August 2025

Up in the radio room…

 In March of 1998, SLATER received the TDE, TAJ, RCK and RAL radios for radio central, which had been in storage in Portsmouth, VA and had been stripped from USS GAGE. A second load was donated in December 1998.

SLATER volunteer Gordon Lattey began restoration of the radio room in May 1998 as a project and began the cleaning and ripout of the post war equipment. Gordon and his “Sawzall” cut out both URC-32 transmitters and moved the TDE and TAJ transmitters into the radio room to get them out of the weather. In June 1998, two Battleship MASSACHUSETTS volunteers came over from Fall River to help Gordon with the restoration of our radio room. Chris Nardi and Brown Beezer drove three and a half hours to continue the rip out of  postwar equipment out of the space in preparation for the installation of the World War II gear.

In November 1999, the Naval Reservists came to the ship and  helped with the ripout in radio central. By December, the crew was finishing up radio central, and it received a prime-coat of paint. January 2000, Radio Central was sprayed out the traditional "puke" green and the electricians began the process of rewiring the space and Jerry Jones and Don Bulger began installing the equipment and doing the detail work. Things picked up in February. Jerry Jones, Don Bulger, Bob Calendar and Larry Williams spent a lot of time rewiring and detailing the space. Jerry worked on the brass antenna switches and patch panels. A little point of contention arouse when the crew located a photo that detailed the aft bulkhead of SLATER'S radio room. The guys had just mounted all the equipment in place on a Wednesday, as per Tim’s instructions. The picture came on a Thursday, and on Saturday, the Saturday electricians tore out everything that the Wednesday electricians had installed and remounted it according to the photograph. Needless to say, the Wednesday crew wasn’t too happy! By March, Don and Jerry had the space close to completion. Jerry then set to work restoring the operator's tables.

In August 2000, the radio gang completed the installation of the exterior metal trunk for the longwire radio antennas on the aft bulkhead of the deckhouse. Hal Hatfield's crew at Hillside Ironworks did a beautiful job of fabrication. Jerry Jones and Don Bulger mounted two bright red insulators on the end of the trunk and connected the longwire antenna through it. By the end of the year, radio central was trashed as Jerry and Don started installation of a new operating position. They also scaled the coding room and moved the SA radar cabinet to a more visible location. The coding room was all chipped and painted by the end of February.

Work continued through 2001 and in January of 2002, Don and Jerry made a plan of installing a big motor generator set for the transmitter in the radioroom. By February,

Jerry and Don got their motor generator set for the main transmitter all installed with Russ Ferrer providing the welding support. Jerry then spent three weeks fabricating a beautiful steel workbench to go over the MG set. He carefully measured, cut and welded. November rolled around and leading Radioman Jerry Jones now has one of the largest volunteer contingents in one of the smallest spaces. August 2005 saw a major achievement in the radio room. Jerry Jones created a CD and a system that can be played in the radio room that puts Morse code in the radio room and an actual sonar ping coming out of CIC. Now visitors can hear sounds as well as get visuals!

In June 2010, there was big news on the radio front. Arrangements were made to ship Tom Horsfall’s restored TBL transmitter that was taken off the USS CLAMP in 2006. When we got the SLATER, there was not one piece of WWII radio gear aboard. Through begging, borrowing and theft, SLATER obtained all the proper equipment with one exception. We did not have the right radio transmitter, the refrigerator-sized 800-pound TBL. Instead we substituted a refrigerator-sized 700-pound TAJ transmitter we obtained from the USS GAGE. In 2006, we located the proper TBL transmitter on the USS CLAMP in the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet in California. USS PAMPANITO volunteers Tom Horsfall, Rich Pekelney, Aaron Washington and Jim Adams determined that we needed to have the proper transmitter on the SLATER and removed it for restoration.

Ashore, Tom Horsfall spent two years restoring the unit to operational condition. The plan was for the transmitter to arrive before the end of July and then temporarily store it in Hal Hatfield’s warehouse until it was time to install it, hopefully during the fall work week. In October, the plans moved right along. The TBL radio transmitter was shipped from Alameda, California after restoration as completed by Tom. While that was in movement, Jerry Jones and Joe Bryer worked on the installation of the motor generator set that would eventually power the unit.

