[TenTec] How much for an Orion III?
Jim Vohland
n9vo at hotmail.com
Mon Apr 14 17:32:38 EDT 2014
I'm not sure that I understand the story of destroying the equipment based on having received "classified signals". There is no way a kwm-2/2a or s-line could have encrypted or decrypted signals. They were receivers/transmitters, not cryptographic. In the navy, any classified radio equipment had manuals which stressed exactly which circuit boards were classified and requirement destruction in a specific manner. Unclassified portions of the equipment required no special effort. a vacuum tube doesn't retain signals. Stories of R390's languishing abound also. Probably due more to a glut of old equipment. SP600's, R390s, R1051 and even some ten-tec receivers were used for intercept operations. Many made it to civilian/unclassified use. No security issues.
> From: wn3vaw at verizon.net
> To: tentec at contesting.com
> Date: Mon, 14 Apr 2014 17:19:28 -0400
> Subject: Re: [TenTec] How much for an Orion III?
>
> Well, the story of the stupid destruction of those KWM-2/2A's and S-Lines is
> an old story. Sad to say, while there are variations on the theme, it's a
> common story from almost any US military installation, regardless of the
> branch, that was decommissioning the units at the time.
>
> In essence, someone high enough up simply didn't want to "take any chances"
> about ANY electronics that MIGHT have been used to encrypt/decrypt secure
> communications. So, he or she ordered that they take the benefit of the
> doubt... and destroy EVERYTHING. Which included all of that Collins gear,
> and more.
>
> That's one of the reasons, I have been told, that the flood of MilSurplus
> equipment that used to flood the Amateur market has dried up.
>
> Now, the good news is, a good bit (though not nearly enough!) of that gear
> was... intercepted before destruction, and ended up in MARS stations, or
> MilRec stations, or even, eventually, in private hands (I don't want to know
> how!!)
>
> Still, it's a real shame.
>
> Could you imagine, though, what the Amateur used equipment market would have
> been like if a flood of MilSurplus KWM-2's had suddenly become available?
>
> Oh well. So it goes.
>
> 73, ron w3wn
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of k6jek
> Sent: Monday, April 14, 2014 4:11 PM
> To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
> Subject: Re: [TenTec] How much for an Orion III?
>
> I would have had nightmares for years if I'd witnessed that. I may have them
> anyway just hearing about it.
>
>
> On Apr 14, 2014, at 12:51 PM, Rick - DJ0IP / NJ0IP wrote:
>
> > Sure there was... Government stupidity and its insistence on wasting tax
> > payers' money!
> >
> > 73 - Rick, DJ0IP
> > (Nr. Frankfurt am Main)
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of James
> > Duffer
> > Sent: Monday, April 14, 2014 8:17 PM
> > To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
> > Subject: Re: [TenTec] How much for an Orion III?
> >
> > Such a sad tale. Sorry to hear of such destruction of good and harmless
> > equipment. Harmless as there was no "just" reason for the destruction.
> > Jim, wd4air
> >
> >> From: Rick at DJ0IP.de
> >> To: tentec at contesting.com
> >> Date: Mon, 14 Apr 2014 20:09:03 +0200
> >> Subject: Re: [TenTec] How much for an Orion III?
> >>
> >> I can answer some of that, first hand.
> >>
> >> In about 1973, the US Army in Europe (USAREUR) decided to close down
> >> hf and go fully to VHF and UHF.
> >> Hundreds of S-Lines and KWM-2A's were collected and brought to the
> >> army disposal center in south western Germany.
> >>
> >> I was custodian of a MARS station in Berlin and on TDY in the area of
> >> the disposal center, so I dropped in to see if I could scrounge
> >> anything to distribute through the MARS channels to our members.
> >> There I witnessed the beautiful Collins radios stacked by the hundreds,
> in
> > an area of about 50 ft.
> >> by 75 ft - being destroyed!
> >>
> >> There were a few guys working hard destroying them. Every tube was
> >> being broken with a hammer and the chassis of each was cut in half with a
> > torch.
> >>
> >> Seems they had been used by the Army Security Agency and they were
> >> afraid there might be some residual top secret data still inside some of
> > the tube.
> >>
> >>
> >> I did everything I could to try and stop the action but to no avail.
> >> Everyone on site was just following orders and they were not willing
> >> to pause while I tried to find a solution. All of the radios were all
> >> completely destroyed.
> >>
> >> I was in tears. I could have made every MARS member in Germany's
> >> dream come true if some moron hadn't have taken the decision to destroy
> > them.
> >>
> >> So that's what happened to our military S-Lines here in Europe.
> >>
> >> 73 - Rick, DJ0IP
> >> (Nr. Frankfurt am Main)
> >>
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Dave
> >> Edwards
> >> Sent: Monday, April 14, 2014 6:16 PM
> >> To: tentec at contesting.com
> >> Subject: Re: [TenTec] How much for an Orion III?
> >>
> >> Also interesting (to think about)...
> >> I wonder what percentage of them still exist today?
> >>
> >> How many does the government still own?
> >>
> >> How many remain on dusty shelves somewhere....unopened???
> >>
> >> ....Dave
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On 4/14/14, 9:56 AM, Rsoifer at aol.com wrote:
> >>> I asked Rod, K0DAS (retired from Rockwell Collins), how many KWM-2s
> >>> were bought by hams rather than Uncle Sam. He said that nobody
> >>> really knows, but his best guess is that the U.S. armed forces
> >>> bought between 1/4 and 1/3 of them. Some went to other government
> >>> agencies as well as foreign governments. That still leaves quite a
> >>> few that were
> >> bought by hams like me.
> >>>
> >>> 73 Ray W2RS
> >>> _______________________________________________
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> >>>
> >>
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