MILITARY COLLECTOR GROUP POST, Aug. 20/98 Index: BC-620, -659 OVERVIEW; Ed Guzick MEMBERS WRITE; More "Unusual Estate Sale, More "Military Inverter Supplies for the PRC-10" Plus, Finally, Something From Mark Gluch, HUMOR; *********************************************** BC-620, -659 OVERVIEW; Ed Guzick Dennis, I wrote this for an individual but maybe it could be put in a post? It would certainly give you something to pick apart!?! HI Awaiting your comments. Ed A not too detailed overview of the BC-620/BC-659 It is usually difficult separating the real story from the printed history, which is true of the WWII FM vehicular radios. Being close to some of the participants and reading between the lines I can not say with certainty as to how I would write this history (as if anyone would care). I spoke to one of the few technical survivors of this era and was told, "I can't remember!" I understand his comment as I certainly can not recall any events in detail from 50 plus years ago. In reviewing the information on hand, it appears that Dr. Daniel Noble (1902-1980), a professor of electrical engineering at the University of Connecticut, using Armstrong's FM patents, designed and began testing FM mobile communication's for the Connecticut State Police in Hartford during October 1939. Built by the Link Radio Corp., New York City. The results -complete two way coverage over 25 miles of hilly terrain- were beyond expectations. In 1940, Connecticut contracted with Link to supply equipment that would cover the entire state. The Hartford system demonstrated just before WWII that FM communications were possible; Link designed and produced many of these pioneering units. During the test, officers and engineers from the United States Army Signal Corps, Fort Monmouth, N.J., journeyed to Hartford to inspect the Link equipment. Present were the men of the driving force behind the use of FM mobile radios by the U.S. Army ground and air forces and the Marine Corps. Link sets became standardized in 1941 as the SCR-293, transmitter receiver and SCR-294, receiver only. They were the first FM sets used in combat and the first in North Africa. Interestingly, they were experimental and never intended for the field. Due to the exigency of the times, they were placed into production. The Galvin Manufacturing Corporation (Motorola) began operation in 1928 with the purchase of the bankrupt Stewart Storage Battery Company in Chicago. By 1936 they announced an AM mobile Police Cruiser receiver and in 1937 produced Station transmitting equipment for the police communications market. By 1939 Galvin Manufacturing introduced its first two-way radio, the T69-20 mobile transmitter and companion Police Cruiser mobile receiver. It was an AM set designed for the FCC-assigned police channels 30.5 to 39.0 megacycles. In June 1940, Nobel -by then a leading authority on frequency modulation- was persuaded to spend a six month sabbatical at Galvin Manufacturing to assist in the design of a line of commercial FM two-way products. The company established a communications department, and Noble remained with the company as director of research. In 1940, Galvin Manufacturing developed the first AM hand-held two-way radio Handie-Talkie. The initial order of Handie-Talkie radios was for 3,500 units. By 1945 the company built 137,031 (an additional 4,500 subcontracted to Electrical Research Laboratories). In 1942, four manufactures attempt to design a radio to meet the Signal Corps specifications for a high-frequency portable radio: Hazeltine, Wilcox-Gay (using AM), Philco and Galvin (using FM). Dan Noble's design of a portable FM two-way radio, the 35 pound SCR-300 backpack, wins for Galvin Manufacturing, inheriting the name "Walkie-Talkie", and replacing an older Signal Corp radio (SCR-195?). The company manufactured 46,911 and Philco produced an additional 8,000 under subcontract. Developed by the Signal Corps Laboratories and built by Galvin Manufacturing in 1942 are other FM communication products. The SCR-509, 510 (BC-620) and the SCR-609, 610 (BC-659). The company built 34,127 SCR-509/510 series, and subcontractor Continental Radio and Television (later known as Admiral) produces 7,710. The company builds 62,496 SCR-609/610 series while subcontractors Continental Radio and Television and Belmont Radio Corporation produce an additional 13,899. The SCR-609 was tested in January 1942 but production did not reach the field until 1943. I could find no dates for the SCR-509, however the beginnings of both go back to 1940 and the Signal Corps Laboratories with the SCR-509 being