From: military-radio-guy Full-Name: Dennis R Starks To: military radio collectors#2 Fcc: Sent Date: Mon, 8 Dec 1997 11:45:44 Subject: Military Collector Group Post, Dec.8/97 Message-ID: <19971208.114436.8255.9.military-radio-guy@juno.com> X-Status: Forwarded X-Mailer: Juno 1.38 Military Collector Group Post, Dec.8/97 Index: GRC-109/RS-1; What, Why, When, Where Part IV; Dispelling The Myths, Part II, by Dennis Starks TCS Antenna Discussion; BOOKS AVAIL; HUMOR; ******************************************************** GRC-109/RS-1; What, Why, When, Where Part IV; Dispelling The Myths, Part II, by Dennis Starks Part III of this series left off with a more accurately date of the inception of the RS-1, thus pushing back it's actual use in the field by at least four years. The next significant date in it's time line is as follows from Pete's account, "The U.S. Army's Special Military Intelligence Activity issued the RS-1 to agent handlers in Vietnam, starting in about 1961", and is followed by, "In late 1961, the CIA organized a number of 12-man Special Forces teams to work with Montagnard tribesmen, and used the RS-1 for communications". All originally from ref.#3, & included in ref.#12. Before we look into these dates, let's first take a look at the time line of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. 1945, *Early in the year, operation "Deer" began with an OSS team para-shooting into North Vietnam to provided assistance to Ho Chi Minh's guerilla activities. Had the personal sentiments & reports of these men been heeded in the United States, the next 30 years could have been avoided.(ref.#3,11,13) 1947, *The "Marshal Plan" is born. *France ask's for & receives permission to use both WW-II, & NATO U.S. lend lease equipment in Vietnam.(ref.#11) 1949, *$15 million U.S. dollars are earmarked for use by French forces in Vietnam. By 1953, $2 billion had been spent. *A $75 million dollar Presidential "slush fund" is created to support clandestine activities in Indo China.(ref.#11) 1950, *Eight U.S. C-47 transport planes are despatched to Vietnam.(ref.#11).*The U.S. establishes the "U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group, Indo-China" to monitor the distribution & use of U.S. materials to the French. *3500 radio sets, along with advisers are sent. *Saigon ACAN station is installed. (ref.#3) 1951, *France receives more American transport planes & equipment.(ref.#11) 1953, *The French accept $500 million in U.S. funds to continue the struggle.(ref.#11) 1954, *By this date U.S. had spent over $2.5 billion to finance the French effort. *American aid to France now amounts to 80% of their expenditures. *Captain James McGoon "Earthquake McGoon", is one of two Americans killed at Dienbienphu, while flying supplies in an unmarked U.S. transport plane to French forces. *Millions of Vietnamese refugees, mostly Catholic, are evacuated from North Vietnam, handled by the U.S. Navy.(ref.#11) *$300 million in U.S. funds are provided to the Diem government. *American Advisory Group Begins to train & advise Vietnamese forces.(ref.#3) 1955, *The French begin to withdraw from South Vietnam do to dissatisfaction with what they consider insufficient U.S. financial aid. *U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group, Cambodia is formed. *Direct aid to the Saigon government is well underway.(ref.#3,#11) 1956, *In April, the French withdraw from Indo-China is completed along with all the best American Assistance equipment. *U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group, Vietnam is formed, replacing the old "Indo-China" Group. (ref.#3) *350-man Temporary Equipment Recovery Mission(sent to salvage radio equipment left behind by the French) act covertly as advisers to the South Vietnamese Army.(ref.#3) *Michigan State University is contracted to train, advise, & equip the Civil Guard.(ref.#3) 1958,*The U.S. supports the new Anti-Communist government of Laos. (ref.#11) 1959, *Major Dale Buis, & Master Sergeant Chester Ovnand are killed by communist guerrillas at Bien Hoa, thus beginning the "Vietnam Era". (ref.#3,#11) *As a result, over 230 commercial SSB transceivers are ordered to provide voice communications linking these far flung adviser detachments, useable by themselves being unskilled in CW.(ref.#3) 1960, *The Village & Hamlet Radio System is began, augmenting systems set up by Michigan State. *The commercial SSB radios ordered as a result of Bien Hoa are installed, until this time communications were maintained with nine CW base stations.