May 6th, 2008, 08:04 AM
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Ace
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Join Date: May 2003
Location: The world is my backside, hmm, backyard!
Posts: 6,117
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Re: Please Ident this contraption!
Must have had some intensive wear, like listening to the entire 8th Air Force all at the same time 
This one apparently is Czech... Acoustic Radar.
How Were World War II Searchlights Used?
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WW II searchlights formed part of a system of aircraft detection linking (a) locator devices, (b) searchlights, and (c) antiaircraft (AAA) guns. The locators sent electronic information to the lights and guns, which in turn tracked the target in synch with each other. Once a locator of any of the aforementioned types had "locked on" to an aerial target, the concept was for both lights and guns to be trained on the target (via the height and distance data received from the locator) so the target could be nearly simultaneously illuminated and then destroyed. Locators were first based on sound and heat detection, and ultimately radar became the preferred method of target acquisition.
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Before radar, the first practical means of detecting airplanes at a distance at night was by listening to the noise of their engines with the aid of horns. The size of the horns served to gather in more of the sound and thus increased the range of detection. The spacing of the horns aided the operator's binaural sense in determining the plane's direction. The photo at left shows one of the last types of sound locator units used during World War II. One operator listened to the left and right horn for direction information, and the other operator listened to the top and bottom horns for elevation information. As the operators pointed this large hearing device, their direction and elevation movement would generate electric signals that would be sent to the searchlight control station or to the searchlight directly, using a selsyn system.
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Bah!
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