By January 2011, Jerry and Joe had the motor generator set welded down. Barry Witte completed the restoration of the MG set motor controller and had it mounted on the port bulkhead. Jerry completed fabrication of a vertical support for the wiring that will go from the overhead down to the bottom of the TBL transmitter behind the unit. Jerry also had the filter unit painted and ready to install on the aft bulkhead. They were then just about ready to begin the wiring. In February, Jerry Jones has doggedly been putting in three days a week to try to get the installation of the TBL somewhat complete by opening day. Working with Joe Breyer, Bob Kibby, Barry Witte, and from afar, Californian Tom Horsfall, they completed the motor controller for the MG set and tested its 1943 contactor.

By March, the motor for the generator set had been tested and was running smoothly. The radio gang ran 14 armored cables to the transmitter and had to make over sixty individual connections. And on top of that, they have to make the connections to the right terminal strips. Since it wasn’t one of our usual cosmetic jobs and it was supposed to work, it took a little longer. Jerry spent two days in solitude figuring what went where before the actual work started. It took four of the crew to remove the 200-pound master oscillator deck to gain access to the terminal strips. Then they went to work cutting back the armor and making connections. April arrived and the radio gang completed all the TBL transmitter wiring and had done their initial tests. Needless to say, Tom Horsfall was quite pleased to hear the good news. He extended his congratulations to Joe Breyer, Mike Wyles, Bob Kibbey, Jerry Jones and Barry Witte for a job well done. Of course, without Tom’s “Homeric” efforts this would not have happened. At the time, we also believed that so far as we knew, this was the only RCA TBL left in the world. All of the HNSA museum ship TBLs are Westinghouse models.

In 2012, the latest problem was a burned out armature on the low voltage side of the motor generator, and that side produces three different voltages for the transmitter. Through the wonder of the internet, Jerry Jones discovered that the original manufacturer of the unit, Bogue Electric Company, was still in business in New Jersey. Jerry contacted a gentleman named Richard Lanza at Bogue and sent him an extensive packet of information about the SLATER project and pictures of the damage to the armature. Richard ran it up the chain and Bogue agreed to look at the armature to see if it was repairable. Jerry and Bob Kibbey promptly crated up the armature loaded it up into Bob’s SUV and drove it to the Bogue shop in New Jersey.

By January 2013, Joe Breyer, Jerry Jones, Mike Wyles and Bob Kibbey got the armature back and unpacked it from the wooden packing case and moved it to the workbench. The shaft ends were covered with Cosmoline with fabric tape over the threaded portions of the shaft and the tape was rock hard, but it came off fairly well by heating it with a heat gun and soaking it with mineral spirits. The saga continued into February. Jerry Jones, Joe Breyer, Mike Wyles and Bob Kibbey replaced the bearings with a new set that Jerry bought off Ebay. The ‘auxiliary’ voltage generator section was back in one piece and ready to be mounted in its place as part of the motor/generator unit. The new desk for LOP3 (local operating Position 3) was being fabricated by Chris Hanley’s high school shop students. One of our original WW2 TCS-12 low frequency radio transmitter/receiver sets was set to be installed at LOP3 ready to operate on the 40 and 80 meter ‘ham’ bands as WW2DEM. By March, the radiomen got the TBL motor generator put back together and the radio room was starting to look like a radio room again instead of a motor rewind shop

In April, there was some new blood in Radio Central. Dewey Henry, Ron Markisis and Stan Levandowski joined Joe Breyer, Jerry Jones, Mike Wyles and Bob Kibbey in our efforts to get the TBL back online. All three were experienced HAM operators and shipboard radiomen. The motor generator is all back together and they were now in the process of buying the shielded armored cable they needed to connect the MG set to the transmitter. They were also looking to get a TCS back online. In addition, Chris Hanley’s students were fabricating some shelving to straighten out the port forward corner of the radio room. Since this area is out of sight, it tended to become a junk collector, so Jerry and the gang were working to turn it into useable operating space and clear out the clutter.  

