This was one of the most notorious of all the trasceivers used by the partisan clandestine radio operators during WWII. The Paraset (Paratrooper radio set) was dropped in with their operators behind enemy lines and were some of the most compact and portable communications devices in the world at the time. They HAD to be. Often transported in food baskets, suitcases, and other obscure places, the Paraset MK-VII could be employed for very brief transmission, and then packed up and carried away until the next mission. A fascinating piece of history.
I plan on building one of these over the next year. Today’s equivalent would be something along the lines of a LNR Precision Mountain Topper radio, which is about the size of a pack of cigarettes. I hope you enjoy this, and perhaps one day we may see a nostalgic Spy Radio group form among AmRRON, and we can enjoy the thrill of holding nets using only portable clandestine replicas of the spy radios of a bygone era.
-JJS
From Wikipedia:
The Paraset was a small, low-power, thermionic valve CW morse code-only radio transmitter-receiver supplied to the resistance groups in France, Belgium and the Netherlands during World War II. The Paraset was one of the first successful miniaturized radio sets for Britain’s Special Operations Executive which conducted espionage and other activities behind German lines during World War II. The set, known as the Whaddon Mark VII, was used for clandestine radio communication primarily in Norway and Europe, developed at the Royal Signals Special Communications Unit workshops at Little Horwood and the workshops of Whaddon Hall, Buckinghamshire in the early stages of World War II. The equipment is known as the “Paraset” because it was dropped by parachute for field agents.
Excellent articles and web resources about the MK-7 Paraset transceiver.
Paraset serial #2357
The Whaddon Mk VII – Paraset Clandestine Radio
Whaddon Radio Set Mk VII “Paraset”
Youtube Videos:
EMPLOYMENT OF WW2 CLANDENSTINE RADIO TYPE 3. MK. II
PARASET- MK7 de F6BYS
Building your own replica Paraset MK VII:
http://www.paraset.nl/
http://www.paraset.nl/hut12_warehouse/index.htm
Those who’d like to look into the history of WWII spy radios and listening posts might want to get Geoffrey Pidgeon’s The Secret Wireless War (Arundel Books, 2008).
It covers the war from various angles including how these radios were built, often one at a time in shops. And from time it brings up how radio amateurs influenced the war. In the UK, it was they who told the government that there was a lot of German radio traffic to intercept.
Once established, many of the listening posts used antenna’s that most hams could only dream about—giant rhombics on 120-poles. One interesting advantage was that, from the air, those antenna farms were virtually invisible. Seeing the great effort the British were making to pick up German encrypted traffic, might have led the Germans to suspect that Enigma had been broken.
Also, the amateur radio influence on both sides was great enough, that German military radio often use Q-codes.
Thank you for the recommendation! http://amzn.to/2gdwgiM
I’m writing a short story about SOE chaps and would like to know the effective range of a Paraset and how they used a big antenna under extreme conditions. I was wondering if they could have attached the Paraset to a lightning conductor in a church, or to a similar steel structure.
I’d be grateful for a reply if you have time.
Yours,
David Jordan
Hello Dacid,
Goot question and I hope to help you on this.
The Paraset was routinely used to send and receive enciphered messages from German occupied Europe from places as close as coastal France to as far as Norway’s rugged mountains. For Example: Paris in cantral France is roughly 250 miles and central Norway roughly 850 miles!
Antennas are really the heart of HF radio, so lets have a look.
If rmote forest, woods &etc. Paraset antennas would be like any military HF radio station, using wire antenna kits to make dipoles per frequency or inverted “l” antennas operated against a ‘ground’ connection like plumbing or even a wire laid out on the ground. The often operated undet cover of night so that the wire antennas were not seen. Trees are the ‘antenna towers use.
Clandestine Anetnnas in Urban environments are an entirelty different matter and must no he seen. Again, wire from the Paraset kit was used, usually a 1/4 wavelength per the scheduled TRANSMIT frequency. For technical reasons, a quarter ware of wire loads-up very well with circuits of the day. Commonly, the Paraset was set up as close to the sky as possible, under a non-metalic roof. Wire antenna (Aerial) was strung as widely across the top floor room as possible using whatever support was available. If metal water pipes were in the room, the “EARTH” connection was attached to these pipipes (sink, hot water radiator/heating system’ or if no plumbing, a wire was zig-zagged across the floor to use for the ‘EARTH’ connection.
Once VERY clever methos used by some operators in French Section was they noticed the toilets of the time had a chain that flushed the toilet by pulling id wodnward. tripping the vales UP AT THE METAL TANK ON THE ROOF! So, the clandestine operator would attach the EARTH ro bathroom drain puipes and his AERIAL (antenna) to the chain that went all the way ip to the roof. Instant antenna and it comes with a place to sit woule you operate. Mind the tapping from your key though.
