MILITARY
COLLECTOR GROUP POST, July 17/98
Index:
ANNOUNCEMENTS;
US MILITARY
PORTABLE RADIOS; Discussion
MEMBERS WRITE;
HUMOR;
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ANNOUNCEMENTS;
Well, Ike, and I are off to another
hamfest
this weekend, this one in Washington Mo.(just outside St. Louis).
We'll have a
radio set up on 51mc, and maybe another on 51.6.We'll also have
one up on
146.56, and If time allows before I leave in the morning(the
hamfest is Sunday)
I hope to also have an HF station ready for use, so also listen up
on 3885, or
elsewhere on the bands(KB0SFP, and WB0AAQ).
Last weekends PHD Hamfest in Kansas City
was a total bust for green radios, there wasn't even any black, or
haze gray
ones(and this the largest hamfest in Missouri, & Kansas! We
did have fun
though.
Dennis
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US MILITARY
PORTABLE RADIOS; Discussion
-Dennis,
Thank you for
your comments. I hope to hear from
others as well. I've changed the
write up to incorporate your major points and to make
other parts
clearer. As other info drifts in, I will
change again.
I do have to
correct one statement you made, however...The
RT-10,
RT-278/URC-10,
and RT-278A/URC-10 are all solid state units.
The following
is from TM
11-5820-640-15 which covers all three sets.
"Battery
power is provided via an external battery [ed) -16 Volts]
connected to the
radio set by a waterproof cable (RT-278/URC-10 and
RT-278A/URC-10)
or by an integral battery pack (ACR RT-10)." There were
two types of
integral packs described...one where the back cover (K308) had
to be removed and
tossed and a new cover put on in order to replace the
battery, and
another where just the battery (K308A) was tossed (this is the
type I have).
It also says
there are RT-10's in the field (Navy) that have a 1/4 wave
antenna, and
other units (Air Force) with 1/2 wave antennas. The manual goes
on to say there were some circuit changes that
differentiate the
RT-278 from the RT-278A and RT-10. There
is a schematic
for the RT-278,
and a second schematic for the RT-278A and RT-10 serial
numbers below
6773, and a third schematic for RT-278A and the RT-10 serial
6773 and up.
There's at least
two versions of the RT-10 out there that are not crystaled
on 243 MHz, The
PRC-93 version of the ACR RT-10 had the mechanical volume control,
and the
RT-20. It's a USMC set and labeled 'Code 1'.
The RT-20A was on
251.9 MHz, which is channel B of the training version of
the URC-64
(URC-64(T)), is the only frequency in the single frequency
training version
of the PRC-90 (which is called PRC-90(T), and is one of
the frequencies
in the two frequency version of the PRC-90(T), 236 MHz
being the
other. An Air Force Equipment Specialist
said it was for
training. I would guess he was right.
Alan
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I have several
URC-10s (demiled). They do use a
seperate battery like the
URC-4 but they
are all solid state. I have both the
RT-278 and RT-278A.
The radios look
identical to me, inside and out. The
sets I have were made
by Bendix Radio
and not ACR.
Were there
competing models for the URC-10?
I also have a
radio made by Chromalloy Electronics Division that is marked
ACR/RT-60B?
Ever heard of
Chromalloy? This is a dual band unit
that looks just like
the URC-10 the
battery slides on the back.
On the
PRC-68, I
have a prototype that was made by Motorola about 1968. It
is sort of
sythesised. It is a single channel
crystal controlled but all
the crystals are
included in the package. It uses a
crystal
oscillator/mixing
scheme to cut down on the number of crystals required to
cover the 30-76
MHz band. My radio is marked AN/PRC-68
Ser. No. 021,
Naval Electronic
Systems Command, Motorola Inc. Contract
No. N0024-67-C-1427. Do you have any
other information on the early development of the PRC-68.
Tom Bryan
ed) The variants
of the ACR family of radios are indeed mind boggling. It would
appear to me
that the Government model "URC-10" was a spin-off of the
manufacture's model number as it would not otherwise fit properly
into the
chronology of this type equipment, and this would not be the first
instance of
the practice. I stand corrected on the solid state nature of the
early
ACR-RT-10, however I do believe that the credit for the first
solid state
"SAR" radio should really go to the PRC-49(and it's several
versions,
another NAVY FIRST!) as I believe it pre-dates the ACR's.
Another candidate for Oddball SAR
radio is the
KEL Corp. ASR-100, it used a side folding chrome plated
telescoping antenna
(ala portable TV set), was all solid state , used the same
back-mounted battery
as the ACR's, was dual band, had a volume control, &
"squelch".