slightly older of the two. It is entirely possible that both the "500" and "600" series were designed and built concurrently or nearly so. The first demonstration of FM before an all military audience was 16 NOV 1939 of a LINK police transmitter and receiver. At this point I would ask what ever happened to Link Radio Corp? From: Motorola during World War II, IEEE Spectrum Sept. 1987, The Signal Corps: The Emergency, TM 11-615, TM 11-605 WWII Vehicular FM transceivers In atypical retrospect, it is difficult for me to understand today why two nearly identical transceivers were built. In size and weight they are identical with only a built in front speaker on the BC-659 being the obvious physical difference. Initially, the SCR-509/510 was developed for Armored units while the SCR-609/610 was tailored for the Field Artillery. Obviously both found their way into other applications but are undoubtedly most identified with the WWII jeep. The number of crystals and availability was certainly a most significant part of this decision. The receiver is superhetrodyne crystal controlled and operates on two channels using internal crystals. The transmitter has an output of 1.3 watts and is VFO in operation but held on frequency by the receiver, which detects the signal -in the discriminator- and corrects for oscillator drift. On the front panel are a meter, phone and mic jacks, and three controls, on/off volume, channel A/B and a meter control switch. Only the volume and channel select are operator functions. The control switch, is used with the meter to measure B+, filament voltages and is used when tuning the final. Component breakdown SCR-509 ground transportable SCR-510 vehicular BC-620 20.0 - 27.9 mc transceiver CS-79 dry battery case PE-97 power supply, 6/12 VDC input AN-45 antenna w/threaded mtg hole FT-250 mount FT-317 mount Channels 80 @ 100 kc spacing SCR-609 ground transportable SCR-610 vehicular BC-659 27.0 - 38.9 mc transceiver CS-79 dry battery case PE-120 power supply, 6/12/24 VDC input PE-117 power supply, 6/12 VDC input AN-29 antenna w/threaded stud FT-250 mount FT-317 mount Channels 120 @ 100 kc spacing The frequency range and number of crystals are the major difference between the 500 and 600 series. The ground transportable (luggie-talkie ?) included the battery case CS-79 which is the same size as the power supply. The three components could clip together on the mount. All of the power supplies are interchangeable. The FT-250 is a shock mount for the transceiver and power supply which clip together using the built in spring clips. The FT-317 was used for individual mounting of each component part. The TS-13 handset, HS-30 headset and T-17 microphone were included with each set. Note that the antennas had different mounting arrangements preventing the antennas from being switched. Although I don't think the slight difference in length would make an appreciable difference in operation. There are other less known parts to these systems but are not included here as they are not necessary to the basic description. A complete article would of necessity be so long that it would become boring. However, this story can certainly be elaborated upon and I'm hopeful someone out there will do just that. Repair and restoration is relatively easy. I have worked on three units and the difficult part was rebuilding the dried cracking cable. The capacitors are few and well made. I found no obvious defects. Alignment requires no special equipment as everything needed is built in. Several power resistors in the supply were replaced as the leads corroded at the resistor body. The frequency is partially on the present day 11 meter band. I'm not up to date but I understand FM operation is now allowed. Ed Guzick ed) I too hate to write such a dissertation for the benefit of one person, and I thank you for sharing it with us. In general, your account is very good having only a couple discrepancies. The Stewart Storage Battery Company purchased by Galvin in 1928 had been engaged in the production of battery eliminators for portable radios. The first AM radios produced by Galvin circa 1930 were not police radios. They were standard broadcast band types built for the automobile market. The name "Motorola" was coined from the combination of the two words Motion and Radio at this same time. Their "Police Cruiser" marked the companies entry into this market. It was a standard BC receiver fix tuned to a single frequency, circa 1936. In regard to Dan Noble, I hesitate to refer to a person as a Pioneer who is simply finding practical applications