WWII 1155 RECEIVER, 1155

Made for aircraft such as the Lancaster bomber, also used in other aircraft and also as a ground station. The R1155 is an English LF and HF super heterodyne receiver covering from 75kHz to 18.5mHz in 5 bands, with D/F (Direction Finding) and homing functions.
This receiver started development in 1939 by the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Co and was called the AD.87B/8882B to replace the pre-war T1083 and R1082.
The R.A.F. designation was the R1155 and the corresponding transmitter was the T1154, the first units being installed in June 1940. These were still used into the 1950s. Several companies manufactured them, including Marconi, Ekco, Plessey, Philips, and the Gramophone Co. (EMI).
They were fitted to many aircraft like the Avro Lancaster and the deHavilland Mosquito. They were imported into Australia after the War to be used in Lincoln bombers. Although they were used mainly in aircraft, later in the war they were fitted to small boats (N suffix), and also to vehicles (115, 115B, 130, 131).
The receiver has 10 valves of which 3 are for the D/F and one is a Tuning Indicator (magic eye).
There are 6 used for the super heterodyne receiver. The receiver has an RF stage, a mixer/oscillator, two IF stages, an AVC and BFO stage, a detector, an audio amplifier, and a magic eye tuning indicator. The D/F circuitry has two valves as aerial switching and multi vibrator, and a meter switch.
It can have 3 aerials, a fixed wire type, a trailing aerial, and a D/F loop. It has 11 controls of which 5 are for D/F only.

Your comments:

• The R1155 and T1154 sets were NOT made for the Lancaster, these were simply just the most famous aircraft to use them. The earliest reference I have seen of these sets in use is on board the Bristol Blenheim MkIV in 1940 and on board the Fairey Swordfish as an Admiralty set (AD1333 from memory), before the Lancaster even entered service. These replaced the troublesome R1082 / T1083 sets.
  .......... Jim Kelly, Cambridge, 12th of January 2023
  
  
• I'm sure we used one of these, for a time, in 1954-55, at HQ(u)BC, Naphill, High Wycombe, doing tests with a Rhombic Aerial, working with a station in N Africa. We normally used HROs, which, I think, were ex USA sets, reconditioned in the 1940s
  .......... Ian Collingwood, Alsager, Cheshire, UK, 30th of November 2016
  
  
• Trained on this 1957 and told I would never see one - worked on them in Singapore on Marine craft in 1961/62
  .......... David Lloyd, United Kingdom, 11th of May 2016
  
  
• These were used in RAF Shackletons on maritime patrols right through to the end of their use, when Nimrods took over the role. It is possible, but unconfirmed, that they may initially have been used in the early Nimrods.
  .......... Gordon Milsom, High Wycombe United kingdom, 23rd of April 2012
  
  
• A living memory! I have one in my radio shack. It is an R1155 Type N which means that it was intended for maritime use in a RAF Launch. (Probably Air-Sea Rescue.)This type has the old Trawler Band in its frequency range, due to its maritime use. It was made of steel instead of aluminium , presumably due to its higher resistance to rust from its seaborne environment. These were in use with the RAF AND civil airlines until the late 50s at least. (Civil airliners, like ships, carried Radio Officers in those times.)
  Very Best Regards, Gary
  .......... Gary, Cardiff, 28th of November 2009
  
  

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