Development of Panzer throat mikes

[Nick Komiya]

In order to understand the extra features the kmfb mikes incorporated compared to the kmfa mikes, we need to take a more detailed look at the drill involved, which included the radio man’s function as the switchboard operator. His switchboard duties required him to operate two toggle switches on the Kasten 20 and his Kmfb mike switch.
There were two selector switches on a Kasten 20. One determined who monitored the incoming messages on the two receivers. The default- setting for this selector was “ Funker u. Pz. Führer Empf. 1 u. Empf. 2”, which meant both the radio man and the commander monitored both receiver traffic. The alternative setting was “ Pz. Führer Empf. 1, Funker Empf. 2”, which split monitoring responsibilities between the two, the commander taking receiver 1 and the radio man the second receiver. The other selector had the settings “Funk u. Bord”, and “Funk”, of which the latter was the default setting, meaning what the radio man heard was only the incoming external traffic. The other position allowed him to listen to both radio receivers and also join the onboard chatter.

[Nick Komiya]

The various communication scenarios possible with the Kasten 20 were as follows,
a) Commander, Gunner and Driver would communicate with each other, while the radio man monitored incoming traffic on both receivers. This was the default scenario and required the driver and gunner, who were equipped with kmfa mikes to keep the mike switch engaged. The kmfb mikes used by the commander and radio man were already live without having to depress the switch.
b) When the commander wanted to hear the incoming traffic instead, he would depress his kmfb microphone switch, which gave him access to both receivers like the radio man. The commander could also access the radio man with his microphone in this scenario and tell him to switch the transmitter to send, which allowed the commander to transmit.
c) During the default scenario a) above, if the radio man heard something in incoming traffic that also required the attention of his commander, he would depress the switch on his kmfb microphone. He would give the commander a short heads-up and the commander could now listen and communicate externally. This drill applied to the initial version of the Kasten 20. With the red-underlined version of the Kasten, the drill was altered as follows;
d) When the radio man received any external messages that needed to be dealt with by the commander, he would switch the selector briefly to “Funk u. Bord” (Funk being the default) and alert the commander about this incoming traffic. The commander must now depress his microphone switch while the radio man switched back to “Funk”. The commander could now hear and respond to external messages.
e) Once again, during the default scenario a), if important messages came in simultaneously on both receivers, the radio man could give traffic on receiver 1 to the commander and he himself those on receiver 2. He did this by switching the Kasten 20 to “ Pz. Führer Empf. 1, Funker Empf. 2” ( default position being, “ Funker u. Pz. Führer Empf. 1 u. Empf. 2”), while depressing his microphone switch. Now the commander is dealing only with incoming on receiver 1 and the radio man receiver 2. As soon as this need for a responsibility split was over, the radio man would switch back to “ Funker u. Pz. Führer Empf. 1 u. Empf. 2”, and after giving the commander notice, would shut off his kmfb microphone switch to revert to default a). Once again, this was the drill under the initial version of the Panzerkasten 20. With the red-striped version, the drill was as follows;
f) If important messages came in simultaneously on both receivers, the radio man had to get on the intercom by switching briefly to “Funk u. Bord” and alert the commander. As the commander switched on his microphone, the radio man needed to reset to “Funk”, and further make the switch to “ Pz. Führer Empf. 1, Funker Empf. 2” . As soon as the need for simultaneous communication ended, the radio man would revert back to the “ Funker u. Pz. Führer Empf. 1 u. Empf. 2” default,

[me6_130]

Nick,

Most interesting, I'll have to study in depth and take some notes

Carles

[Nick Komiya]

Carles, here's some more notes to take.

Here are some supplemental information for the communication scenarios.

1. Radio Silence
Both receiver and transmitter were turned off and the Kasten 20 switched to "Funk u. Bord". This allowed onboard communication between all 4 crew on the intercom system while observing radio silence.

