# admiralty list of radio signals



## sloway (Sep 28, 2011)

Can anyone suggest where I might get hold of an Admiralty List of Radio Signals Vol 1 (in two parts I seem to recall) from the 1950's or 1960's.? These were the 'good old days' of the area scheme, a system designed to make life a little easier for the sparkie.
I've been searching for one, on and off, for well over a decade now and it's a bit galling to recall that they, and the other volumes, were regularly thrown away when the next issues came out.
Even the 'infallable' E Bay hasn't turned up trumps with one of these during the last 6 or 7 years!!
??


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## Troppo (Feb 18, 2010)

Sorry...no.

It is like radio log books....they were all burnt!

Philistines!

If I had known that, I would have kept my logs.


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## Mayday (May 26, 2009)

I managed to get hold of a Vol1 part 1 and 2 from USA 1982, the dark blue one.
Tropo, are you saying that all the radio logs have been destroyed?

I find that criminal. The history contained in those logs should have been declared a British treasure and preserved. What about the bridge log books and the official log books?

Regards, John.


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## Troppo (Feb 18, 2010)

In Australia, all the radio log books were kept for 3 months and then burnt.

I was appalled when I found out.

Bastards.


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## Troppo (Feb 18, 2010)

Oh the official log books were kept.

Radio wasn't important, you see.

Bastards.


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## hawkey01 (Mar 15, 2006)

Sloway,

Larry maybe able to help - he works for the Hydrog. Also he is the keeper of much of GKA's history and certain artifacts so he maybe able to guide you on the path to finding what you want. However you are looking a longtime 
back to the 50's 60's.

Hawkey01


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## chadburn (Jun 2, 2008)

The R.N. way was to shred and burn, the shredded book's/signal's were placed in large brown paper sack's and counted, then taken to either the boiler house (if coalfired) or the incinerator where the bag's were counted again and placed in the furnace, the bag's were watched until they were just a pile of ashes.


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## Ron Stringer (Mar 15, 2005)

Troppo said:


> Oh the official log books were kept.


*Oh no they weren't* - not by the BOT or the Government. Just 10% were retained (for the years ending in the figure 5). The rest were to be disposed of by the UK goverment but were rescued by the University of Newfoundland's Maritime Archives, who are the current holders.


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## Troppo (Feb 18, 2010)

They were all kept in Oz. Many are in the national archives.


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## Larry Bennett (Aug 28, 2005)

Sloway (John) - I will reply directly to you. Suffice it to say the the UK Hydrographic Office has copies of all ALRS publications from the 1920s onwards held in the UKHO archives. Obviously I will not be able to obtain a complete volume for you (only 1 copy is retained) but if you require specific information I may be able to arrange a photocopy of the relevant section(s).

Ebay would appear to be the best place to trawl for an original copy, but maybe some specialist magazines (Practical Wireless, RadCom etc) could assist?

FYI ALRS Vol 1 is still published (in 2 parts) but not many active public correspondence Coast Stations left these days.....coastguard and MRCC/MRSC stations tend to form most of the entries.

Larry +


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

Troppo said:


> In Australia, all the radio log books were kept for 3 months and then burnt.
> 
> I was appalled when I found out.
> 
> Bastards.


The last one on Australian Venture wasn't - I've got it! It's a bit boring though.

John T.


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## Shipbuilder (Jun 30, 2005)

If you go to:
www.bookfinder.com 
You will find a few of them, but they are horribly expensive!
Bob


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## Troppo (Feb 18, 2010)

trotterdotpom said:


> The last one on Australian Venture wasn't - I've got it! It's a bit boring though.
> 
> John T.


5 ton was very quiet at the end, eh!

There were lots of "no signals" between the Silence Periods in my last couple of log books...


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## Naytikos (Oct 20, 2008)

Well personally I thought the area scheme was rubbish and I seem to remember it died a few years after I lost my eligibility to use it. I hate to disappoint 'sloway' but I have copies of the 1979 edition of Vol. I, both parts, with corrections to 1982. In fact whatever were the latest editions of all except Vol IV (did anyone ever actually open Vol IV I wonder?) from around that time. These are in clean pristine condition as, like most R/Os, I suppose, I had typed out tables of the callsigns and frequencies of the stations I used and placed them under a sheet of glass on the console, and so rarely opened the books. I recall, though, that by that time, new editions were published every 2 or 3 years whereas in the 60s one book had to last much longer and became very tatty and double the original thickness with all the corrections pasted in. Somewhere I have a couple like that as well, but to find them now..........!


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## sparks69 (Dec 18, 2005)

I suspect that most radio logs on long voyages would have been classified as "fiction" - other than the traffic lists and the S P O entries ?


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## Troppo (Feb 18, 2010)

sparks69 said:


> I suspect that most radio logs on long voyages would have been classified as "fiction" - other than the traffic lists and the S P O entries ?


Eh?

My log was always accurate...


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## andysk (Jun 16, 2005)

sparks69 said:


> I suspect that most radio logs on long voyages would have been classified as "fiction" - other than the traffic lists and the S P O entries ?


Such a scurrilous suggestion !

As with Troppo, mine was always spot on, there was always sufficient activity around the run between Europe and Africa/India not to have to resort to 'nil signals heard' or fiction.


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## R719220 (Oct 5, 2011)

andysk said:


> .... not to have to resort to 'nil signals heard' or fiction.