(ref.#3) 1961, *Combat troops are deployed to South Vietnam disguised as advisers.(ref.#11) *Civilian Irregular Defense Group Program is begun.(ref.#3) 1962, *American Military Assistance Command is formed, advisers now number 12,000. Strategic Hamlet program begins picking up were Michigan State University left off, further implementing the Village & Hamlet Radio System . *The "Hay Day" of the GRC-109 begins. (ref.#2,#3) 1963, *Control of Special Forces & their base camps is transferred from the CIA back to the Army.(ref.#2) *$500 million dollars is spent this year, American advisers now number over 15,000.(ref.#3) The above is presented to illustrate the long time evolvement of the U.S. in Indo-Chinese affairs. By way of financial, clandestine, & "Military" aid. In the following, the reader must remember several things. CIA operational control of U.S. Army Special Forces did not begin in 1961 with the Strategic Hamlet Defense program. In fact the entire concept of Special Forces was conceived by the OSS MANY years before. As such it is ludicrous to believe that use of the RS-1 began with these Special Forces "A" teams in Vietnam. Beginning in 1949, both CIA, & "Military" Intelligence networks had been set up and in operation in Indo-China, this includes Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand etc. And at various times, & places, these were not just clandestine Intelligence networks, but actually engaged in training, advising, & combat(though the later not officially). What do you think they were using for communications? Reading the above time line, with a little common sense should answer that question. The RS-1! Heres just a small bit of evidence that can push back the date of Army use of the RS-1. While I was on my hamfest tours, putting on displays last year, a long time acquaintance, Wayne(N0TE) noticed the GRC-109 I had on display. Wayne had been a long time Civilian Employee of the Army, though getting much info out of him about his job capacity has been fruitless, I have been able to pry from him the fact that he's been stationed all over the world in close proximity to various Special Forces activities. Upon seeing the GRC-109 he became quite talkative telling me of his using the set one time. This was while on maneuvers with a unit of the Kansas State National Guard in 1960. This particular unit was a reserve detachment of Special Forces. He had been forced into the job of the units signalman. He could not tell me if the radio he used was an RS-1, or a GRC-109 but that s doesn't really make any difference. The important point is, it was in the hands of a "reserve unit in 1960". One that was still being issued M1 Garands, 1903 Springfields, & BAR's. It should be noted that reserve unit's, especially Nation Guard units, are only issued equipment WELL after regular Army units have been supplied with them, along with quantities of extras. So then the RS-1 must have been in widespread use long before this time. In contrast, reserve units were still being issued PRC-6's,10's, GRC-9's, & 109's in 1970(& later), five years after their replacement began in regular Army units by the PRC-25, 77, 74 etc. In ref.#3,#12 we find, "The U.S. Army's Special Military Intelligence Activity issued the RS-1 to agent handlers in Vietnam", Pete's date of 1961 is derived from a report submitted on that date that describes MI activities UP TO THAT DATE. These activities were on-going long before then. Then we see in Pete's account (ref.#12) " The Army's chief signal officer arranged for the RS-1 to be adopted for military use and renamed the GRC-109"(this took place in approx 1962), the later quote is both incomplete and inaccurate, it should have included "The Army lacking a lightweight, patrol radio"(ref.#3). Even with this last part added, the statement is inaccurate, the signal officer did not arrange to have the GRC-109 adopted for this purpose, it is obvious the set was and had been in use by the Army for many years. The reason the RS-1 was officially adopted, & given the standard AN type designation of GRC-109 is because this action greatly simplified the already horrendous, yet growing supply and logistic problems associated with it's support, and that of thousands of other items of equipment. And it cleared the way for larger quantities of the set to be acquired & supported. If you'll note, the GRC-109 was adopted BEFORE operational control of Special Forces in Vietnam was transferred back to the Army(1963). "The GRC-109 was never adopted for Regular Army use, probably because the transmitter was CW only." This statement from ref.