South African TECO Set of WWII

Although I believe it was made in South Africa, I have been unable to establish exactly where and by whom, but it was evidently a 'stop gap' measure given the UK inability to produce No. 18 sets for any forces other than their own, and was used in a similar role by South African forces in Abyssinia and the Western Desert in the early part of the war.

It was housed in a wooden box about a foot wide and 18ins high with folding metal legs to stand on and a one piece battery supplying both LT and HT in the bottom half together with Morse key, headphones and microphone.

The TX side consisted of a modulated oscillator and the RX comprised a simple regenerative circuit and audio amplifier.

Readily available commercial components were used, as can be seen from the pictures.

Individually calibrated tuning charts were stuck to the lid of the box to enable frequency to be preset, as the dials were standard industrial types graduated 0-100.

A MkII version included slow motion dials to assist in tuning and a few other minor refinements.

Specifications:

Teco pack set
Frequency band: 3750-7500 KHz 0.5 W RF output
Range: 5 miles CW/2-3 miles R/T
Power: 1.5V filament/18V grid bias and 120V HT
Transport: manpack
Use: approx as for No. 18 Set
Weight: approx as for No. 18 Set

The 'TECO' MkI Set in action somewhere in the Western Desert (picture sent to me by Louis Meulstee some years ago)

	A (very) short note on the South African TECO Set of WWII vintage
	( by Carvel ZR6APX)
	Although I believe it was made in South Africa, I have been unable to establish exactly where and by whom, but it was evidently a 'stop gap' measure given the UK inability to produce No. 18 sets for any forces other than their own, and was used in a similar role by South African forces in Abyssinia and the Western Desert in the early part of the war. It was housed in a wooden box about a foot wide and 18ins high with folding metal legs to stand on and a one piece battery supplying both LT and HT in the bottom half together with Morse key, headphones and microphone. The TX side consisted of a modulated oscillator and the RX comprised a simple regenerative circuit and audio amplifier. Readily available commercial components were used, as can be seen from the pictures. Individually calibrated tuning charts were stuck to the lid of the box to enable frequency to be preset, as the dials were standard industrial types graduated 0-100. A MkII version included slow motion dials to assist in tuning and a few other minor refinements. Specifications: Teco pack set Frequency band: 3750-7500 KHz 0.5 W RF output Range: 5 miles CW/2-3 miles R/T Power: 1.5V filament/18V grid bias and 120V HT Transport: manpack Use: approx as for No. 18 Set Weight: approx as for No. 18 Set The 'TECO' MkI Set in action somewhere in the Western Desert (picture sent to me by Louis Meulstee some years ago)

	The 1940 MkI set -



	The 1941 MkII set -



	A MkII set restored by Ben ( G4BXD ) (note the Morse key found on sets in SA was of the open brass frame type , not the closed type as shown here) -


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A (very) short note on the South African TECO Set of WWII vintage