Believe me, that wasn't the case on long Pacific hauls, for example 'twixt Panama and Aus/NZ. Many's the day I would have been delighted to hear something different to the crashes of QRN on 500! I can see where some poor old Sparks would have been happy to fictionalise the odd 5Lxx or ELxx call signs between the half-hourly SPO's instead of the never ending "nil hrd QRN5" Not me of course!(*))


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## andysk (Jun 16, 2005)

R719220 said:


> ....... long Pacific hauls, for example 'twixt Panama and Aus/NZ. .......


Sad to say I never had that pleasure, B and C had virtually stopped trading out that way by the time I joined ......


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## Troppo (Feb 18, 2010)

What's the problem with recording "nil sigs, all quiet"?

I have done that often in mid Pacific HJ.

The log is supposed to reflect reality....if there was nothing on 5 ton, so be it....


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## R719220 (Oct 5, 2011)

Just kidding Troppo, just kidding. Not to be taken too seriously. This boy was purer than the driven snow. (A) Attempted element of humour (clearly not totally successful).(EEK)


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## Naytikos (Oct 20, 2008)

Posted by R651400
_Don't think you would have the same opinion if you've done a five month trip to the Far East and back over the Christmas period with only MF. 
I doubt British flag R/O's would have been as keen to QSP my traffic if it meant dealing with GKA direct rather than thru the area system._

You may by right, but during my limited time on UK ships I may have sent as many as a dozen personal QTCs including over a christmas period, that's all; it never seemed to be something anyone did.

In your case, I hope you sent all company traffic through the nearest MF coast station just to make the point that if they wanted long-range communications they should fit the appropriate equipment!


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## Troppo (Feb 18, 2010)

Oh, come on....be nice to shipowners!

They are such lovely chaps....


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## R719220 (Oct 5, 2011)

I remember speaking to a couple of R/O's on US ships who told me that they used to send their UK radio traffic via PCH rather than queue with GKA....QRY20 etc...(especially round Christmas time) and to hell with the expense. Don't think I would have dared do it!


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## Rhodri Mawr (Jul 6, 2008)

QRY20 around Xmas time would have been cleared up remarkably quickly in those days. My record for the run up to Xmas time was QRY43 - but all traffic was cleared within one hour. Well done the ladies and gentlemen of GKA in the late 70's for that sort of service. 

As for "nil sigs heard" during 500 kHz watchkeeping in mid-Pacific. That was fact for days on end during daylight hours. But come the last 2-hour watch in darkness, propagation conditions changed dramatically and the likes of KFS, KPH and KOK would come blasting in. Also, it was not unusual to hear Japanese, Aussie and NZ coast stations when in the middle of nowhere mid-Pacific.

Cheers
Rhodri (Thumb)


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## Graham P Powell (Jun 2, 2007)

GKA used to really buzz at Christmas ( and when SVA went on strike!).
Even the Station Manager used to come down and do a bit of telegram routing
In the landline , all the teleprinters would be thumping away and the carousels that carried the to ship traffic would be stuffed with messages. Sometimes there was 1500 call signs in the traffic list which would mean traffic for 750 vessels.
That was outgoing. Received stuff was almost as much.....It was no wonder QRY's of 20 were quite common. They would have two guys searching the calling band on 16 mhz at peak times. People may complain about GKA but we certainly knew how to shift traffic. I remember showing round a friend one day who was a Colonel in the Royal Signals and he told me that he was extremely impressed by what he saw and wished that the Army could move traffic like that.
I started work one lunchtime and there was total station QRY of 101 ships. 
Another day, the complete station was QRU! ( for a few minutes anyway).
Our only concession to the Christmas festivities was hanging up the Christmas cards and a Father Christmas hanging by his neck from a noose attached to the ceiling.
Great days.
Rgds
Graham Powell ( ex GKA)


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## Larry Bennett (Aug 28, 2005)

Graham

Don't forget the annual beer trolley (run by the engineers). Was the only time the overseers (well, most of them) turned a blind eye to cans of lager or beer on the working points. Overtime on demand, too - I used to work a 0800-2300 shift on many Xmas days during the 1980s.

There was also a fake 'severed hand' stuck in the traffic carousel as there were always at least 5 staff trying to insert/extract traffic at the same time......amazed the thing didn't come off its bearings...

Larry


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## Graham P Powell (Jun 2, 2007)

Overtime sheet down to the floor, the beer trolley, the grand in the hand, oh! those were the days alright.
One year I volunteered to be the telephonist . A woman rang up to say she was going to "Kill herself". I went to the late Phil Lewis and told him . "Tell her to go ahead, we're much too busy to deal with her " was his reply. The caring face of BT.....
All the best
Graham
(PS Actually I only got be telephonist for about ten minutes. The rest of the time was spent on HF working ships.)


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## Graham P Powell (Jun 2, 2007)

Larry,
What about the "Tit of the Year " trophy awarded to managment....
rgds
Graham


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## G3NOQ (May 9, 2012)

*Alrs*



sloway said:


> Can anyone suggest where I might get hold of an Admiralty List of Radio Signals Vol 1 (in two parts I seem to recall) from the 1950's or 1960's.?
> ??


Hi - I have a volume 1 of 1965 sitting on my shelf and looking for a home.

There is one spark transmitter still listed in there, on the far east coast of Russia . . real nostalgia. 

Send me a message if you still need one.

Alan


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## Larry Bennett (Aug 28, 2005)

Graham P Powell said:


> Larry,
> What about the "Tit of the Year " trophy awarded to managment....
> rgds
> Graham


Indeed. I recall the trophy was awarded "in perpetuity" to one particular station manager for outstanding services to the demise of GKA. A previous en***bent received the trophy only to fling it high and wide across the operating area.


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