2. The driver and gunner
The above scenario descriptions only focused on the radio man and commander, who both wore kmfb mikes, so to be thorough this is what happened to those wearing the kmfa mikes.

-In scenario b) when the commander depresses the kmfb mike and switches to external communication, the driver and gunner can continue the onboard communication between themselves without distrubing the commander. Also when I wrote that the commander needed to tell the radio man to switch to "send" before the commander could transmit, I mean that the radio man needs to switch the transmitter to voice transmission if it is set to transmitting in morse, which had a longer reach.

- In scenario d) when the radio man heard something that required also the attention of his commander, switching to "Funk u. Bord" and alerting the commander, that would be heard by all members. In this situation, when the radio man switches to "Funk u. Bord" and catches the commander in the middle of giving gun aiming commands he needs to refrain from cutting in and immediately switch back to "Funk" and listen to the incoming alone and take notes to convey the message to the commander immediately after.

-In scenario f), the splitting of receiver monitoring duties, the Pantherfibel issued in June 1944, says the radio man should switch to "Funk u. Bord" and keep it there, instead of going back to "Funk". This setting allowed the commander, driver and gunner all to listen to receiver 1 together, while the radio man listened to receiver 2. Although the incoming signals were thus split, all on board could communicate with each other on the intercom. This, however, meant that the driver and the gunner also could transmit on the radio, if their kmfa mikes were on, so they needed to exercise discipline not to clutter the radio waves. The "Funk" postion would have cut the diver and gunner off external communication.

As you can see, tank communication was quite complicated, and you see also that the kmfb switches had nothing to do with switching the mikes on and off, but were actually like remote control switches.

[me6_130]

How could the radioman do all that and handle the machinegun with only two hands??


Carles

[Nick Komiya]

He even had to use his head movement to aim the MG, so he was really a one man band, and he must have gotten really stiff shoulders.

[Dufleuve]

Very informative, Nick.

I will have to test that on my own Pzk 20.

[Nick Komiya]

I will have to test that on my own Pzk 20.

Hope you are a family of 4

[Dufleuve]

Five, even have the loader

[ian alderman]

Kasten sizes

Hi Nick,

firstly, an excellent series of posts, and a fantastic collection. Thanks for sharing.

Secondly, would you happen to know the basic dimensions of the;

Kasten PZ NR 23
and all the other junction boxes, (if that is what they are), to be found in a "typical" panzer radio layout.

Many thanks in anticipation,

Ian

[Nick Komiya]

Kasten 23 is the same size as a Kasten 20, 178 x 142 x 78, but 23a is larger at 208 x 180 x 80.
Antenna connection boxes were 80 x 64 x 40, and the connection boxes for headsets and microphones of in a command tank were 107 x 136 x 47. The standard connection boxes for headsets and microphones in tanks for the turret crew were 107 x 65 x 47

[Fe 26]

thanks for posting the updates

[ian alderman]

Many thanks Nick.

I've also noticed a Kasten 4a. Would you have the size of that, and what did it do?

Thanks again

[Nick Komiya]

4a was located in the turrets of Pz II, 35(t), 38(t) and the size would have been around 178 x 142 x 78. It functioned as a Turmanschlusskasten, which is the electrical distribution hub for the turret, which was fed power from the slip-ring power transfer located in the hull to supply power to rotating turrets. To the 4a, was connected the Kasten 4c, the connection box for the commander's headset and microphone.

Shown below is a system diagram from the Pz II manual D1003/1, showing the 4a in position.

[ian alderman]

Hi Nick,

again, many thanks for your help, but your last response has now confused me. I am specifically trying to get my head around the radio set up in a Panzer 2, ausf L, (Luchs). I have several photos of various bits and pieces of radio/electrical equipment in the vehicle, and am trying to link it all together as a lot of the cabling is missing.

I have tried attaching photos but have not mastered that yet.

Would anybody reading this please email me if they think they can help, or advise on attaching photos as there does not seem to be a help facility,

TIA

Ian