The first Squelch control I've ever seen on such a radio. The one
in my
collection apparently came from Airforce service in a bomber, and
It's last
inspection was in 1982.
Something that I'm at a total loss to
understand is this lack of the before mentioned squelch control on
all main
line radios of this type, even some of those intended for FAC
service on the
ground. It would seem to me, not even considering operator
comfort, that the
incorporation of a simple squelch circuit would have at least
increased battery
life.
Your experimental PRC-68 is the first
surviving example that I have heard of. I would think that the
PRC-68
designation would have been followed by either an (XC-#), or
(XE-#) suffix to
give us an indication of which generation experimental it was. I
wonder if it
resembles the pictures presented in FM24-24 1977, and the early
Jane's manuals
which are also in fact prototypes, though Magnovox was then noted
as the
supplier? I can tell you from experience that messing around with
experimentals
is only for the most masochistic of collectors!
Chromalloy Electronics Division is a new
one on me, and I would not be too concerned about your Bendix
marked URC-10.
They were most likely just a sub-contractor, or second source
supplier(as
required in most government contracts).
I recently read a
so-so article from Electric Radio about the URC-35(R-1051 family)
where the
author gave credit to Scientific Radio for the design of the set.
Credit of
course should have gone to General Dynamics. SI was simply a
sub-contracted
second source. The author's act was like giving Stewart Warner
credit for the
TCS vice Collins.
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Dennis,
Finally getting around to back email etc
after several weeks gone. The US
Mil Radio series
you posted was a nice piece of work, lots of neat bits of
info. A few
comments....
While looking for other stuff I found
something that maybe related to the
early WWII
vehicular sets. Its a picture of an SCR-284 mounted in a jeep.
The set is fore
and aft on the curbside with power coming from a
handcranked
generator in front of the passenger seat. The radio is clear
enough but its
impossible to see if the genny is permanently mounted or
just stuck in
front of the GI doing the cranking.
GRC-9s were the primary radio for the
Marines during the Lebanon
expedition back
in '56 or '58. I had a conversation with one of the ex
radio ops who
served during that time.
Those little
PRT4/PRT9 sets got
cannibalized back in the early '80s as the
radios on an
early RPV comm relay used in some interesting places, mostly
sand covered. A
friend gave me a new test/channel set up box for the sets
which was passed
on to list member Jay Coward. So..if you ever turn up what
appears to be a
model plane on steroids with PRR/PRTs in it you'll know
where it came
from.
I'm still looking for past notes to find
which of the bailout radios we
used to build
some "primary initial termination devices", low backscatter
beacons to call
the helo when the bad guys are coming. The model we gutted
was Navy with
121.5 and 243Mc beacon tone and voice comm. I think the other
source was
AN/URT-33A junkers. This will show up as a small folding yagi
with the
electronics in the 'boom'
Do you use the
2259 ant? Believe that I
still have a set of related
Collins ap notes.
If y'all want a copy let me know, will find them.
Ed Zeranski This is a private opinion or statement.
home email: ezeran@cris.com
ed) The
SCR-284/Jeep/Hand-crank gen is a real puzzler, and first I've ever
heard of
such a practice. It sounds more to me like some sort of field
expedient devised
by some crafty radioman to operate a field radio while mobile
without having
the proper installation equipment. One of even more grandiose
scale, during the
exodus of allied troops from Burma during the early days of WW-II,
SCR-299's(BC-610) were mounted in JEEPS!
The GRC-9/Marines/Lebanon tale is one I'd
like very much to learn more about. Get the ex-radio-operator, tie
him in a
chair, and get the hole story!!
I don't even know what a "2259
ant" is. Field Portable repeaters are an interesting subject for
which
very little is known. Jim Karlow has some sort of set also
composed of
PRT-4/PRR-9 components into a single package. Years ago I had a
most
interesting set hand built by Motorola around a single standard
PRC-25. It was
a simplex repeater that operated using time-domain-sequencing. It
really
worked, and only had a very slight, almost non-detectable putter
in the
received signal.
Dennis Starks;
MILITARY RADIO COLLECTOR/HISTORIAN
military-radio-guy@juno.com
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MEMBERS WRITE;
US Military
Portable Radios,
-Great stuff!
Really enjoyed reading it.
73
Joseph W Pinner
-Dennis,
I often read the
postings and dont take the time out to thank you for
your efforts and
the posting of the group members. I wanted to thank Alan WA1NYR
for sharing his
recent article with us and your excellent informative part III
finale.