#12 contains a quote from ref.#3, along with the last added comment by Pete (the author of ref.#12). Included in the last Part II of this series was an explanation of the use of the GRA-71 code burst generator as it applied to the military, there was also a personal account of it's use in the late 70's. All involved the use of CW, thus the inaccuracy of the author's comment can readily be seen. The quote from ref.#3,(The GRC-109 was never adopted for Regular Army use), and included by Pete in his account cannot be explained. But it is wrong! In this part of our series, I have made an attempted to show the long time connection of the RS-1 with the U.S. Army, and the real purpose of it's official adoption as the GRC-109 which merely simplified continued use. The next & final segment will attempt to document the further exploits of the radio in the hands of our military. And provide some more proof for the speculation I've presented here. Dennis Starks; MILITARY RADIO COLLECTOR/HISTORIAN military-radio-guy@juno.com Referances; #1) Federal Logistics Data on Compact Disk(Fedlog) 1995. #2) Tan Phu, Special Forces Team A-23 In Combat, By Leigh Wade #3) Military Communications: A Test For Technology, The U.S Army in Vietnam, by John D. Bergen, CMH Pub 91-12 #4) Military Radio Data, Vol. I, PRC Designated Radio Equipment, by Dennis Starks #5) Military Collector Group Post, Nov.25/97: The SSTR-1; From the Horses Mouth Part II, Reflections Concerning The SSTR-1, By Dean Cortright #6) Military Collector Group Post, Nov.26/97: The SSTR-1; From the Horses Mouth Part III, Further Reflections Concerning The SSTR-1, By Dean Cortright with editorial comments by Dennis Starks #7) Military Collector Group Post, Backmail #29: AN Type Numbers Versas RT Type Numbers, & Some URC Questions, by Dennis Starks #8) CIA Special Weapons & Equipment, by H. Keith Melton. #9) Time Runs Out in CBI, by Romanus & Sunderland, CMH Pub 9-3 #10) The War Report of the OSS, by Kermit Roosevelt #11) Vietnam, A History, The First Complete Account, by Stanely Karnow #12) Military Collector Group Post, Dec.1/97, GRC-109/RS-1; What,Why,When,Where, Part III, History? by Pete McCollum #13) The Secret Story of the OSS, author I forget. ************************************************************** TCS Antenna Discussion; >I have been thinking about the short TCS discussion that we had a few >weeks ago and a big question comes up. No one has ever discussed the >antennas that were used with the TCS. Strangely, the manuals only >mention the "20 foot whip" and don't show any details of the antenna, >feed line lengths, etc. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I think these must have been detailed in the installation manuals. I've been waiting for one on a Jeep from Sheldon Wheaton for a couple months now, it may tell the story. >Even more interesting is the lack of data for fixed installations. >Did they use some kind of vertical? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The TCS was definitely designed to load a low impedance, not above 35ohms. This would pretty much restrict it to a short antenna, usually vertical. & is also the reason the external load coil was only used on the lower freqs. A long wire? A dipole? How did they feed these? ------------------------------------------------------------------------- diffenatly none of these, it will not properly load into a dipole without a 4/1 transformer or high value air variable in series with the antenna. Coax was available then, & I think for runs more than a couple feet it was used. >What did they use on the larger ships? ----------------------------------------------------------- The TCS was almost always mounted on the bridge, or close to a weather deck, for larger ships, that's what the control head was for, put the radio where you want, then the control head were it's needed, exactly as it was done in my day, & is in evidence by the TCS control heads still in use on URC-9's in the early 80's. It's most common shipboard duty(though not restricted to) was intra ship coms, used the same way as the old HF/AM marine short range radios used in 40,50,60's & replaced