In August, Jerry Jones, Joe Breyer, Mike Wyles and Stan Levandowski just finished the shelving for the RBC and TCS that we plan to operate. They created a similar but slightly non-authentic LOP 3, out of sight and around the corner, with that very nice RBC/ TBL combination, plus, a hopefully working TCS transmitter / receiver combination. The RBC that Stan Byrn in New Mexico donated and then sent to Tom Horsfall was installed in LOP 3 and operated beautifully.

In October 2014, the radio gang reached a true milestone the bumpy road to 1945 ‘operational readiness’ for Slater’s TBL HF transmitter. After 5 years of installation and frustration, Mike Wyles, KE2EE, made the actual first radio contact and exchange of signal reports on the 40-meter ham band. The final steps of getting the TBL to respond to remote control from local operating position three through the transmitter control patch panel, and tuning the TBL for the 40 meter ‘ham band’ using the portside longwire antenna, was completed after a lot of trial and error. All the equipment used was 70 year-old US Navy radio equipment. This included the TBL Transmitter, RBC Receiver, and LM-12 Frequency Meter. It also included our Navy earphones, Navy transmitter remote control, and CW key, transmitting with the original ship’s longwire horizontal antenna and receiving with the forward vertical wire antenna on the port side. Mike contacted AB3AP near Lancaster, PA. He reported our CW signal as “perfectly readable, strongest possible”. He did say that our signal sounded ‘like a vintage transmitter’.  

Fast forward to September 2019. We have a new radio shack volunteer. Steve Syrotynski is relatively young, by our standards, and understands military vacuum tube equipment. He worked two Saturdays with Mike Wyles, figuring out the mysteries of the TBL transmitter. They were also working with Barry on the shipyard overhaul. The overhaul involved planning for the installation of two ground plane antennas that will work with the modern HAM gear, as well as the longwires and whips. The plan was to also replicate the TBS antenna and install a marine VHF antenna on the starboard yardarm.

In October 2019, Steve Syrotynski and Terry Yoder got together with Joe Breyer and Mike Wyles and continued to bring renewed interest to the radio room. Steve had gotten into the RBB, which goes from the broadcast band up to 80 meters. He reported that the wafer switches were in good shape, but very dirty. They cleaned up well and were then in good shape. He was planning to reassemble things and test fire it. But the really big news was that our senior radioman, ET1 Jerry Jones, reemerged and paid us a visit. Jerry was recovering from complications following bypass surgery and a heart valve replacement. We were hopeful that he could rejoin the team soon. Mike also purchased the VHF ground plane antenna that will be installed on the yardarm in the shipyard.

In February 2020, Steve Syrotynski continued his work in the radio room. He replaced the cords on both lamps at the operating positions. Then he went through the tubes on the TCS transceiver, the antique piece of gear that he had been broadcasting on Saturdays. He’s getting ready to tackle the RAK-5 and RAK-7 receivers. It was nice to have some activity in the shack again

In December of 2020, Steve Syrotynski had been working with Dave Stinson from Texas to get parts for the RAK receivers. He was at the point where he’s sure he could get them running. The RBM receiver would also be working soon after working on getting the original connectors and plugs. Steve also replaced tubes in the RCK-13 before it got too cold. He then began the process of replacing a broken meter on the modulator box for the TBL and found a replacement.

In January 2021, Steve Syrotynski was joined by new volunteer, Chuck Chandler. Steve spent most of the month deep below the messdecks, sorting through all the donated radio tubes. Steve got all the power supplies working for the RBM receivers and fixed a bad connection inside the Antenna Connection Panel in Radio Central. Chuck also cleaned out the ham radio station and redid the Elecraft K2/100 cabling. USS SLATER was on the air for a while, making Morse code contacts in Florida and Pennsylvania. Old logbooks were collected, as were instruction manuals for the ham radio equipment. Chuck donated a 2-meter FM radio, and mounted it, along with a VHF Marine radio that would soon share the new commercial VHF antenna on the mast. Steve got the TCS-13 in Radio Central on the air, operating on the 75 Meter band in AM mode. He and Chuck had a plan to try it on Morse Code. That would let them demonstrate all-vintage equipment, using the ship's original antennas and a WWII-vintage US Navy J-36 Speed Key. After that, Chuck put the port vertical antenna on line, and did some tuning. Chuck has worked several stations around the country, and was using our HAM presence to try and build our donor base and recruit new members.

