MILITARY COLLECTOR GROUP POST, JAN.13/98 INDEX: MYSTERY RADIO; GRR-5, by Dennis Starks MEMBER PROFILE; Randy Zelick Bob W9RAN Wants; HUMOR; ********************************************* MYSTERY RADIO; GRR-5 by Dennis Starks FOREWORD, The GRR-5 is not at all an uncommon radio, in fact, it is probably the most common, and affordable military receiver out there. I think you probably have all at least seen one in your travels, if you don't indeed own one. If you don't own one, contrary to what you might read here, I highly recommend that you should. What you may not be aware of is what this fine, but simple, receiver was actually meant to be used for, or how it was eventually used in the field. Not all that glamorous, but it did a fine job none the less. The GRR-5 is one of three radio's I'm most often asked about by Vietnam Vet's when I'm on tour, "do you have a PRC-25/77, Angry 9, Angry 5?". Often these vet's not being technically inclined, just remember the set being used. Most that asked, wanted to find one for old time sake. On each occasion I'd ask "what did you use it for?". In the case of the GRR-5 the answers were unanimous, "we used it to listen to AFRTS". But that's not what it was originally intended for, nor was it provided to the troops so that they could be entertained! GENERAL, Starting in approximately 1951, they were built by the thousands, just a few of the manufactures involved were Motorola, Zenith, Emerson, Arvin, and so on, with an original cost of $835.78. Not cheep, even by today's standards, but if compared to it's contemporaries, was quite a bargain, R-388 ($1307.00), R-390 ($2,210.00). (Ref.#1) The quantities built, and the unit cost, further do not support the idea they were meant for troop entertainment purposes, as these types are generally pretty rare, and cheep in comparison. Also they were not built to the front line/tactical heavy duty specs as the GRR-5 was. The R-174, The major component of the GRR-5 is of course it's receiver, the R-174. The circuits it uses are classic designs who's lineage can be very easily seen in the BC-1306, and GRC-9 which are both nearly identical right down to the tube line up, and chassis construction. It tunes from 1.5-18mc in four bands, has controls for RF, & AF gains, BFO. A mode switch selects between Phone, CW, NET, and CAL. (built in 200kc xtal calibrator), and an antenna trimmer. The set has a dual speed tuning control with provisions for nine preset frequencies (a very precarious procedure). Dual antenna options are included that allow the use of a cabinet mounted whip antenna composed of standard AB or MS mast sections, or any wire type antenna via binding post. The performance of the receiver is excellent in some areas, lacking in others. AM reception is very good, aided by a very stable master oscillator. The stability in fact is quite good, even for SSB, & TTY. However in the latter modes, the set is afflicted by anemic BFO injection thus the operator must constantly ride the RF gain control. In the case of strong CW or SSB signals, you can't copy them at all. This same affliction can be seen also in it's cousins, the BC-1306, & GRC-9. Fear not, this is very easily fixed. Dial resolution is fair, as are tracking, and backlash. The biggest problem is setting the dial. Though the set has a built in 200kc xtal calibrator, there is no way to set the dial without removing the receiver from it's cabinet, and adjusting the master oscillator, another precarious operation, and fruitless as will be seen! The calibrator can best be used for either setting the channel presets(which do not really work that well) or aligning the complete receiver. Problems is, once done, and all is excellent, when the receiver placed back in it's cabinet, everything changes drastically. Even though the shielding is very good. Many hours have been spent trying to cure this ailment but to no avail. The inadequate BFO injection is very easily fixed. I spent a great deal of time trying to figure out how to up the output of the BFO. I changed coupling capacitors, did all kindsa stuff, but couldn't fix it. Then it hit me, just inject the BFO signal where there is less signal to beat with. As is, the BFO signal is injected at pin 6 of the second IF amplifier, I simply moved it to pin 6 of the first IF amp. All is perfect now. There are many other mods for this receiver, but unless you got one that's trashed already, I don't recommend them. The PP-308, Probably the biggest mystery now is the GRR-5's power supply. It's horribly over-complicated and heavy! The PP-308 provides the receiver's primary operating voltages of 1.5vdc(heaters), & 90-105vdc(B+), from a multitude of external sources including 6/12/24vdc, 110vac, or switches out for use with multi cell dry batteries. It also housing the set's loud speaker. The mystery is, why so heavy? Why did the sets vibrators still need be running even when operating from 110vac? Why the change over relay, the likes of which no one has ever seen? This designer had to be way ahead of his time, being all doped up hallucinogens long before it was popular! Clearly 2/3rds of this radio set's $800.00 cost is in this power supply, and it's highly specialized components. The QUESTIONS, Fledgling owners of a GRR-5 all have