Other Japanese Military Radio Sets

There are several other radio sets that I will mention very briefly as they do exist and have had little written about them . It should be noted that while the Japanese military, Army and Navy, developed and made most of their equipment at their own factories, they did buy some equipment from civilian market especially at beginning of the conflict. Radios were purchased from firms like Marconi, Telefunken, RCA, Tokyo Musen and so on. Apart from their usual nomenclature system with designations like TYPE 94-3, They named the civilian equipment with prefixes such as:

Mxxx (Marconi)
Txxx (Telefunken)
Axxx (RCA)
TMxx (Tokyo Musen)
TTK xx (Tokyo Tusin Kabusikigaisha)

However later in the war, especially the Navy, put some code number on their radio nomenclature as shown in the examples below.

TYPE 96-1 Aircraft Radio (H1)
TYPE 96-2 Aircraft Radio (N2)
TYPE 96-3 Aircraft Radio (H3)
TYPE 2-3 Aircraft Radio (N3)
TYPE 3-5 Aircraft Radio (GS)

Mark 39 Type C Transmitter and Mark 45 Type C Receiver
Listed in TM E11-227A but with out pictures. Covers 0.4 to 5.7 MC, transmitter weight is 11.24 lb., receiver weight is 30.86 and the Accessory box with contents weights 97 lb.. The set has an out put of 10 Watts. It was thought to be used for ground communication and possibly communication with an aircraft. Power source was a hand generator and batteries for the receiver.

Mark 53 Type C Receiver
0.4 to 5.754 MC using 5 plug in coils., CW, MCW, and voice, man packed set, using miniature tubes., weight given as 11 lb. with batteries. Made by Tokyo Instrument Co., it is a very compact regenerative receiver.
In addition to these sets, many other sets were turned up after the publication of TM E11-227 A in December 1944

Model 92, Mark 3 Improvement 1
0.1 to 1.0 MC, 1 to 2 KW output, 800 lb., CW used for Army administrative and command communications.

Model 92 Special Receiver MK3

Model 92 Special Receiver Improvement 3 0.02 to 20.0 MC with 2 plug in coils, 102 lb., fixed or semi fixed installation. Model 92 Special Receiver MK3, Coils Model 92 Special Receiver MK3, Data Plate

Model 93 Short-Distance Short Wave Direction Finder Improvement 1
2.5 to 20 MC in 3 bands, direction finding and intercept receiver

Model 94 Mark 1
0.1 to 2.0 MC in 5 bands, direction finding and intercept operations

Model 94 Mark 1 Wireless set
0.14 to 15.0 MC, 275 watt output, , 500 lb., CW, MCW, voice land based transmitter

Model 95
3.7 to 8.0 MC, 1 KW output, 2,200 lb., CW, Fixed Station transmitter used for Army Administration and command

Model 95 Mark 4
Improvement 1 - 3.44 to 19.9 MC in 7 bands, 800+ lbs.,CW and voice, CW Fixed Station transmitter used for Army Administration and command.

Mobile Wireless Set C, Mark 1 and Mark 305 Type Transmitter
Listed in TM E11-227A as probably for a tank, it had an output of 6 watts, was powered by a dynamotor and had a 14' vertical whip antenna. No pictures were shown of the set in operation but there was a picture of the set in a standard design wooden transport chest.

Model 2 Short Wave Mobile Transmitter
3.38 to 14.0 MC, 240 Watts output in high power, 450+ lb., CW only, Fixed Station but can be transported on poles.

All of these are large heavy base station type transmitters designed for semi or fixed installations. Some weigh as much as 800 lb.. I think it is unlikely that any were sent home by individual soldiers. If these sets exist in private hands, they have probably been extensively modified. Obviously with titles such as Mark 4 and Improvement 1 there must be an original set and an improved version.

MK3 Ground-Air Receiver	Japanese HRO Type Receivers There are several radio sets that were fielded late in the war that are virtual copies of the American made HRO receivers. There is an exact copy of the HRO set which is usually simply referred to as the Japanese HRO. These turn up from time to time at HAMFESTS and Flea Markets. One individual bought a house for his son and when the son went to move in he found two chests in the basement left by the former owner. In the chests were a complete HRO and Power supply and the set was still in working order! They simply plugged it in and turned it on! This set is the one most probably referred to as the Mark 1 set. There are also radios built in the style of the HRO sets, right angle drive capacitors, plug in coils. Among these sets are the aircraft Type 99-5 set and two ground receivers designated as Mark 3 and Mark 4. These sets and some other sets used 8 pin octal based tubes that were copies of U.S. tubes. Metal based octal tubes first appeared in the U.S. in 1936 and by 1937 or 38 samples had probably gone to Japan. MK3 Ground to Air Receiver MK3 Ground to Air Receiver Inside View MK3 Ground to Air Receiver, Inside View MK3 Ground to Air Receiver, Inside View
MK4 Ground-Air Receiver
MK4 Ground Air-Transmitter and Receiver

The 1568 Set
Covered in Captured Enemy Equipment Report No 60. This radio, appeared to be a home-made set and used the Japanese equivalent of the 1T4 tubes. Further investigation revealed that the Japanese had an 8-01, 8-02, 8-03, 8-04, 8-05 and 8-06 tubes. These were probably discovered in captured American equipment and quickly copied by the Japanese.

As soon as I think I have a complete list of all the Japanese sets, somebody turns up another set. Ken Lakin has come up with an M-1 A/R T 3 Company Wireless Radio. This was made by the Matsusitamusen Kabushiki Kaisha. In the latter stages of the war, many sets were re-designated with the term Musen, which means radio.According to information supplied by Mr. Takshi Doi, this was the Matsushita Radio Company. Matsushitamusen mean Matushita radio
(or wireless), Kabushiki mean stock, kaishia mean company. So it is Matushita Radio Co., ( Panasonic Co.) (National/Matushita Electric Co. in Japan).

Model 5 Experimental Radio

Experimental Wireless Set, Model 5 This set, probably made for last ditch defence of the home islands was a re packaged Type 94-6. The set was mounted in a wooden box, with very good craftsman ship and finger joints for added strength. The radio, however is still the basic Type 94-6 circuit. A different type of headphone and mike connectors are used. This set came on a shock mount and it looked like more design effort went into the shock mount than the radio set.. The shock mount was a wooden board that looked like it was a slide in/out shelf for a large cabinet. Presumably the cabinet held the batteries and the headset and mike as well as other accessories. This set raises the question, "If this is a Model 5, is there also a Model 1, 2, 3, and 4,?"

Internal View

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