I also want to
express my appreciation for sharing your new cumulative
index bc/scr
undertaking. If other members, especially the newer ones, have not
purchased a
copy of your previously published exhaustive PRC compilation, it
is well worth
having on the reference shelf!
Since this group
began, I have learned a wealth of knowledge shared by
those within the
group. thanks to all!
Ralph WB4TUR
ralph.hogan@vmic.com
-Groupites:
It hurts me to say this about the Army,
but Dennis is right: The Marine Corp is
better equipped even now...
Oh, and this
too: BRAAAARMY training, Seargent!
Sean T.
Kelly email is
sean_k@hotmail.com
ed) I most happy
to see these responses from members in regard to this last series.
I sincerely
hope that in future I receive similar comments on all our subject
matter.
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HUMOR;
DARWIN AWARD
CANDIDATES
1. In September
in Detroit, a 41-year-old man got stuck and drowned in two
feet of water
after squeezing head first through an 18-inch-wide sewer grate
to retrieve his
car keys.
2. In October, a
49-year-old San Francisco stockbroker, who "totally zoned
when he
ran," according to his wife,
accidentally jogged off a 200-foot-high
cliff on his
daily run.
3. Buxton,
NC: A man died on a beach when an
8-foot-deep hole he had dug
into the sand
caved in as he sat inside it. Beachgoers said Daniel Jones,
21, dug the hole
for fun, or protection from the wind, and had been sitting
in a beach chair
at the bottom Thursday afternoon when it collapsed, burying
him beneath 5
feet of sand. People on the beach on the
Outer Banks used
their hands and
shovels, trying to claw their way to Jones, a resident of
Woodbridge, VA,
but could not reach him. It took rescue
workers using heavy
equipment almost
an hour to free him while about 200 people looked on.
Jones was
pronounced dead at a hospital.
4. In February,
Santiago Alvarado, 24, was killed in Lompoc, CA, as he fell
face-first
through the ceiling of a bicycle shop he was burglarising.
Death
was caused when
the long flashlight he had placed in his mouth (to keep his
hands free)
rammed into the base of his skull as he hit the floor.
5. According to
police in Dahlonega, GA, ROTC cadet Nick Berrena, 20, was
stabbed to death
in January by fellow cadet Jeffrey Hoffman, 23, who was
trying to prove that
a knife could not penetrate the flakvest Berrena was
wearing.
6. Sylvester
Briddell, Jr., 26, was killed in February in Selbyville, Del.,
as he won a bet
with friends who said he would not put a Revolver loaded with
four bullets into
his mouth and pull the trigger.
7. In February,
according to police in Windsor, Ont., Daniel Kolta, 27, and
Randy Taylor, 33,
died in a head-on collision, thus earning a tie in the game
of chicken they
were playing with their snowmobiles.
8. In September,
a 7-year-old boy fell off a 100-foot-high bluff near Ozark,
Ark., after he
lost his grip swinging on a cross that marked the spot where
another person
had fallen to his death in 1990.
DARWIN AWARD
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
(1) In Guthrie,
Okla., in October, Jason Heck tried to kill a millipede with
a shot from his
.22-caliber rifle, but the bullet ricocheted off a rock near
the hole and hit
pal Antonio Martinez in the head, fracturing his skull.
(2) In Elyria,
Ohio, in October, Martyn Eskins, attempting to clean out
cobwebs in his
basement, declined to use a broom in favour of a propane torch
and caused a fire
that burned the first and second floors of his house.
(3) Paul Stiller,
47, was hospitalised in Andover Township, NJ, in September,
and his wife
Bonnie was also injured, by a quarter-stick of dynamite that
blew up in their car. While driving
around at 2 AM, the bored
couple lit the
dynamite and tried to toss it out the window to see what would
happen, but they
apparently failed to notice that the window was closed.
(4) Taking
"Amateur Night" Too Far: In
Betulia, Colombia, an annual festival
in November
includes five days of amateur bullfighting.
This year, no bull
was killed, but
dozens of matadors were injured, including one gored in the
head and one
Bobbittized. Said one participant,
"It's just one bull against
a town of a
thousand Morons."
and SOME MORE
.....
Four people were
injured in a string of related bizarre accidents. Sherry
Moeller was
admitted with a head wound caused by flying masonry, Tim Vegas
was diagnosed
with a mild case of whiplash and contusions on his
chest, arms and
face, Bryan Corcoran suffered torn gum tissue, and Pamela
Klesick's first
two fingers of her right hand had been bitten off. Moeller
had just
dropped her
husband off for his first day of work and, in addition to a
good-bye kiss,
she flashed her breasts at him.
