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British Army Communications
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*Still Under Construction*
It seems that once the Armed forces get there teeth into a
communication system they stick with it through thick and thin. The fact that
the Clansman system that was developed in the mid 1970's is still in service
today speaks volumes. With the introduction of the new Bowman encrypted system,
Clansman is now slowly becoming consigned to the skips (Literately). But
when Clansman was introduced the British Army was still using Larkspur, and the
latter was still in the Signal aide memoire's for 1983. In other Army
publications, Larkspur is
still mentioned in 1986 but I suspect this to be more of a Territorial Army
Issue than Frontline.
Field Telephone systems:
RACAL UK PTC-404 Field Telephone
The Racal 2 Wire Field Telephone safely operates from 4
"D" Cells and connects by 2 core wire. These field Phones are designed
to be water and dust proof. Operational range is over 10 miles!!! (28km). in 3
Modes of operation, Normal , Whisper and Test mode. This is proberly the
most secure way of communicating, with no jamming or interception unless the
line is cut. Used in trench systems, forward observation posts and fixed sentry
positions.
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Radios LARKSPUR:
Table of LARKSPUR Radio Equipment
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VHF SETS |
HF SETS |
| Set |
A40 |
A41 |
C42 |
A13 |
C11/R210 |
| Freq coverage |
47-54.4 MHz |
38-55 MHz |
36-60 MHz |
2-8 MHz |
2-16 MHz |
| Number of Channels |
6 |
No 1 - 171
No 2 - 341 |
Nos 1 and 3 -241
No 2 - 481 |
2401 |
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| Battery Life |
20 hours |
40 hours |
Vehicle Fitted or Base station |
8hrs |
Vehicle Fitted or Base station |
| Range |
1.5 to 2.25 Km |
5 to 14.5 Km |
6 to 40 Km |
8 to 100+ Km |
40 to 320 Km |
| Weight |
4.5 kg |
20 kg |
60 kg |
9.5 kg |
90 kg |
Radios CLANSMAN:
Table of CLANSMAN Radio Equipment
| VHF SETS |
| Set |
PRC349 |
PRC350 |
PRC351 |
PRC252 |
VRC353 |
| Freq coverage |
37-46.975 MHz |
36-56.975 MHz |
30-75.975 MHz |
30-75.975 MHz |
30-75.975 MHz |
| Number of Channels |
400 |
840 |
1840 |
1840 |
1840 |
| Battery Life |
20-24 hours |
12 hours |
18 hours |
9 hours |
Vehicle Fitted |
| Range |
1.5 Km |
5 Km |
8 Km |
16 Km |
18 to 80 Km |
| Weight |
1.4 kg |
3.6kg |
8.2 kg |
11.4 kg |
31.8 kg |
Communications set up. (Left: PRC320/ Right: PRC351)
© MOD
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HF/UHF SETS
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| Set |
PRC316 |
PRC320 |
VRC321 |
PRC344 |
| Freq coverage |
2-7 MHz |
2-29.9999 MHz |
1.5-29.9999 MHz |
225-399.95 MHz |
| Number of Channels |
9 |
280,000 |
285,000 |
3,500 |
| Battery Life |
20 hours |
12 hours |
Vehicle Fitted |
11.5 hours |
| Range |
100 Km |
12 to 320+ Km |
50 to 1000 Km |
20 to 160 Km |
| Weight |
5.6 kg |
11 kg |
42 kg |
9.3 kg |
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TA Command Post
Clansman Radio equipment
pictures
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