[KLQRP] Re: Paraset - info about the original owner

[Gary O'Neil]

Hello again Erik;

    Wow! You may have a museum piece in your hands. If you can produce an 
audit trail of sorts, that makes the connection to Mr. Ronval; and if 
further investigation provides links to Mr. Ronval's activities during the 
war; that history, along with the Paraset could be quite valuable as a 
museum artifact.

    I don't know what if any records were maintained on the Parasets, but I 
understand that they were indeed serialized, perhaps as a tool for the 
Identification of neutralized spies. :-). If a record of those who were 
entrusted to have these has been maintained, the serial number may confirm 
the link to Mr. Ronval. You might do some web surfing and see if you can 
locate a British WWII historian to help you investigate this. If records 
were kept, they would most likely have been maintained by British Military 
Intelligence. It would be exciting to learn just how much "they" know of Mr. 
Ronval and his contribution to the war effort as well. It could be that he 
was an underground spy operating from him home, and didn't require the cover 
of a suitcase to conceal his Paraset.

    It would also be good if you could take the Paraset to a radio museum 
and get their opinion/advice on it. They will have personnel skilled at 
restoring such finds without compromising its value also. In addition; they 
will be able to inspect it and draft a schematic for it. This would be of 
value to those of us who know about the Paraset, but are not quite sure of 
the design details. The closest I've seen is probably accurate in the 
context of connectivity. The component values were not disclosed on the 
schematic which I saw that was presented as authentic. Having an actual 
Paraset in hand would aid somebody to confirm the component values that were 
used in the original. The clones have been tweaked to work fine, and for the 
most part are likely faithful reproductions. It would be an added bonus to 
confirm that however, and it would also confirm which of the schematics is 
true to the original design.

    I've compared my documentation with the two photographs you sent, and, 
along with the history you've been able to dig up on this, I'm encouraged 
that you may have an original Paraset.... and perhaps an unusual and special 
one... You will need to get somebody to evaluate it, and what's known as 
"reverse engineer" it to confirm my suspicion, but it looks like you may 
have one that possibly employed an external modulator and could have been 
used for voice transmission. The clue I see in you photographs of this are 
the cable exiting the right side of the box below the telegraph telegraph 
key. When I inspect the second photograph, there is a terminal strip 
installed where this cable is wired. Unfortunately I can't see any more 
detail than that, but this is not reflected in my documentation, and the 
Paraset has no external accessories other than the vibrator supply that 
would plug into the upper right corner below the phone jack.

    The most obvious conclusion for this additional appendage... 
particularly because of it's location, is to accommodate the addition of a 
VFO (Variable Frequency Oscillator). This may have been the intent, although 
the cable does not appear to be suitable for RF, and more closely resembles 
an audio or power supply cable. If it was intended for this purpose, this is 
most likely a modification made (likely by a ham) to give it a bit more 
utility, and not require changing crystals when moving to other frequencies. 
If this turns out to be the intent of the extra cable, and it is indeed a 
modification, it doesn't appear that it would deter from it's value. The 
modification doesn't appear to have defaced the original in a manner that 
cannot be easily reversed.

    If it turns out this is wired to accommodate an external modulator, then 
the story could get pretty exciting if it can be determined that some were 
equipped with external modulators. :-) I wouldn't want to raise your hopes 
on this though. If this were a likely possibility, it would seem that the 
world would have at least heard about them by now. The good news though, is 
that whatever has been done here doesn't seem to be detrimental in any way.

    It would be useful to have some additional photo's of the component side 
from various angles so component information can be seen, as well as 2 or 3 
end views of the chassis, particularly of the end where the Morse key is 
located. This would help confirm it as vintage, or a homebrew clone. Several 
views from this end may help discover the function of the attached cable as 
well.

    I see you terminated your E-bay listing on this.... I am so glad... I 
can start breathing again... LOL!  I'm pretty sure I'm probably as excited 
about this as you must be by now. I hope the excitement is warranted and 
this turns out to be an original. Even if this turns out to be a clone, it 
has to be one of the very early attempts at this, and is quite faithful to 
the original. It could turn out to be a hybrid also... We were discussing 
this at our meeting Thursday night, and our discussion turned to the 
construction of suitcases of that period. Quite often, they were of 
cardboard construction, which would be difficult to preserve, and perhaps 
yours was salvaged and repackaged in the wooden base... possibly in 
coincidence with the VFO/Modulator modification.

    Also... Since this is a bit new to you, the Paraset is both a 
transmitter and a receiver. Your photo shows you are missing the Transmitter 
tube... which was likely a 6V6 which are frequently available on E-bay 
(290082893647). These are available in glass as well, but the more robust 
metal cans were likely used for the Paraset application. This is also true 
of the 6SK7's used in the receiver, and it's quite possible those that you 
have are still fine.

