Before I continue with my Tiger refurb I want to sort out the aerial fit for a late Befehlswagen.

I've got the Dragon 6253 kit which gives the layout, and this ties up with most other refs I have access to. However I have one schematic that shows a slightly different layout.

My questions are:
1. Is the correct setup, FuG 7 on the left side, FuG 5 turret roof, with the FuG 8 star antenna on the right ( looking forwards)?

2. The FuG 8 mount for the extended aerial. Was this present on later Befehlswagen, particularly 007?

3. The armour pot for the FuG 8 is nearly fully recessed in the Dragon kit, but quite tall in the armour scale set. Which is correct?

4. When the extended aerial for the FuG 8 was used, did the wire connect to a separate connection forward of the side mount, or did it connect to the armoured connection now unused?

Sorry for so many questions, but I'd really like to get ths right.

Rich

Answers to your questions:

1) Yes, your layout is correct. Remember that the FuG 7 was for ground-to-air liaison, usually one special Luftwaffe officer per battalion. The normal interior layout only had room for EITHER the FuG 7 OR the FuG 8, but not both, so usually only one antenna or the other would be externally visible (although the antenna mounts would still be present).

NOTE: The turret mounted FuG 5 was the standard tank-to-tank tactical radio and was operated by the loader (who would have also been a school-trained radio operator). The FuG 5 was always mounted regardless of which other radio (FuG 7 or 8 ) was installed.

2) I can't check my references right now, but in the absence of evidence clearly showing these clamps to be absent, they were standard to the factory Befehlspanzerwagen Tiger, and I do believe that 007 was a standard command tank. The odds are in favor that it also had the mast antenna mounts.

3) The DML nearly flush recessed FuG 8 antenna base is correct and was the "standard" factory configuration, although it's not possible to rule out that some earlier command Tigers MIGHT have had the mount standing proud of the hull roof (like the back engine deck mounts on the Tiger II or Panther). Double-oh Seven was a near final production version, though, so it was almost certainly configured with the standard design (as depicted in the DML kit).

4) The coaxial cable was attached by a clamp and wing nut to the top of the FuG 8's ceramic antenna base. This base had a "stub" section of tube sticking out of its top that the hollow antenna normally fitted down onto, and the coax cable clamp was placed over this when the tall mast was used.

NOTE: The mast mounted configuration for the FuG 8 antenna was intended only for static, not mobile, use.

NOTE ALSO: The standard antenna mounts used for the FuG 5 and 7 also had metal "stubs" sticking up that the hollow antennas were slipped down onto. Most companies mold these parts with a hole in them for the modeler to stick his antenna into, but if the antenna is not mounted on the model, then there should actually be a short section of tube sticking up out of the base and not a hole.

HTH,

I have never seen any evidence of the antenna pot standing proud of the hull roof on a Tiger.

David

Thank you gentleman, very useful info.

If I may, regarding Q4 the Dragon kit has a couple of small parts ( P1, P4). I have seen this shown as the coax attachment for when the mast aerial is used, I guess this is not correct. If you don't have access to a kit I can scan the part of he instructions needed.

Once again anks for the info so far, and this is exactly why I joined Armorama.

Rich

P1 is the generator chimney.

I don't know what P4 is, but here's a photo. A cap on a chain covers a threaded stub. I don't think it penetrates the hull roof, unlike the generator chimney in front of it.



David

Thanks David, that's fantastic.

Rich

A protective cap suggests bare metal. Were they using the tank as an earth connection?

David

I really wouldn't like to speculate David, It's not tapered like the thread on the generator chimney. What this indicates I have no idea.

Where is the befehlswagen in the image you posted?

Rich

It's in Kubinka museum.

David

Speculation, but...

Perhaps a simple threaded retainer for the cap to prevent losing it when not needed to cover the exhaust?

It appears to be welded to the rectangular plate under the eyelet that other the end of the keeper chain is attached to, so perhaps the chain, eyelet, weather cap, "retainer" tube, and metal plate were all one unit supplied from the sub-contractor (maybe as a component of the generator set when delivered for installation?). The entire small sub-assembly could then welded to the hull roof by way of the rectangular plate(?)

By jove, I think you've got it. The threading on the two pipes looks identical. That would be an odd coincidence if one of them was equipment for the mast.
And this Tiger was built when full submersion was still in force, so a seal would be compulsory...

David

This is good stuff.

I knew I'd seen something somewhere! In "The modellers guide to the Tiger tank" on page 38 it shows this in detail, which is what confused me when I first saw it. They claim that the foremost tube is as you say the generator, but the rear tube with the cap on is the "connection point for antenna". This I guess can now be ignored. There is no insulator so the coax would have connected directly to the hull, which makes no sense at all. I can't imagine the effect of doing this!

Thanks again for the info, I can now move forward with the aerial fit with confidence, and I've learnt loads on the way.

Cheers gentleman, much appreciated and I will buy you a beer if I ever meet either of you, that's a promise.

Rich