for another persons designs, ala Major Armstrong. His real claim to fame would come years later with his uncanny ability to miniaturize radio equipment using state of the art components, and later with some of the first solid state designs. The initial order of 3500 BC-611's from Galvin were never received. This order was diverted to the Dutch East Indies. The original SCR-300 submitted by Galvin for Signal Corps testing was not FM. In was originally AM, and was re-designed for FM at the Signal Corps insistence. It is not known exactly what happened to the Link Radio company, but they did survive until around 1950. Fred Link was still around until early this month when he died at the age of 98. He had remained very active in radio attending historic radio club meetings up until the very end. I wish I had not procrastinated in contacting him with my hundreds of questions, maybe there's a lesson in that for us all. *********************************************** MEMBERS WRITE; More "Unusual Estate Sale, Dennis, I was the one who posted the message about the estate sale in Springfield, Ohio, which somebody cross-posted on this list. Just want to tell people that the really choice things are long gone. So it's worth a visit if you are local, but probably not if you need to drive a lot to get there. Anybody from out of town who is thinking about going can email me directly at if they want more info. Regards, Bill Strangfeld ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- More "Military Inverter Supplies for the PRC-10" Plus, Dennis, Mark, and the group: I have two of the DY-27B inverters and they seem to be very efficent, 8 D cells last for a long, long time when I use it. The last time I visited www.loadup.com I noticed that they were selling unchecked er79a's with the DY-27B and full compliment of accesories for $65. Checked units were $100 (that's what I have now). I'm wondering how much the radios Mark speaks of cost? Here's another semi-related question: Could I use two PP-2684/GRC-109 power supplies with their outputs combined for more current, and a PE-104A (Vibrator for the WWII era SCR-284) to power a GRC-9? How about using the DY-27B (and additional D-cells in parallel) to power the receive section only? Fair says that the PP-2684/GRC-109 outputs 450 vdc@100 ma and 6 vdc@ 1.2, compared to the GN-58 (for the GRC-9) which provides 425 vdc@115ma and 6 vdc@2.5A. The PE-104A would need to be able to provide 105 vdc@32ma and 1.4 vdc@1.4A. Sean T. Kelly, sean_k@hotmail.com ed) your power supply/alternate use is impractical, unnecessary, and in one application, dangerous. If you can't find the proper supply, it's too easy to build one, or modify some pre-existing, non-collectable supply to suite your needs. Many articles have been posted here on the subject are available via our backmail files. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, Something From Mark Gluch, Dennis: I will send you a schematic I did for the SEM-52 mic adapter/150 Hz generator project. So far so good, the rig still works and I've had it about a year and a half. Perhaps we can arrange a "group" purchase of 10 or 20 crystals and get a price break. Easiest thing is to use the 55.5 board and modify it. My experiments with making a new crystal board showed it is a real pain, it is tough to reliably get the "pins" on the board properly alighned to contact the 'fingers' on the radio. I have values for a divider network to tune to 52.525, and a formula to calculate for other freqs. I did pick up a new monitor, and should get back on AOL in the next couple of days. Time has been tight- a bad coincidence of things at home and work. Oh well. TRW is talking about 7500 layoffs, maybe I'll have all sorts of time in the near future..... Mark ed) I'd love to organize some sort of group purchase for xtals. But I've never heard of a company willing to make such concessions, any ideas? *********************************************** HUMOR; What do you get when you cross Ted Kaszyinski with Monica Lewinsky?............... ..................A dynamite blow job! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What do Monica Lewinsky and a vending machine have in common? They both have slots that say, "INSERT BILL HERE." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Have you heard about the Clinton PC? It has a 6 in. hard drive and no memory! 2. Bill heard it was Monica's 25th birthday from one of his aides. His response, already? I remember when she was crawling around under my desk... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Summer Camps you don't want to send your kids to Tommy Lee's...............Camp Kickachick Monica Lewinsky's.......Camp Suckaweewee President Clinton's.......Camp Getahoochie Ellen DeGeneres's.......Camp Lickacoochie Kenneth Star's.............Camp Catchacrook O.J. Simpson's............Camp Killachick Lorena Bobbit's............Camp Cutaweewee Tonya Harding's...........Camp Clubaknee Susan Smith's.............Camp Blameabrotha Pamela Lee's..............Camp Lottatatas Michael Jackson's.......Camp Wannabewhitey Louis Farakahn's.........Camp Killawhitey ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- First, Dole went to see the Wizard of Oz and said, "Everyone says I have no compassion or feelings, I wish to have a Heart." So the Wiz said,"So be it." Second was Ted Kennedy. He said to the Wizard, "People think I'm unintelligent and have no common sense what so ever. I wish to have a Brain." The Wiz said, "So be it." Third was Ross Perot. "People say I have no confidence and I lack conviction. I wish to have some Courage." The Wiz said, "So be it." And then Bill Clinton approached the Wizard. The Wizard looked at him, and said, "Well, what do you want?" To which Clinton replied, "I'm here for Dorothy!" --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. The reason it's always so difficult for this president to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth is because it's usually three different stories.....Sam Donaldson. 2. If the president could convince every women in America that the Bible says oral sex is not adultery he'd even have my votes....Newt Gingrich 3. What's wrong with extending my probe? The president did the same thing...Kenneth Starr 4. The special prosecutor is asking me to give oral testimony to the entire Grand Jury...Monica Lewinsky 5. Shouldn't the president be held to the same standard as a TV Sportcaster....Marv Albert 6. The president should promise to spend the rest of his life trying to find the real person who had oral sex with the intern...OJ Simpson 7. If I had to spend all day trying to find job for every bimbo who swore she didn't have sex with the president, I'd never get any of my own work done....Vernon Jordan 8. Practicing safe sex in the Clinton White House means making sure the door is locked....George Stephanopoulos 9. The FBI reports less crime in the U.S. for the sixth straight year, "It is no wonder"said one observer." All of Clinton's business associates are either dead or in prison already." 10. One thing's for sure about Clinton... he sure doesn't neglect domestic affairs!!! 11. Is it true that, they are changing the name of the Virgin Islands, since Clinton's been there? 12. They should call the Clinton's White House the "New Left." I mean, they're so far from being right about anything. "Top Clinton Defenses:" 13. Excuse me "Your Honor," but she was on top! 14. I didn't want people to confuse me with the Pope on TV. 15. She's not THAT young. In Arkansas, the age of consent is only 16. 16. Hey, at least she's prettier than Paula Jones or Jennifer Flowers. 17. I had to show the American People that I wasn't impotent for my second term in office. 18. I was jealous of Nixon with his "tricky Dick" nickname. 19. See, I am not a lame duck. She said I was pretty good. 20. And for those of you who remember the famous "I didn't inhale" comes the now soon to be famous #1 "I didn't insert...." "Top Ten Names Clinton has for his you-know-what..." 21. The White House staff. 22. His tiny advisor 23. The Nuclear Button 24. The Executive Branch 25. The Little POLLSTER 26. His Soft contribution 27. His pocket Veto 28. The Secret Servicer 29. The President Caucus 30. Little Rock "Department of "In-Justice One Liners" 31. Clinton is the First Commander-in-Chief who never served in the military. 32. Don't overtax yourself. That's Bill Clinton's job. 33. Clinton of Borg. Truth is irrelevant. 34. INDECENT PROPOSAL: Clinton's budget. 35. Morals for sale, never used. Contact Bill Clinton at the White House. 36. NEWS!! Clinton wins on budget, but more lies ahead. 37. "I didn't insert...." *********************************************** (The preceding was a product of the"Military Collector Group Post", an international email magazine dedicated to the preservation of history and the equipment that made it. Unlimited circulation of this material is authorized so long as the proper credits to the original authors, and publisher or this group are included. For more information conserning this group contact Dennis Starks at, military-radio-guy@juno.com) ***********************************************