File:Wireless Set No. 10.jpg

Wireless_Set_No._10.jpg(650 × 594 pixels, file size: 97 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)

Summary

Description
English: Wireless Set No. 10 was a portable multi-channel radio telephone system used by the British Army. It was the first system in the world to use pulse-code modulation to encode the audio signal into a radio signal, and the first to multiplex multiple such signals into a single signal in order to support up to eight telephone connections at a time.

The system was made possible by the invention of the cavity magnetron in 1940, which could produce very short pulses of microwave frequency radio signals. Using the high-frequency signals allowed the resulting radio signal to be tightly focused using parabolic reflectors, making it almost impossible for the signal to be intercepted as the beams were only about 3 degrees wide. Post-war analysis showed the Germans never even knew the system existed, let alone intercepted its signals.

Links could be made between two such stations at distances on the order of 50 miles, although due to line-of-sight these were generally shorter on the order of 30 miles. Longer links were produced by placing two No 10's back-to-back and connecting them together with normal telephone wires. Stations could also be connected through the existing telephone networks if they were available. Such a system relayed information from Germany all the way to London, making the hop across the English Channel using No. 10's in Cherbourg and Beachy Head.

The image appears to show a Mark I model, as the open hatch on the left shows two identical generators, whereas the later Mark II model used a single larger generator. In practice, the sets were normally powered my the mains supply, with the generators used only as backup. During the war, Montgomery's HQ lost communications with London for less than one hour in total.
Date circa 1944
date QS:P,+1944-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1480,Q5727902
Source http://www.wftw.nl/wsets.html
Author Unknown British Army photographer

Licensing

Public domain
This work created by the United Kingdom Government is in the public domain.

This is because it is one of the following:

  1. It is a photograph taken prior to 1 June 1957; or
  2. It was published prior to 1974; or
  3. It is an artistic work other than a photograph or engraving (e.g. a painting) which was created prior to 1974.

HMSO has declared that the expiry of Crown Copyrights applies worldwide (ref: HMSO Email Reply)
More information.

See also Copyright and Crown copyright artistic works.

Deutsch  English  Español  français  italiano  Nederlands  polski  português  sicilianu  slovenščina  suomi  Türkçe  македонски  русский  українська  മലയാളം  한국어  日本語  简体中文  繁體中文  العربية  +/−

Captions

Wireless Set No. 10 was a portable multi-channel radio telephone system used by the British Army

Items portrayed in this file

depicts

image/jpeg

File history

Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time.

Date/TimeThumbnailDimensionsUserComment
current15:22, 14 July 2021Thumbnail for version as of 15:22, 14 July 2021650 × 594 (97 KB)Maury MarkowitzUploaded a work by Unknow British Army photographer from http://www.wftw.nl/wsets.html with UploadWizard
The following pages on the English Wikipedia use this file (pages on other projects are not listed):

Global file usage

The following other wikis use this file:

Metadata