Here’s a little filler information (TMI!!!) that might help with your fill-in information.
Hello David,
Clandestine antenna installation in an urban environment is an art in itself, but here are some of the historically correct methods used in urban environments.
If in a city like Paris:
1. Get a room on the upper floor, place your radio set into a corner, preferably near some plumbing, like a sink or hot water radiator heater. These metal pipes make a good “Earth” connection which in American English is the radio’s ‘ground’ connection.
2. In your antenna kit you have thin antenna wire. Unwind a quarter wavelength of wire (if possible) for your scheduled radio frequency. (Example: if you are going to be transmitting on 60 meters (5.xx MHz…) you’ld unwind 7.5 meters of wire for your ‘aerial’, string the wire up toward the ceiling and route it around/across the room, using existing room features to support the wire. For example, string the wire from the nail/hook used to hang pictures, over doors put the wire on TOP of the doorway trim and a pin into the wood to keep the wire up there. and when you reach a room corner, push a needle or your thin bladed knife downward (45deg or more) into the corner and drape the wire over that. The straighter the antenna wire the better, but straight is not essential – getting your signal to England IS ESSENTIAL!
3. Attach the Paraset ‘Earth’ connection to the nearest pipe and connect your antenna wire to the Paraset’s “Aerial “ connector.
4. Connect your power supply (part of your Paraset kit) to your Paraset, and plug in your headphones. WAIT UNTIL TWO MINUTES BEFORE SKED TIME before you apply power. DO NOT TEST THE RADIO receiver or transmitter – yet!!! Each second of time that you are on the air, you are being hunted. This includes your radio RECEIVER because the PARASET when set to receive CW (Morse code) is a ‘regenerative receiver’ and emits a small signal of it’s own. In close quarters like the city of Paris, the German might well find you by the receiver alone. If set for A.M. Like listening to the BBC broadcasting news from London, the Paraset receiver does not radiate signal, so you can catch-up on news in relative safety.
5. At ten minutes til sked, place you transmitting crystal, ENCIPHERED message and sked with callsigns on your operating table. You should NOT have your message cleartext with you at this time: only your enciphered message to be transmitted.
6. 5. Two minutes before your sked, apply power, plug tonight’s crystal into the transmitter socket. . This is a TUBE SET and tubes need to warm-up to work. Dial your receiver to the frequency of your ‘Mother Station’ back in England (there is a tuning graph in the lid to aid your initial receiver dial setting – no digital frequency readouts readouts back then. Increase the REACTION control just a bit until you hear a slight rush in the headphones. You’re now ready to receive the CW signal from Mother. So, slowly ‘rock’ the dial back and forth a bit until you hear ‘Mother”. She should be LOUD AND CLEAR, as England is only 250 miles away and they use top notch antennas and at least 250 Watt transmitters. ) plug the crustal for YOUR TRANSMITTING FREQUENCY into the crystal socket on top of the Paraset. You’re probably listening on a different frequency than your ‘Mother Station’ is sending on.
7. It would go something like this:
8. England: FJB FJB FJB DE MAGA MAGA MAGA QTC ? QRV K
(You, this is Me. Do you have a message? We are ready to copy.)
Spy: //pRESSED THE TELEGRAPH KEY ATTACHED TO THE OP OF THE pARASET, PEAKS HIS TRANSMITTER FOR BEST SIGNAL// 1st time transmitting for this sked.
DE MAGA QTC 01 NR 39 RDO GR 33 BT
9. (This is me, I have one message, message number 39, Important, 33 groups break -)
AKONH FFFKE MOUFH FJBPO EIEIO OMACDON ALD… ….. ….. AR (end of message)
As soon as the message is passed successfully , England will send “QSL 39 GL SK”.
(England: We confirm receipt of your message #39, Good Luck //SIGNING OFF//
YOU SEND NOTHING! STAY OFF THE AIR. KILL POWER TO THE PARASET and get out of there as safely as possible.
If you are attached to a well established resistance unit, at this point you destroy your cipher message (burn the paper and ‘wash’ the ashes between your hands down the drain) then they get YOU , to a safe location. They pack-up your Paraset to put it into one of many hide spots. The Germans want YOU and the resistance needs YOU or no magic parachutes will appear delivering mayhem making supplies, like weapons and explosives – and cigarettes!!! from England.
These radios served two very important functions:
A. Relaying vital war information relating to enemy activities and capabilities back to Britain.
B. Setting-up and coordinating the arming and equipping of resistance fighters, usually by parachute drop.
C. Sending detailed weather reports from remote areas upwind of intensed targets so that allied weather forecasters could plan air operations over Germany, for example. Norwegian weather was a key indicator of weather which might sweep down into central Germany, disrupting aerial bombardment.
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