Australian Army Museum of Western Australia > Records

World War 2, Wireless Set No 108

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Subcollections

Communications Gallery - Centenary of Royal Australian Corps of Signals

Overview

The Wireless Set No. 108 was developed for the Australian Armed Services in early 1941 as a low power portable transceiver capable of voice transmission only. (See WS No. 208 which was a very similar set for CW only). All marks of the WS No. 108 were manufactured by Radio Corporation Pty. Ltd. in Melbourne. The WS No. 108 could be attached to the standard Army Web Equipment as a backpack and could be operated whilst on the move.

Historical information

The 108 was installed in a sheet metal case with a removable front lid and canvas covers to protect it from dust and moisture. It was carried on the operator's back and had two Bowden cable controls which he could access, one to operate the Send-Off-Receive switch and the other to tune the receiver. The operator had to tune the transmitter first, before placing the set on his back. An aerial mount on the side of the set mounted a whip antenna.
The 108 was powered by dry batteries of 90V HT (made up of two 45V blocks in series) and 1.5V LT which fitted into a compartment in the case, under the radio set. With a sending to receiving time ratio of 1 to 3 the batteries were expected to last around 110 hours for HT and 30 hours for the LT battery. The power output of the set was 0.4 to 0.45 watts (unmodulated) depending on the frequency and length of aerial.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-32-54-952

Inscriptions and markings

The WS No. 108 Mk. I and Mk. II had different frequency ranges. The Mk. II had the advantage of being able to communicate with the standard Wireless Set No. 101 which has a frequency range of 6 Mc/s to 6.8 Mc/s. In 1944 a new version, the WS No. 108 Mk. III was introduced with an MCW facility
108 Mk. I 8.5 Mc/s to 8.9 Mc/s The IF frequency was 455 Kc/s
108 Mk. II 6 Mc/s to 9 Mc/s The IF frequency is 1600 Kc/s
108 Mk. III 2.5 Mc/s to 3.5 Mc/s The IF frequency was 455 Kc/s

Contextual Information

This radio is located in the Communications Gallery commissioned by the Australian Army Museum of Western Australia as part of the Centenary commemorations of the Royal Australian Corp of Signals. Communication devices used by the Australian Army also are presented in their operational context throughout the Museum.

Links to additional resources

Detailed Description

Australian Army Museum of Western Australia

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