Polish mine detector

[fv1620]

I used to have a Mine Detector No.III (Polish) when I was a boy. It had no valves in it, I think there should have been three. I took some ARP12 (Army Receiving Pentode No.12) from a 38 set.

Well that needed 3 volts for the heaters which I got from a cycle lamp battery. The HT for a 38 set was 150 volts, but I used to use an Every Ready "Winner" battery which I think gave 60, 90 or 120 volts. So I fitted that as well & it worked a treat even on 120 volts.

The large search head was heavy, particularly as to counter balance it there was a large weight at the top end. The small search head was easier but that had a rather short handle even for a boy to carry.

This was about 1958. The detector amplifier cost me 12/6 in a scarpyard. The large head 6/6 the smaller head 4/6 from Arthur Sallis surplus, 93 North Road, in Brighton. Trouble was the heads came through the post & they were fitted into a box by sawing through the support arms & cables!

I also remember he sold time bomb mechanisms! You could set these between 15 min to 44 days. Small clockwork mechanism ran for about 5 min then as it ran down it made a contact to energise a solenoid to pull the lever back & so winding it up again. Surprising even then that such things were on sale given that the IRA started a campaign from 1956 that lasted until 1962.