I’m a ham radio operator and was curious about radio communication during the war. I know that hostilities occurred during a solar cycle peak which made longer range communication possible, but how was the communication gear improved and deployed from the beginning to the end of the war? Was it consistently withheld for higher ranks due to the need for encryption and decryption? Or, did it become more prevalent in the field, allowing for more expedient changes to orders, as we see in so many movies with a backpack radio in every unit?
Thanks to the entire Team
Kevin
KN4AAG
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Was long distance communication a big problem? I assume the British cut the German undersea cables like they did in the first world war, and I bet Washington and London preferred talking on the more secure cables.
I can’t image the generals were so far away from the front that the solar cycle would affect them giving orders or receiving updates. And I’m sure they used wired methods as much as possible since they are much much harder to intercept. My understanding is that part of the reason the allies were surprised during the battle of the bulge was because the nazis were back in Germany and able to use phones for planning and thus couldn’t be overheard by allied intelligence.
The famous parasets transmitted on the 3 or 7 MHz bands, and the lower frequency bands are generally better during sunspot minimums.
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