"A few queries on the German Fu5 and Fu8 radio sets" Topic

I've posted this in a couple of places without success.

I've got a few questions about the operation of the Fu5 and the Fu8 radio sets. These are quite basic questions, in line with my basic (but I think improving) understanding of radio sets of the era.

The Fu5, as I understand it, consisted of the 10w Sender c and the Ukw Empfanger e (these being the transmitter and the receiver respectively). The 10w S c and the Ukw E e both operated in the frequency range of 27,200 to 33,300 khz. I know the Fu5 was the basic tank set and was also fitted in certain halftracks of the Armoured Panzer Grenadier units, primarily it seems those of Company commanders and upwards.

The US Army TME-11-227 technical manual says that both the sender and receiver in the Fu5 could be preset with two frequencies. Were these presets selected in a similar fashion to 'netting' for something such as the British No.19 set? Going from memory a British unit would be given the frequency it was to operate on and then arrange to net all the required sets on that frequency, with a 'control' set broadcasting on the selected frequency and all other sets picking up and locking in on that broadcast. This was all done as part of the general preparation for combat and required the set to be maintained on the frequency until the next netting drill was carried out.

I'm assuming there was a similar 'drill' for the Fu5, with the individual sets being put onto their two presets, and these being the maintained throughout the subsequent operation? Did the Fu5 require a control set to broadcast or could stations be set to the agreed frequency individually? Finally on the preset issue, was it a fairly straightforward matter to switch from one to another and back again during action?

The Fu8, again as I understand it, consisted of the 30w Sender a and the MW Empfanger c. The 30w S a operated on 1120 to 3000 khz and the MW E c on 830 to 3000 khz. TME-11-227 states the 30w S a had no preset frequencies, and the TME does not look to include an entry for the MW E c.

Did the MW Empfanger c have the ability to preset more than one frequency at all? And, similarly to the Fu5, did it follow a 'netting' drill to put it on its required frequency, and when selected was it locked into this until the next 'netting drill'?

Thanks,

Gary

Sorry I can't be of help, but while these might appear basic questions, they seem pretty esoteric to me.

The Wikipedia article on German Radio sets does have a couple books in the bibliography that might be useful. link

The only thing I've ever read on WWII radios was that staying on net was hard and once you got there, you tried your best to stay on that frequency, and certainly didn't go channel surfing. That may have been something the author picked up from talking to British and American radio operators, and might or might not not apply to Germans.

I can see where getting the radios linked would be part of the organizational procedure for a kampfgruppe.

Interesting questions, and I made a mental note to follow this and see what sort of answers you got.

Grelber

Gary,

I went a short ways down this rabbit hole a little while back when looking into a modelling project on German command halftracks. I didn't find any definitive sources on-line but there is some very useful information on Piet Van Hees' SdKfz 251 site, especially the following pages:

link
link
link
link

I can't help with the specifics of WW2 German radio procedure, but netting in and staying netted in was obviously an issue. Don Featherstone included a "netting in" sub game in the Desert tank battles book, so he obviously had some recollection of what a pita it was.

I know the feeling, info about radios tricky to find.
Best sources Ive found are the various collectors/museums for instance:
rkk-museum.ru/index_e.htm
theres one or two around but this is one I could find quickly on my bookmarks.
L

The various military manual forums might be worth a try, although I've no idea how much an original WW2 German radio operations manual would go for.

Thanks for the replies. I will keep looking and add anything that I might find here.

Wireless/radio and line communications in WW2 does seem to be largely untapped area. Plenty of technical information on the kit but very little on the actual utilisation of it by units in the field in terms of who had what and how it fitted together in practical terms.

There are a lot of the US manuals online via radionerds.com and archive.org, and a very decent selection of British and Commonwealth at VMARS.org.uk (missing some of the important early war sets it seems). The trouble with any German manual would be, it's in German, in Gothic type, and in radio speak. I can normally only make sense of about a tenth of the manuals in English!

I'm guessing that the need to net and stay on that frequency was common to all AM sets of the day.

Gary