Military Collectors Group Post, Oct.17/97 Index: Poor Boy's Collins, The TCS; HUMOR; MORE HUMOR; It's not gettin any better! ************************************************************** Poor Boy's Collins, The TCS; It's Legend Begins. The TCS series of radio equipment is one of those success stories stemming from WW-II that has few rivals, & no equals. It's story begins in 1939 & the first contracts let with Collins by the US Navy, interestingly, the first ART-13(ATZ's), & TBX from GE, were also ordered this same year. The Navy knew something the rest of our countries military didn't! Early examples of the set differ mainly in the coil design used in the IF's, progressing in later years to the more accepted SO-239 type Antenna connections on the last sets built. It's design simplicity, extreme ruggedness, excellent frequency stability, & compact size would all combine to spell it's success for many years to come. It would be used in virtually every military capacity imaginable, & in post war years, continue to serve in both military, civilian, & commercial roles. By the end if it's military career it will have served for more than 20 years, & will have known no equivalent, or rival, either military or commercial. Even though no set's were built after WW-II. War time propaganda by Collins in all the magazines of the time, usually always depicted a PT boat in the background. I suppose they then thought this was the most glamorous role their radio could be serving in, thus best suited to publicize their participation in the war effort. True, the TCS was the preferred radio set for PT boats, & I would suspect that they were all outfitted with them even well after the war. But it's use was not limited to these fine boats. The TCS was used in every war time capacity we can think of, including Armored vehicles, Jeeps, Aircraft, Landing craft, fixed simi fixed shore & field stations, & ships both large & small of every description. Even the Army Signal corps had a stock number for the TCS(still, as of 1953). One of very few Naval radios to be accepted by the Army, though we don't know when, where, or in what capacity they used them. This is very significant, as the technical rivalry, & competition between the Signal Corp, & Navy was VERY intense! For the Army to accept a radio of the Navy's would have been most degrading, & vice versa. It would not be until the Army interred the war in the Pacific, would some cooperation between the services be seen. And then only because of the need for comparability in equipment types. This for two main reasons,#1) the Army had tired up most of the countries manufacturing facilities with their equipment types. #2) & most important, to simplifie the immense supply/logistics problems. Technical Marvel! Years ago, a one time friend of mine, upon seeing my TCS said,"you could always tell when it was one of those things transmitting", "they had the prettiest CW signal on the air"! This one time friend had been an Army Signalman during WW-II in the Pacific. Though many of his war stories turned out later to be bull shit, this one has been collaborated many times. The design of the TCS family is very simple, so simple in fact that for many years I couldn't understand why they had done what they did. For instance, why two 1625's in the RF PA for CW, but only one was used for AM? We all know well, that it's 1625 modulator pair would easily modulate both the output tubes! Why two oscillator circuits? The MO has an oscillator tube & circuit completely separate from the xtal oscillator which has it's own! Conventional equipment of the time simply switched in, or out a couple of parts to change between Xtal or MO service, but using a common circuit. What a waist of parts & space I thought. Boy was I dumb! Several years ago while in a super QSO on 3880, at 04:00 in the morning, my TCS receiver began to waiver. I was frantic, the conditions were perfect, all the best guys were on the air. And they could hear me! I had to get it back up! I jurked open the receiver & started thumping tubes, hit an IF tube & the thing went nuts. What to do now? The needed tube was out in the critter infested, pitch black shed, along with several thousand other ones! It hit me! I pulled the tube from the xtal oscillator swapping it fore the IF tube, what the hell, I wasn't using the xtal osc, rather the MO as usual. It worked & I was back on the air without missing one round. It later dawned on me what had been going on in those brilliant Collins engineers minds! The reason for all those redundant circuits & tube types. Unlike virtually every other piece of electronic equipment built