Ling (SS-297)
Part 3 LF & MF Communications Equipment Aboard USS Ling (SS-297)
Part 4 LF & MF Communications Equipment Aboard USS Ling (SS-297)
The
LM-18 aboard the USS Ling has been restored, is fully operational, and complete
with a painstakingly reconstructed calibration table. Both the TBL and
the RAK / RAL units have no direct frequency readout, only dial log
numbers. Hence the need for the LM-18. The LM-18 is a small unit, about
9" x 9" x 9", with its own separate AC power supply.
Surprisingly, the LM and its power supply are relative light-weights,
only a few pounds each!
The
USS Ling radio room is an intensely crowded place, with barely room for
two persons. Bringing this old gear back to life in these tight quarters
is most definitely a task! As we worked on the equipment we frequently
found our minds wandering. We tried to imagine what it was like in 1945,
the closing year of WW2, when the Ling was heading out to the Pacific
Theater on it's first war patrol.
Radio
operation aboard the Ling is alive and well today. The 10-70 Repeater
Association4 recently established a HF setup in the radio
room using a "modern" Yaesu FT101-ZD transceiver. We can often
be heard, usually on Saturday mornings between 10 a.m. and Noon Eastern
local time, around 7043 kHz and 14043 kHz CW, or around 7243 kHz and
14243 kHz SSB.
The
call sign is N2SE, (which hopefully will become NX2ND, after the boats'
original Navy call sign NXND). The 10-70 repeater Association offers a
colorful postcard sized QSL for contacts made (please, request the card
with a QSL and SASE). Plan to visit the USS Ling if you are ever in the
Northern NJ area. The NJ Naval Museum/USS Ling is open Saturday and
Sunday year-round except on major holidays.
The
above information is as factually correct and accurate as possible,
given our information sources. If you have questions, corrections, or
stories concerning LF/MF operation aboard WW2 submarines, and
specifically the USS Ling, we would like to hear from you!
4 See http://www.10-70.org for additional information on the 10-70 Repeater Association and its work on the USS Ling.