by VHF in the early 70's. All these types were mounted on the bridge, tuned a short whip pretty much right out of the radio. Even the late model ones that looked like a CB did this. There seems to have been no provision for coax output. Did they just run a wire all the way to the outside of the ship and up the mast? -------------------------------------------------------------------- see above, I think coax was used, & in some variants of the TCS they might have either been supplied with that capability, or a field change was avail(like the noise limiter). Even at that, many WW-II & later types designed for use with a whip, or external antennas, did not have coax connectors, they had an external terminal box, see BC-1000, 620, 659, 1306, GRC-9, GRR-5, PRC-47, PRC-74 etc. Even though many radios were meant to be used with coax, binding post for antenna connections were retained, this for the same reason that binding post were also present for headphone etc on some equipment. Because combat conditions might not allow for expedient connections in the event connectors/feeds are damaged. Can you envision a TCS on the bridge, taking fire, the antenna wire cut, & if you can find an ET he comes up with his soldering iron to fix it. Believe me, you can't get an ET when your not being fired on! But any dummy can strip back some wires & stick it in some binding post. This was the total design of the TCS from the beginning, you could fix the thing while being shot at. Variants of the TBX have both binding post, & connectors for all external equipment except the power supply, this includes headphone, mike, CW key, antenna etc. In short, lack of a coax connector does not at all mean that a set was not to be operable with coax, or that it wasn't. >Considering the detail that most manuals (at least the Army ones) go >into about antennas, it is strange that the Navy manuals are so quiet >on the subject. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I think we are fortunate to have the detail that we do. Navy manuals in large part were written by the contractor, Army manuals(except for the preliminary s) were written by the Signal Corps. Collins is notorious for busting up their manuals into volumes, one for each part of a system. Do you suppose there are people in the group that >actually used the on board ship and know the answers? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- All those that have had personal/military experience with the set have already contributed their knowledge, in all those cases, the TCS was mounted, or used as outlined above. >What do use for an antenna on yours? ---------------------------------------------------- I alternately use a 20ft whip made from a CB 5/8 wave ground plain with the base coil jumped & the ground radials removed, can be fed with a single wire or coax. The ant is bolted to the side of the house, I also use it with my PRC-47, & others meant to directly load a whip. I also use a dipole with a large variable capacitor in series, but a 4/1, or 2/1 transformer would be much better. Rule of thumb, the TCS will directly load up any vertical that approaches 1/4 wave at the highest freq you intend to use. Only bad thing here is, a vertical is a long range antenna as it applies to ham use, it will jump right over the top of stations less than 200 miles away. How do you feed it? ----------------------------------- any way you want within the guide lines of the above >thing that I have used is an 18 foot whip with a 2 foot wire to feed >it. That is my portable demonstration setup and it works fine with a >ground stake or some radials but that is not practical for the house. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The length of the vertical does not need be 20ft, this figure is only used because it is the longest that can me used on a vehicle, or self supporting aboard ship, & because it becomes resonant at the highest freq the TCS can operate at(12mc=19.5ft). Use any length you want, provided it is not longer than the HIGHEST freq you wish to op at, I/E (10mc=23.4ft), (7.2mc=32.5ft) etc. I know your limited as to what your wife will let you use in the living room. Personally, I'd get rid of er. But an alternate suggestion, just drill an 1/8" hole in the wall behind the radio, run a #12 insulated, solid copper wire threw it, up the wall into the attic & dispense as needed. Lenox Carruth, email: carruth@swbell.net ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dennis Starks; MILITARY RADIO COLLECTOR/HISTORIAN military-radio-guy@juno.com ************************************************************** BOOKS AVAIL; The following books are duplicates that I have collected over many years of reading about World War II. All prices include book-rate shipping anywhere in the US where the ordinary rate applies. Overseas orders must include sufficient postage. I will hold books for ten days if you E-Mail me with a request. All books are used, may have inscriptions and may have torn or missing dust jackets but are in good or better condition. $3.00 discount on three or more books. Bliven, Bruce, Jr., "From Pearl Harbor to Okinawa: The War in the Pacific: 1941-1945," 1960. Easy to read overview of Pacific war. $8.00 Boyington, "Pappy," "Baa Baa Black Sheep," 1958. True story of the famous Black Sheep squadron. $8.00 Bradley, Omar N., "A Soldier's Story," 1951. Personal story of America's best loved General. $8.00 Brinkley, William, "Don't Go Near the Water," 1956. Famous funny novel of WW-II navy life. $8.00 Churchill, Winston S., "The Gathering Storm," 1948. First book in the acclaimed series of six by the Allied leader who was closest to the action. $8.00 Churchill, Winston S., "Their Finest Hour," 1949. WW-II straight from the horse's mouth. Second book in the 6-book series. $8.00 Churchill, Winston S., "The Grand Alliance," 1950. Third book in the series. $8.00 Churchill, Winston S., "Closing the Ring," 1951. Fifth book in the series $8.00 Deighton, Len, "Bomber," 1970. Interesting novel about a bombing mission. $8.00 Eisenhower, Dwight D., "Crusade in Europe," 1948. The European war from the view of the Supreme Commander Allied Expeditionary Forces. $8.00 Freeman, Roger A., "The Mighty Eighth, A History of the U.S. 8th Army Air Force," 1978. Definitive work on the 8th Air Force. Long out of print $35.00 "Life Picture History of World War Two" Large, excellent book. $25.00 Manchester, William, "American Caesar," 1978. Definitive biography of MacArthur. $10.00 Mee, Jr., Charles L., "Meeting at Potsdam," 1975. Behind-the-scenes story of the meeting of Truman, Churchill and Stalin that hammered out the plan for post war Europe. This was the meeting where Truman was told about the first successful test of the atomic bomb. $8.00 Ryan, Cornelius, "A Bridge Too Far," 1974. Excellent story of Operation Market-Garden. $12.00 Shirer, William L., "The Rise and Fall of the third Reich," 1960. Famous definitive history of Nazi Germany. $10.00 TM 1-412, "Aircraft Propellers," 1941. Fair condition. $2.00 Wouk, Herman, "The Caine Mutiny," 1951. Famous novel about WW-II life aboard ship. $8.00 Training manuals from the WW-II Civilian Pilot Training Program: "Civil Pilot Training Manual," September 1941 One of the series of wartime books written for the Civilian Pilot Training Program which used civilian instructors to train pilots for the military. Theory of flight, aircraft instruments, maneuvers, etc. $6.00 "Digest of Civil Air Regulations for Pilots," August 1941 Regulations as of 1941. Illustrated and with maps. Interesting bit of history. $3.00 "Meteorology for Pilots," September 1940 Everything you ever wanted to know about weather. Illustrated and with maps. $5.00 "Practical Air Navigation," September 1940. Describes Instruments, Radio Navigation, Celestial Navigation, etc. Illustrated and with maps. Interesting. $6.00 Lenox Carruth, Jr. carruth@swbell.net Dallas, Texas Collector of WW-II Communications Equipment and Memorabilia Wanted: TCS-14 Transmitter, TBX, BD-71, Sextant ************************************************************* HUMOR; The following are actual excerpts from classified sections of city newspapers. Illiterate? Write today for free help. Auto Repair Service. Free pick-up and delivery. Try us once, you'll never go anywhere again. Our experienced Mom will care for your child. Fenced yard, meals, and smacks included. Dog for sale: eats anything and is fond of children. Man wanted to work in dynamite factory. Must be willing to travel. Stock up and save. Limit: one. Semi-Annual after-Christmas Sale. 3-year old teacher needed for pre-school. Experience preferred. Mixing bowl set designed to please a cook with round bottom for efficient beating. Girl wanted to assist magician in cutting-off-head illusion. Blue Cross and salary. 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