"I'm still not sure why I did
it," she
said
later. I was really close to the car, so I didn't
think anyone would see.
Besides, it
couldn't have been for more than two seconds." However, cab
driver Vegas did
see and lost control of his cab running over the curb and
into the corner
of the Johnson Medical Building. Inside,
Klesick, a dental
technician, was
cleaning Corcoran's teeth. The crash of the cab against the
building making
her jump, tearing Corcoran's gums with a cleaning pick. In
shock, he bit
down, severing two fingers from Klesick's hand.
Moeller's
wound was caused
by a falling piece of the medical building.
La Grange, GA --
Attorney Antonio Mendoza was released from a trauma centre
after having a
cell phone removed from his rectum.
"My dog drags the thing
all over the
house," he said later. "He must have dragged it into the
shower. I slipped
on the tile, tripped against the dog and sat down right on
the thing."
The extraction took more than three hours due to the fact
that
the cover to Mr.
Mendoza's phone had opened during insertion.
"He was a real
trooper during
the entire episode," said Dr.Dennis Crobe. "Tony just cracked
jokes and really
seemed to be enjoying himself. Three times during the
extraction his
phone rang and each time, he made jokes about it that just had
us rolling on the
floor. By the time we finished, we really did expect to
find an answering
machine in there"
TACOMA, WA --
Kerry Bingham, had been drinking with several friends when one
of them said they
knew a person who had bungee-jumped from the Tacoma Narrows
Bridge in the
middle of traffic. The conversation grew
more
heated and at
least 10 men trooped along the walkway of the bridge at
4:30am.
Upon arrival at the midpoint of the bridge
they discovered that no
one had brought
bungee rope. Bingham, who had continued drinking, volunteered
and pointed out
that a coil of lineman's cable lay nearby.
One end of the
cable was secured
around Bingham's leg and the other end was tied to the
bridge. His fall
lasted 40 feet before the cable tightened and tore his foot
off at the
ankle. He miraculously survived his fall
into the icy river water
and was rescued
by two nearby fishermen. "All I can
say," said Bingham, "is
that God was
watching out over me on that night. There's just no other
explanation for
it." Bingham's foot was never located.
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Two Priests
Two priests died
at the same time and met Saint Peter at the Pearly Gates.
St. Peter said,
"I'd like to get you guys in now, but our computer's down.
You'll have to go
back to Earth for about a week, but you can't go back as
humans. What'll
it be?" The first priest
says, "I've always wanted to be an eagle, soaring above
the Rocky
mountains."
"So be
it," says St. Peter, and off flies the first priest. The second
priest
mulls this over for a moment and asks, "Will any of this
week 'count', St.
Peter?" "No, I told
you the computer's down. There's no way we can keep track of
what you're
doing." "In that
case," says the second priest, "I've always wanted to be a
stud." "So be
it" says St. Peter, and the second priest disappears. A week goes
by,
the computer is fixed, and the Lord tells St. Peter to
recall the two priests.
"Will you have any trouble locating them?" He asks. "The first
one should be easy," says St. Peter. "He's somewhere over the
Rockies, flying
with the eagles. But the second one could prove to be more
difficult." "Why?"
Asketh the Lord. "He's on a
snow tire, somewhere in North Dakota."
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Joe and Bob died in a hunting
accident. Joe goes to heaven and Bob goes to hell. One
day Joe looks down at Bob in hell. Bob has a beer in his
hand and a blonde on
his lap. Joe gets pissed off so he goes to God
and says, "What is this shit?
I think I want to go to hell!
Just look at my friend down there." God says "Look closer.
The beer
has a hole in the bottom, and the blonde doesn't."
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A man goes on a buisiness trip to Japan, apon
arriving his host's set him up
with a servant to make his stay a little more comfortable.
She helps
the man adjust to the culture and shows him around the city,
eventually
they end up back at the man's hotel and they have sex. During the
sex
the
woman keeps yelling out Ben-wah, Ben-wah. The man takes this as a
good sign and keeps on going at it to which she
yells Ben-wah all the
louder.
The man thinks that she is really gettting into it and that
Ben-wah
must be
Japanese for "really good". The next day he attends his
meetings and is
scheduled to play golf
with
the Chairman of the Board and some other business associates.
While playing the Chairman sinks a long putt, so the
man thinks he will
impress
every one with his knowledge of Japanese and congratulates him by
saying
Ben-wah. To which the Chairman replied, "What do
you mean "wrong hole"" ?
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(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)
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