similar questions. What transmitter was used with it? What was it mounted in? How was it used? In order: There was no matting transmitter, though it is obvious with a casual inspection of the radio, it's entrails, and manual, the GRR-5 could be used with a transmitter. It has front end overload protection, though primitive, a "NET" facility on the front panel, and provisions for remote muting of the receiver. None the less, it was never intended as a full blown communications receiver. Possibly these features were included so the set could be used as a backup. But who knows? The manual does state that "Radio Receiving Set AN/GRR-5 may be used alone as a conventional radio receiving set, or with an appropriate A-M transmitter in a particular communications system", but this was never done however attractive it may have been. (ref.#3) What was it mounted in? Just about everything! The short/true version, every place that there was an existing HF radio set(usually referred to aw the "The Good Radio"). The long/in theory version, alone or with a GRC-19 as part of Air Warning Nets, or Air Request Nets, in Armored Personnel Carriers, M-38A1's(later M-151's), M-37's(later M-715's), 6x6 trucks. Or in the same vehicles, alone or combined with a GRC-9 in Armored Division Aviation Company's. With a VRQ-1 in jeeps of Military Police Company's. Combined with the GRC-3, GRC-19, & ARC-27's in Tac-Air director units. Just about any type vehicle, with just about any other type radio set, dependant on the mission of the unit in question. (ref.#2) How was it used? Officially, the GRR-5 was intended to replace the SCR-593/BC-728 of WW-II fame in air early warning nets. This is the reason for it's channelized nature(the presets). It's ironic that this monster was meant to replace a quite small shoulder carried set, seems like reverse evolution. None the less, that's what it was meant for, what it was used for is a completely different story. Those installations listed above were for the most part, in theory, or at least in the early days, and reflect this Air Early Warning Net capacity. The Vet's are unanimous in their testimony of their use of the GRR-5, "to listen to AFRTS', but the radio was clearly not intended for troop entertainment. This is what it was used for, but they were not installed for this reason. Remember, the GRR-5 was installed in every location that there was a pre-existing HF radio set, regardless of that existing set's size, purpose, or deployment, but not with VHF/FM sets. This was for one reason alone, "so the grunt's would keep their hands off (the GOOD SET)!" I/E the GRR-5's primary mission was as a pacifier, it's use as a backup receiver was only a bonus to it's being there. The squelch controls present on the GRC-19, & GRC-106 made them perfectly suited for long term monitoring of emergency net's, the GRR-5 had no such provision. This from Ref.#4, "it was found that the individual solders's inability to keep his hands off a station's primary receiver rendered many control nets inoperable", this is also confirmed by several eye witness account's which also state that the GRR-5 was installed to cure this problem. The next radio to be featured as a Mystery Radio, will be the BC-745/SCR-511 (Pogo Stick). The Mystery? What happened to them? So get busy sending in your tidbits of info. Runners up for Mystery Radio's are the TRC-7,10, GRC-13,14, BC-728/SCR-593. Dennis Starks; MILITARY RADIO COLLECTOR/HISTORIAN military-radio-guy@juno.com Referances, #1, TM11-487, 1958 #2, FM17-70, 1957, Signal Communications in the Armored Division. #3, TM11-295, Aug.1952, Radio Receiving Set AN/GRR-5 #4, Military Communications,A Test For Technology,The U.S.Army in Vietnam,HB,by John D.Bergen,CMH Pub 91-12,1986. ********************************************* MEMBER PROFILE; Randy Zelick Hi Dennis, Here is my bio for the mil collectors group: Well it all started when my dad gave me an old radio to take apart. Pretty common opener, I'm sure. Pretty soon everyone in the neighborhood knew to give me old TVs and even a few times getting knocked on my butt while pulling the HV ps out of a TV with burnt bleeder resistors did not dissuade me. At the same time we had this old console radio/phono with some shortwave bands on it and I spent lots of time listening to swbc. Very cool when I was 10 and so it is still! All of this was starting around 1960 or so. By the mid-60s I had layed my hands on some piece of WWII surplus electronics, probably from a neighbor who served in the war and had accumulated something in the garage, now deemed junk. I was very impressed and suddenly had to have more of this stuff. What clicked here was a convergence of three things. First, I had and still have an intrinsic love of mechanisms and trying to understand how they work. Second was my intrigue with the magic of receiving radio signals from far away (more to say about this later). Third is my insatiable need for quality. I'm the sort of person who goes into, say, a furniture store and even though I know nothing of furniture will very quickly find myself choosing the most expensive piece. Not the faciest, mind you, but my nose will ferret-out the best built anything with lightening speed. This virtue (or otherwise depending...) tends