In March 2021, up in the radio shack, there was more initiative. Barry Witte took it upon himself to provide sound chips, to reproduce the Morse Code and Sonar sound effects we play in the radio room and CIC. Barry visited Steve and Chuck, and gave a tutorial on the audio patch panel in the Coding Room, so that mystery was now solved. They were just two receivers away from having all of the receivers in radio central working and Chuck continued to make radio contacts and recruit new members. In April, Steve put in a lot of extra time and continued to get the receiver shelf ready to accept the RAL-6. He also worked on the power supplies for the RAL-6 and its companion RAL-7. In addition, he continued work on the Audio Patch panel. Chuck traced the power leads for the exhaust fan in Radio Central, and confirmed its operation, along with the bulkhead fans in Radio Central, and in the Coding Room, in anticipation of warmer weather. They both moved some spare parts to the Electronics Storeroom, and boxes of donated tubes to the Tube Storeroom. Chuck made CW contacts in CO, NY, FL, IA, NC, VA, Scotland, and Switzerland.

May 2021 saw a lot of radio room improvement, however, the most amazing radio room work happened offsite. One of the most unique and beautiful pieces of equipment in the radio room are the big brass antennae disconnect switches. They look like something right out of a Frankenstein movie. We were missing one in Radio Central, and needed another for the emergency radio room. Our volunteer machinist, George Christophersen, was tasked with making replicas.

In July 2021, Chuck made up a CW key line for the TCS set, so now they could put that vintage radio on CW at some point. It had a reputation as a pretty poor performer on CW, but at the time, it was our only vintage transmitter on the air. He also reconnected the forward starboard vertical antenna to the copper tubing overhead. Once they received the new switch in place on the overhead, it would be ready to use. Chuck is also continued work on the MC21 Captain's Intercom system. So far, he had collected manuals and was working on understanding the wiring between stations. The original manual called for a 90- conductor cable, for a full complement of 11 intercom stations. From what we could see, none of the original wiring was in place in Radio Central, CIC, or the bridge. This would be a lengthy project!

By the end of 2021, Steve and Chuck were able to finally remove the faulty tuning control assembly from the TBL transmitter. The binding in the tuning was in the turns counter, as the tuning coil itself now turned easily. Steve took the counter home and got it working smoothly. A second problem in the TBL Transmitter was a failure in the power supply, but that would be an easy fix. Steve ordered parts and the radio gang should be able to evaluate the TBL. Rich Gallagher was aboard, and spent some time testing donated tubes, so we would know they would be usable when placed in storage. Chuck continued to promote the project by making Ham contacts and in December he worked stations in West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

Starting January 2022 off, the TBL oscillator power supply had failed due to both of the resistors being "fried". They were put back together and had 1500 volts, but Steve and Chuck noticed a little fluctuation that did not look normal. Steve then tested all the diodes in the power supply. They all were replaced with (4) 4 amp at 8kv diodes. It then put out about 1640 volts.

In January of 2023, Chuck and Steve fired up the big TBL-8 to see how it tunes, now that Steve had cleaned some of the controls. The end result was positive on the 20-meter band, but an ongoing contest made the band too busy for our testing to continue. As a Plan B, they moved the RAL-7 down to the 30-meter band and tuned in a few Morse code signals with decent results. They did some preliminary research on tuning the TBL for that band and will soon give that a try.

In March 2024, up in the radio shack, Steve Syrotynski, has been joined by new volunteers, the father and son team of Steve and Dave MacMinn, and Steve Page, and they have been keeping busy. They finished attaching all of the receivers on local operating position number one to the antenna selector switch. They also started repairs to the RAO-2 radio receiver and are replacing a filter capacitor in the RBO-5. They continue to organize the spare tubes in the electronics storeroom below the messdecks and have used the TBL-8 transmitter to make new contacts.

The final stage of the restoration is planned for the winter of 2004-2005, when the SL radar transmitter will be moved from CIC to its original location in the radio room, on the work table against the back bulkhead over the motor generator. Thanks to the volunteers, almost every original receiver and the TBL transmitter are now operational. 

Thank you to everyone who had a hand in turning the radio room into the active space that it is today!