for the military until the advent of the transistor, the TCS did not have a spare parts kit. It was it's own spare parts kit! All it's spare parts were very neatly stored in a place were they could be immediately found, under the most adverse of conditions. Picture yourself in a combat environment, similar to the above story except people are shooting at you, & your boat is bouncing all over the place. The very same thing would take place. If your transmitters PA quit during CW ops, you simply robbed a tube from the modulator. What the hell, it was only needed with phone ops. If it screwed up during AM phone ops, you simply robbed the extra PA tube used only with CW, it could then be swapped to either the PA or modulator. Now we know the reason for two tubes in CW & one in AM! If any other tube in the transmitter failed, it could be replaced by the one in the unused oscillator, now we know why the redundant oscillator circuits! What kind of a warped, but far sighted & brilliant mind came up with this! The only spare parts kit known, is one for the later versions that either had factory, or field installed Noise Limiters. This was because the tube used in this circuit did not already exists elsewhere in the radio set. By the way, this Noise Limiter really works! Continuing Legacy. Use of the TCS continued on for many years. Though some experts have said that it remained in inventory, but was no longer a front line radio after WW-II. This couldn't be more false. As of 1958, the TCS was still being installed in new M38A1 Jeeps for use by Marine Pathfinders(among others),along with a mixture of other Collins aircraft crap. Long before this time, some variants had received joint service designations such as MRC-6 having transmitter & receiver group OA-26A(the TCS). The MRC-18 was a large field transportable system which contain among many other items, the TCS, these systems were ordered in 1949. The MRC-22 combined a TCS, ARC-1, & a ARC-27, these all mounted in a M-115 trailer circa 1951. Also with an order date of 1951 was the MRC-23 which contained a TCS, TDE, URT-7, FRR-27, & a URR-13, all mounted in a K-53 6x6 truck. The MRC-24 had a TCS-12, TDQ, RCK, MAR, & a RCH. Both the transmiter & the receiver were asigned R-* & T-* numbers, but these don't come to mind at present. The story goes on, suffice to say that the TCS also saw extensive service as commercial(via the Sante Fe rail road), marine(until the demise if the HF/AM marine band), & of course Ham's. Worthy of note, the ART-13 was used in much the same ways when more RF power was thought to be needed. We all know the standard for comparison this radio set. But somebody else can write that story. The Story Continues, There were also some incounters in Vietnam with the TCS, but I'll let those tell the story that are better qualified. At least as late as 1980 a friend(though he was a Navy ET) remembers servicing TCS control heads on the bridge of a Naval vessel, though they were no longer connected to TCS's. Rather, by then they were used to remotely control URC-9's, but this is still further evidence of the long life of the TCS. WA4OID(Sweetwater Bob) who's exploits today on 75mtrs with his TCS & Command sets are legend, while in Naval service in the early 1960's remembers using the TCS as the ships ham shack. He states, that because he was a Snipe/Diver, it was the only rig the Radioman would let him use. This most likely because of the radio's simple operation combined with the fact that most Snipes were not known for their vast intelligence. Even so, he wasn't alowed to touch the knobs. One more personal war story. I good friend, WD0ALN once came to visit. In an attempt to brag on my newly up and running TCS, I told him "watch this", "I'll go over there & key that thing up & it'll come up on 3880". It had been running the night, before & I usually never shut it off. I went over & keyed it, but nothing happened! I'd turned the damn thing off, turning it back on, I waited a few seconds & pressed the T-17's PTT. As the heaters lit up, & the antenna current meter began to deflect, the LED's on the freq counter flashed 3880, this to the amazement of us both! How's that for stability from a 50 year old, tube type, MO controlled radio, that's never had anything done to it except one IF tube changed!!! The receiver is every bit as impressive. Eat your heart's out Icom, Yeasu, & Kenwood! Lets see how many of those things are on the air after fifty years! I gave George a junker TCS receiver & transmitter before he left, with the condition that he had to put them on the air, or I wanted them back. Within a couple days he had the receiver