Equipment & Contributors

Equipment Photos & Their Contributors

Ian G6RHV

The photographs above shown a complete 160m mobile station consisting of the TW Topbander VFO controlled transmitter, a TW Top Mobile 160m tuneable receiver and the TW 12v PSU/Control unit (to supply HT for the transmitter and antenna switching) plus an Acos crystal microphone.

Magnificent

The photograph to the left shows the 2m mobile / portable setup used by Brian between 1966 - 1970. Brian, who lived in Essex at that time, mounted the TW2 transmitter and the Two Mobile receiver on a board together with a DC - DC inverter (the unit between the TX and RX which from the 12v supply provided the 250v DC needed by the transmitter) and a homebrew control box (below the receiver) with aerial switchover linked with the TX/RX switch and an aerial voltage meter.

The 2m mini-halo in the background was home made from brass rod and was mounted on a magnetic mount that Brian made using three ceramic magnets (commercial mag mounts did not exist in those days !). Brian used this arrangement for 4 years in his car or portable and had hundreds of QSOs on it.

As he says 'Those were the days'.

Brian G3OJZ

Alan G8AGQ

The photograph above shows Alan’s TW2 transmitter, matching power supply and the 2m nuvistor converter (28-30MHz I.F). They all look to be in very good condition.

Amberley Museum and Heritage Centre

The photograph to the left (courtesy of Tom Withers) was taken at what was at the time, the Chalk Pits Museum in Amberley, Sussex around 1980. This was a reconstruction of an unknown SK's shack. It shows a TW transmitter and a pair of TW receivers on top of what are believed to be are a pair of Hallicrafters receivers.

To quote Tom ' I went there as a fairly young married man and came out of the museum stooped and with a shambling gait; after all who expects to find their equipment in a museum whilst still alive !!'

The photograph to the right was kindly taken by staff at the museum in November 2010) and shows the same TW2 transmitter and TW Topmobile and TW Twomobile receivers. This photograph shows that, unfortunately, the rigs appear to be suffering from the effects of corrosion.

The TW equipment is part of the 'Vintage Wireless Exhibition' at the museum which includes telegraph equipment, radio equipment (including clandestine sets from World War II) and telephone equipment.

Further details of the museum may be found

here

I finally thought that I might be acquiring an elusive TW2 plus following a phone call from a friend who lives in North Wales. He had been to the local radio rally and had spotted an item that was definitely something to do with TW and which he had purchased on my behalf for the princely sum of £2.

He described it as consisting of a VHF transmitter, but in a case that was more the size of a TW Communicator. I confess that initially I became quite excited; could this be an elusive TW2+ or similar (which I have never seen and for which there are currently no photographs).

However, when I collected it from him some time later, my initial enthusiasm 'waned' because it was not quite what I had hoped for.

I have now dismantled the unit and separated the TW2 chassis, original meter, handles etc from their temporary 'prison' the tatty case that they were in.

Where I am going to obtain an original case for the unit it is anybody's guess, and it is highly unlikely that I will be able to obtain one in the short term, but who knows what may turn up eventually.

The unit did have an 8075kHz FT-243 crystal with it as can be seen in the photo to the left (8075 x 18 means a final TX frequency of 145.350Mhz) and as luck would have it, I still have some similar crystals from my original TW2 .

Mike G4BLH

here

Clearly this was not the elusive TW2+, the case was not of TW construction but just a cheap, rather tatty aluminium case. Before the 'rig' was removed from its case, the only bit that was recognizable as being of TW origin was the meter on the front panel, but on removing the outer case, it became clear that this was just a TW2 transmitter which for some obscure reason had at some time parted company with its original case.

Beneath the chassis, it looks in quite reasonable condition, but it is going to need some careful ' looking at'. The 'Jones' 'socket' on the rear should be a 'plug' (see below left); the jack socket on the front is not original (nor the wiring to it) and there are some wires that do not go anywhere (see below right).

Tom G3HGE

The photograph to the right above shows Tom’s classic TW 2m AM/CW combination with the TW2 transmitter, the matching mains operated TW power supply/control unit and the TW 2m nuvistor converter.

The photograph above is a rare photograph of an original TW2 transmitter and Cascode converter. (the photo was taken at a radio rally in Bournemouth).

This TW2 has a modulation transformer from an SCR522 (as had my own original TW2). Note the early meter cut out and those incongruous white pointer knobs.

The photograph above shows a 'bevy' of TW Communicators that Tom restored. The upper two are 160m Communicators (easily identifiable by the transmit VFO dial on the far left of the rig). The top one is the very early model (no 'TW Communicator' wording on the front panel, 'PA' controls set out differently).

The lower TW Communicator in the photograph is the 2m version.

The old black and white photographs below show a’ young’ Tom Withers with a TW Communicator installed in his Austin Princess Vanden Plas car in around 1964. (no gear stick in the way as this car had an automatic gearbox).

Mike G4BLH

I acquired this TW2 transmitter and matching power supply after seeing them advertised on Ebay. They wer part of a ‘Silent Key’ sale and had belonged to a local amateur, Bill Waring G3GGS located in Leyland, Lancashire (though I did not know that at the time).

Bill had in fact contacted me a couple of years before to tell me that he had a TW2 and matching PSU stored safely in his loft and that he would be happy to sell them to me but, because of his poor health, he would have to wait until a relative could go up into the loft to locate them. Unfortunately that was the last that I heard from Bill.

After successfully bidding for the units on Ebay I went to collect them and I was delighted to find out that they had belonged to Bill. They are in immaculate condition and look like they have just been delivered from the TW workshop - and they are in working order.