Length Of Radio Antennae On German AFVs In WW2

General Discussions Scale Modeling Q&A
1

Hi All,

I have a technical question for the experts here. Is there a standard length for radio antennae on German WW2 AFVs (ie tanks, armored cars, half-tracks etc)? It seems to me that there surely would be, but I can find no reference. If there is, what is the 1/35 scale equivalent?

Thanks so much in advance!

2

Short answer is that the “standard” German WWII AFV used 2m long antennas.

There are a number of different radios that were fielded, though, so this is not an absolute. For instance, tanks equipped for ground-to-air liaison used a 1.4m long antenna.

However, most tank radios used the 2m long antenna for tank-to-tank communication which includes most command tanks with two antennas (both the 2m long type).

In 1/35 scale, the math works out thusly: 2000mm / 35 = 57.14mm long.

This discounts radios that used frame antennas or extendable long mast antennas. It also doesn’t include the infamous “star” antenna which was 1.5m tall not counting the smaller “star” elements.

This website might provide you some info as a springboard for more in-depth research:

WWII Axis Radio Collection

For most of the radios there’s a table of data that includes the antenna type used with each.

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3

That link to German Radios is amazing especially the color photos. At least for the Pz III and IV, wouldn’t the length of the antenna rest be a good measure of the length of the antenna?
Jack

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4

Thanks so much! The information that you provided has been very helpful.

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5

The antenna trough on the Pz I-IV is a bit longer than the antenna, proper. Many of the wooden trough designs also incorporated a storage pocket for a spare antenna under the open top trough. However, the wooden trough is pretty close in length to the antennas.

Some tanks, like the Tiger used a metal storage tube for the antenna. On the Panther the antenna storage was contained inside the large tube usually associated with storing the cleaning rods. Metal antenna storage tubes were also used on some other AFV types.

Command Tiger and Panther tanks added additional antenna storage brackets and / or tubes for their command radio sets.

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