    The transmitter was designed as a high power crystal controlled 
oscillator. Crystal control ensures accurate and stable transmission 
frequency enabling them to be quickly and reliably intercepted by their 
sister receiving stations... likely in or very near London. Transmitter 
power was only about 10 to 15 Watts, but as many of us today can confirm, 
this is huge power for a CW station looking to communicate over a 200 -1000 
Miles range.

    The receiver is what we know as a "regenerative" type. These are 
compact, quite sensitive, and adequately selective in it's day... and most 
certainly during the period of WWII. The design isn't optimal by any 
stretch, but is still quite usable, and quite fun to operate even today. The 
simplicity, utility, reliability, and very low cost of the design, continues 
to make it a popular choice of hams that enjoy building their own equipment. 
The clandestine history of the Paraset makes it particularly alluring, which 
leads to the desire to make clones of this design faithful reproductions of 
the original.

    I am really glad that you contacted us on this. This is going to make a 
very compelling story to watch as it unfolds. Thank you so much for bringing 
it to our attention.

73   (Ham jargon for Best Regards)

Gary, N3GO

    P.S.:   QRP'ers are amateur radio enthusiasts who pursue communications 
at very low power levels... typically transmitting at 5 Watts or less. The 
KnightLites QRP Association adopted the KnightLites moniker for it's play on 
words. Its membership aspires to maintain a chivalrous, and generous 
persona, and commit ourselves to transmitting at power levels on the order 
of that required to power a nightlight. We are represented Internationally, 
and there is no cost monetarily nor in service to be a member. Just sharing 
your experiences, and interests at a level that best meets your own personal 
needs and schedule is all that is desired, expected, or anticipated. We 
affectionately refer to each other as Sir, and or Lady as gender deems 
appropriate. We sometimes refer to younger lads as "Squire", but they are 
soon promoted in rank to Sir with the rest of us.... simply because Squire 
is much harder to remember to type, and more importantly, because it sets 
them apart from the rest of us... which doesn't sound welcoming. :-)

    So welcome to the KnightLites Sir Erik! Your lifetime membership dues 
have been paid in full. :-)

72     (The QRP'ers "low power" version of 73)

Gary,   N3GO

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Erik Evrard" <erik at evrard.net>
To: "Gary O'Neil" <n3go at nc.rr.com>
Cc: <jwhite001 at bellsouth.net>; <on5ex at telenet.be>; <ae4ic at infionline.net>; 
<klqrp at knightlites.org>
Sent: Sunday, February 18, 2007 4:18 AM
Subject: Paraset - info about the original owner


>
> On 17 Feb 2007, at 17:40, Gary O'Neil wrote:
>
>> Greetings Erik;
>>
>>    I can't authenticate whether this is an "original", or if it's  one of 
>> it's many clones, but judging from the photo's it looks like  it could be 
>> authentic or at least close for the vintage period.  It's possible it 
>> could be a repackaged radio that was recovered  from war surplus. I think 
>> it would be worth pulling off of Ebay or  put an extraordinarily 
>> "reserve" on it and do some investigation  before letting it go though. I 
>> am sure it's probably worth more  than I would be willing to pay.... 
>> even as a clone, even though  I'd dearly love to have one of them. :-)
>>
>>    Your timing is perfect to ask this question though. Our club met 
>> Thursday night, and one of our members told me that he had the  pleasure 
>> of talking with a person who new very much about it's  history. Yours 
>> doesn't match the description of the original  design, however, there 
>> were only a few made during WWII, and used  by spies. The were often 
>> camouflaged as suitcases to avert  detection while they traveled.
>
> Greetings again,
>
> I have found some additional information of who it belonged to: the 
> original owner was Mr. Ronval, who used to work for the Belgian  railways 
> during WW2. He was a member of the resistance, and I know of  one story 
> where he tapped German phone lines and relayed the  information to London. 
> I'm quite sure he used the Paraset. My father  was just a teenager during 
> the war, but after the war, he joined the  railway company as a labourer, 
> and Mr. Ronval was his boss. They  build up a good relationship and many 
> years later, Mr. Ronval donated  a lot of his equipment to my father. Much 
> of it was lost, and this  Paraset is one of the few items that I rescued.
>
> I'm not sure if either the serial no. (2571) or the name "Ronval"  might 
> help to reveal the history of this device, but maybe one of the  history 
> experts that you know might be able to help. I've developed  quite an 
> interest in this now :-)
>
> Best regards,
>
> Erik