to go hand in hand with being a bit of a pefectionist. I have to fight not to let this tendency run-away. Well my discovery of military radios led pretty soon to the further discovery of J.J. Glass electronics in LA. I lived in San Diego at the time, and I would beg my parents to take me there, a three hour trip each way. I would get dropped off and spend the entire day in the store while they visited relatives. I did not have any money, but just browsing was good enough. Kinda like going to the public library and flipping through books. You don't expect to leave the library having purchased anything! Finally in high school around 1968 I got sucked into ham radio by some classmates. We all were enamoured with the idea of building a giant repeater network, and so got tech licenses and started collecting cheap 2-way radios. The first stuff was built out of GE prog lines and RCA CMAs and if you were lucky, some Moto G-strip stuff. In my first car (1963 Dodge 440) I installed an 80D complete with dynamotor! The interest in military stuff was put on hold all the way through college and my first graduate program. By then I had enough money so that the Dodge had become a 1970 Ford Bronco and the 80D was replaced with a set of two Micors and a U71LHT motrac on 6 meters. Pretty high-powered for a 23 year old kid. I lived in Boston at the time and was quite a sensation motoring down the pike with 1/4 kw erp on high band. It was around this time that I scored a couple of UHF GE mastr pros, among the very last ones to be produced and in immaculate condition. There were two consequences of this otherwise simple good find. First was an appreciation of Mastr Pros - remember my infatuation with quality. I doubt if before or since has there been a better executed design, and I still have many Pro strips in my basement working just fine. The second was a trade deal that led to owning my first R-390. Another love-affair which will never end. Well I had to store the 390 and all the other stuff soon thereafter as I went to live in France for a while. I came back and started my next graduate program, this time at UCLA. The lab I found myself in did work studying the auditory system and was a mix of biology, computers, and electronic equipment. Nirvana! I should have mentioned that in addition to needing to understand how old TVs work I had spent the better part of my childhood extracting hapless invertebrates and the occasional fish from San Diego tidepools, and capturing equally annoyed snakes and lizards from the wonderful canyons around the city and beyond. So the combination of biology and electronics was perfect. I also happened to live a short bike ride away from Henry radio (after about a year they sadly moved farther) and Jun's too. But more importantly I was within striking distance of the TRW swap meet. Soon I had lots of old military boatanchors, which I would bring into the lab late at night and fix up. We had a pretty good *audio* test bench which I started to upgrade with RF sig gens, wattmeters, and the like. What worked out unbelievably well was that my thesis advisor was an extra-class DX chaser and could hardly complain! After a couple-year post-doc fellowship in biophysics at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography I landed the job I still have in Portland. And guess what... in my own lab I have a nice little audio test bench for fixing lab equipment and building simple speciality circuits and it is complete with a Bird wattmeter, FM10C service monitor, and all the other stuff essential for fixing the broken power switch on the centrifuge or frayed cored on the test-tube stirrer. Actually, almost all the current BA activity centers on trading this for that to play around with something for a while. Having two small kids and a fixer-upper house I have zero time for repairing radios, and I *always* underestimate the time and hassle of getting something running. Also, I cannot seem to get it straight that I am a professional biologist not in any way a competant electronic engineer! Nevertheless, whenever I go to scientific meetings, visit with relatives, in-laws, etc I find the surplus places and come back with yet another BC-221 in my luggage. The basement is pretty full, and if I could just get to building some more shelves or a proper test bench... but then there is another swap meet next weekend and.... well maybe when I retire in 25 years. So that is where I am at. I am sure quite a modest relative to some of you more serious military collectors out there, but still having a good time at it. Among the collection is the following: RBB, RBC receivers URC-35 FRR-59A (2.5 of them!) R390s and 390As (several of each) 51S-1 SRR-13A CV-591 CR-88 PRC-47 PRT-4 TV-2 TV-7 SEM-52 Plus lots of parts for R390s, many MS connectors, etc. Of these items, a spare RBC receiver, the URC-35, one of the FRR-59s and the TV-2 are in the "trade" category. Although just about anything I have could be traded for something wonderful. What do I want?? Here is what comes to mind at the moment -- 1. mic/speaker connectors or spare ear-mics for the SEM-52 so I can get that guy working. 2. Harris RF-550 or similar pretty-darn good receiver with isb, excellent audio, stability, freq readout and with a selection of detectors and bandwidths. 