up & running. I don't think it's been turned off in 4 years. This even though it is flanked on either side by a Hammerlund SP-600, & Drake Twins. Not much chance of my ever getting that set back! Only one military radio comes to mind that served longer in our nations defense. Though I had known it for some time, it was Danny Cahn that made it click. The CRT-3(Gibson Girl) is the only known radio to be used unchanged in military service longer than the TCS. This until the recent demise of the 500kc marine distress frequency, or it would most likely still be around celebrating it's 55th birthday. Sadly though, this was a WW-II German development, that was simply refined by us. And you all thought all I knew or gave a shit about was PRC's. Fooled ya! Dennis Starks; MILITARY RADIO COLLECTOR/HISTORIAN military-radio-guy@juno.com *************************************************************** HUMOR; When She Says No - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Man: "Haven't we met before?" Woman: "Yes, I'm the receptionist at the V.D. Clinic." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Man: "Haven't I seen you someplace before? Woman: "Yeah, that's why I don't go there anymore." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Man: "Is this seat empty?" Woman: "Yes, and this one will be too if you sit down." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Man: "So, wanna go back to my place ?" Woman: "Well, I don't know. Will two people fit under a rock?" - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Man: "Your place or mine?" Woman: "Both. You go to yours and I'll go to mine." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Man: "I'd really like to get into your pants." Woman: "No thanks. There's already one asshole in there." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Man: "I'd like to call you. What's your number?" Woman: "It's in the phone book." Man: "But I don't know your name." Woman: "That's in the phone book too." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Man: "So what do you do for a living?" Woman: "I'm a female impersonator." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Man: "Voulez-vous vous coucher avec moi ce soir?" (Would you like to go to bed with me tonight?) Woman: "Je voudrais bien, mais je n'ai rien a porter." (I would love to, but I have nothing to wear.) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Man: "What sign were you born under?" Woman: "No Parking." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Man: "Hey, baby, what's your sign?" Woman: "Do not Enter" (or) "Stop." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Man: "How do you like your eggs in the morning?" Woman: "Unfertilized !" - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Man: "Hey, come on, we're both here at this bar for the same reason" Woman: "Yeah! Let's pick up some chicks!" - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Man: "I'm here to fulfill your every sexual fantasy." Woman: "You mean you've got both a donkey and a Great Dane ?"(ed,finaly on thats almost humorus) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Man: "I know how to please a woman." Woman: "Then please leave me alone." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Man: "I want to give myself to you." Woman: "Sorry, I don't accept cheap gifts." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Man: "I can tell that you want me." Woman: "Ohhhh. You're so right. I want you to leave." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Man: "If I could see you naked, I'd die happy: Woman: "Yeah, but if I saw you naked, I'd probably die laughing." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Man: "Hey cutie, how 'bout you and I hitting the hot spots?" Woman: "Sorry, I don't date outside my species." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Man: "May I see you pretty soon?" Woman: "Why? Don't you think I'm pretty now?" - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Man: "Your body is like a temple." Woman: "Sorry, there are no services today." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Man: "I'd go through anything for you." Woman: "Good! Let's start with your bank account." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Man: "I would go to the end of the world for you. Woman: "Yes, but would you stay there?" - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- REJECTED STATE MOTTOS -- FLORIDA: The Gunshine State ALABAMA: Literacy Ain't Everything MISSISSIPPI: At Least We're not Arkansas ILLINOIS: Gateway to Iowa (ed,thats Missouri you dumb ass) KENTUCKY: Tobacco is a Vegetable MAINE: For Sale MONTANA: Land of the Big Sky, and Very Little Else NEW JERSEY: You Have the Right to Remain Silent, You Have the Right to an Attorney ... ARKANSAS: Land of cousins NEW MEXICO: Lizards Make Excellent Pets NORTH CAROLINA: Five Million People; Fifteen Last Names OHIO: Don't Judge us by Cleveland PENNSYLVANIA: Cook with Coal SOUTH DAKOTA: Closer than North Dakota TENNESSEE: The Educashun State TEXAS: Si Hablo Ingles UTAH: Our Jesus is Better than Your Jesus CALIFORNIA: The Granola State -or-Nobody's actually from here. KANSAS: Hay Fever capital of the Midwest COLORADO: Too wimpy to cross the mountains so we stopped here. NEBRASKA: More corn than Kansas. MISSOURI: Gateway to Kansas. LOUISIANA: Cancer Alley's just a name, and names will never hurt you. NEVADA: More Weirdos than Alaska (Warmer Too). MICHIGAN: Land of the free, home of the Buick. ARIZONA: Winter home to 150,000 snowbirds. FLORIDA: Elephant Graveyard; wherFrom jim@mhztech.com (Jim Hopper) From: jim@mhztech.com (Jim Hopper) Received: from m26.boston.juno.com (m26.boston.JUNO.com [207.205.100.66]) by x7.boston.juno.com (8.8.6.Beta0/8.8.6.Beta0/2.0.kim) with ESMTP id RAAAA19863 for ; Thu, 4 Sep 1997 17:10:32 -0400 (EDT) Received: from fender.mode14.com (fender.mode14.com [206.155.239.11]) by m26.boston.juno.com (8.8.6.Beta0/8.8.6.Beta0/2.0.kim) with ESMTP id RAAAA17804 for ; Thu, 4 Sep 1997 17:11:31 -0400 (EDT) Received: from jim.mode14.com ([206.155.238.201]) by fender.mode14.com (Netscape Mail Server v2.02) with SMTP id AAA234 for ; Thu, 4 Sep 1997 16:08:39 -0500 Return-path: Reply-To: jim@mhztech.com To: Dennis R Starks Date: Thu, 04 Sep 1997 16:05:01 -0500 Subject: Re: PRC-47's out of my hands! Next project? Message-ID: <340F227D.44FE@mhztech.com> References: <19970904.135320.8087.0.military-radio-guy@juno.com> X-Status: Replied X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.01 (Win95; U) Dennis R Starks wrote: > > Today I finished mailing out all the PRC-47's. > Everybody that has one coming has been notified when they were shipped,& > what the postage cost was. This postage cost is your responsibility to > repay me. I'm sorry that there was not enough leeway in the project cost > for me to absorb this. The PRC-64 project on the other hand is still well > within your planed in hand cost of $150.00,but unlike the PRC-47 > project, this had been talleyed in from the beginning. We learn as we get > more experience. > If after you get yours hooked up & need any parts from the pool & > they are available, they will be provided free,less postage. > Ralph H. needs to hear from all those that want copies of the > PRC-47 condensed depo maint manual, & the Delco 5300 manual . This > because he wishes to make all copies & mail them at one time. There will > not be a second chance, as he's only doing it once, then they go back > into my library & I have no access within 34 miles to a copier. Contact > him at ralph.hogan@vmic.com > Soon as some time has past for the sets & manuals to arrive I'll > write an article on what you can do with them. I'm sure there will be > some other input on this subject. Fair Radio sales still has cables & > various other acc for them, you might also try Milcom Exchange at > ckuzel@aol.com, or Tartan Electronics, if any other sources are known or > if you have any extras you can let me know, & I'll pass it along. > Next project proposition! Last year I contacted one of the > original government suppliers or milspec paint in aresol cans. They had > available all the conceivable colors of paint needed to restore about any > item of military equipment, along with the needed primers. I had always > intended to buy some but there was one hitch. It had to be purchase in > cases only(I think 12 cans to a case). I never got up the nerve to order > that much paint worried that something more important would come along & > I wouldn't have the money. > I know these colors I had in mind; > Bomb green(used for WW-II vintage equipment) > Simi gloss OD > Marine Green > Haze Gray(for navy stuff) > Yellow primer for all the above > There were many other colors used in a bunch of applications such as > camouflage etc, but these where the major ones of interest. > If you'd like to get some, let me know & your preferred color. If > theres enough interest I'll check into the current cost. > > Thanks to all, > > Dennis Starks; MILITARY RADIO COLLECTOR/HISTORIAN > military-radio-guy@juno.com I'll take some paint--probably od for me. Is that the color I need for prc77's? anyway, have you sent my scope or my an/prc text yet. Not pushing, just asking. 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