3. Probably like everyone, I am always short on 3-pin MS power connectors for SRR-13s, FRR-59s and R-1051 family. Should be a MS-3106-5S if I am not mistaken. 4. Always wanted a working VRC-10 or 18... or maybe a RT524A. That's about it for the moment. Later, Randy Zelick WB6MAI 1707 SW Coronado St. Portland, OR 97219 home phone 503-246-8164 R. Zelick Department of Organismal Biology Portland State University P.O. Box 751 Portland, OR 97207 503-725-3086 (voice), 503-725-3888 (fax) email: h2rz@odin.cc.pdx.edu web: http://odin.cc.pdx.edu/~h2rz/ ****************************************** Bob W9RAN Wants; Replacement rubber boot for BC-611 push-to-talk switch ranickel@mwci.net -------------------------------------------------------------- Ed) if you find some let use know! ****************************************** HUMOR; My Mistress A married couple was enjoying a dinner out when a statuesque brunette walked over to their table, exchanged warm greetings with the husband, and walked off. "Who was that?" the wife demanded. "If you must know," the husband replied, "that was my mistress." "Your mistress? That's it! I want a divorce!" the wife fumed. The husband looked her straight in the eye and said, "Are you sure you want to give up our big house in the suburbs, your Mercedes, your furs, your jewelry, and our vacation home in Mexico?" For a long time they continued dining in silence. Finally, the woman nudged her husband and said, "Isn't that Howard over there? Who's he with?" "That's HIS mistress," her husband replied. "Oh," she said, taking a bite of dessert. "Ours is much cuter." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 'THE TOP 16 BIBLICAL WAYS TO ACQUIRE A WIFE' Find an attractive prisoner of war, bring her home, shave her head, trim her nails, and give her new clothes. Then she's yours. -- Deuterononmy (Deuteronomy 21:11-13) Find a prostitute and marry her. -- Hosea (Hosea 1:1-3) Find a man with seven daughters, and impress him by watering his flock. -- Moses (Exodus 2:16-21) Purchase a piece of property, and get a woman as part of the deal. -- Boaz (Ruth 4:5-10) Go to a party and hide. When the women come out to dance, grab one and carry her off to be your wife. -- Benjaminites (Judges 21:19-25) Have God create a wife for you while you sleep. Note: this will cost you a rib. -- Adam (Genesis 2:19-24) Agree to work seven years in exchange for a woman's hand in marriage. Get tricked into marrying the wrong woman. Then work another seven years for the woman you wanted to marry in the first place. That's right. Fourteen years of toil for a woman. -- Jacob (Genesis 29:15-30) Cut off 200 foreskins of your future father-in-law's enemies and get his daughter for a wife. -- David (I Samuel 18:27) Even if no one is out there, just wander around a bit and you'll definitely find someone. (It's all relative of course.) -- Cain (Genesis 4:16-17) Become the emperor of a huge nation and hold a beauty contest. -- Xerxes or Ahasuerus (Esther 2:3-4) When you see someone you like, go home and tell your parents, "I have seen a ...woman; now get her for me." If your parents question your decision, simply say, "Get her for me. She's the one for me." -- Samson (Judges 14:1-3) Kill any husband and take HIS wife. (Prepare to lose four sons though). -- David (2 Samuel 11) Wait for your brother to die. Take his widow. (It's not just a good idea, it's the law). -- Onan and Boaz (Deuteronomy or Leviticus, example in Ruth) Don't be so picky. Make up for quality with quantity. -- Solomon (1 Kings 11:1-3) A wife?...NOT!!! -- Paul (1 Corinthians 7:32-35) Become sinless, and die in atonement for others, and you can marry a whole bunch of people. -- Jesus (Revelation 15) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- January 7 - Odes from the Bathroom Wall Some ordinary folks become great philosophers when they are sitting alone in the bathroom stalls of the world contemplating lifešs problems. Here are a few gems. Make love, not war. -Hell, do both: get married! Women's restroom, - The Filling Station. Bozeman, Montana I've decided that to raise my grades I must lower my standards. - Houghton Library, Harvard University. Cambridge, Massachusetts. It's hard to make a comeback when you haven't been anywhere. - Written in the dust on the back of a bus. Wickenburg, Arizona. If voting could really change things, it would be illegal. - Revolution Books. New York, New York. Don't trust anything that bleeds for 5 days and doesn't die. - Men's restroom, Murphy's, Champaign, IL A Woman's Rule of Thumb: If it has tires or testicles, you're going to have trouble with it. - Women's restore, Dick's Last Resort. Dallas, Texas. . No matter how good she looks, some other guy is sick and tired of putting up with her crap. - Men's Room, Linda's Bar and Grill., Chapel Hill, North Carolina. At the feast of ego, everyone leaves hungry. - Bentley's House of Coffee and Tea, Tucson, Arizona. If pro is opposite of con, then what is the opposite of progress? Congress! - Men's restroom, House of Representatives. Washington, D.C. ****************************************** EDITOR; Dennis Starks; MILITARY RADIO COLLECTOR/HISTORIAN military-radio-guy@juno.com --------- End forwarded message ----------