From: military-radio-guy Full-Name: Dennis R Starks To: military radio collectors#3 Fcc: Sent Date: Fri, 7 May 1999 09:50:38 Subject: MILITARY COLLECTOR GROUP POST, May 7/99 Message-ID: <19990507.094945.12311.2.military-radio-guy@juno.com> X-Status: Sent X-Mailer: Juno 1.49 MILITARY COLLECTOR GROUP POST, May 7/99 Index: MYSTERY RADIO; The RS-6, Part II. by Dennis Starks THE MARINE CORPS HISTORICAL COMPANY'S BACK IN ACTION; MEMBERS WRITE; Another Book Source, Mystery Radio, RCA AVT-23? HUMOR; *********************************************** MYSTERY RADIO; The RS-6, Part II. by Dennis Starks Rarity!? Valuable!? My first RS-6 was purchased at a hamfest with the original manual for $9.00. Of course this was about 13 years ago, and dirt cheep even by the standards of the time. My second set was a gift from Ham in Kansas who had seen and admired my exhibits. He had acquired it through the Air force MARS program in 1961 and used it at Boy Scout camp all through the sixties & early seventies(he was a Boy Scout Leader). Another was purchased from a West coast dealer two years ago for $80.00, and yet another from a Ham in Iowa for $75.00 a year later. This last set was virtually unused with matching serial numbers on all it's components, and included all it's accessories. Currently, I think I have four sets(though two have crapped-out transmitters), and through the years have had at least six others. A member need only survey a Sunday "Group Wants/Trades" Post to see more being offered. To even further shore up the SAC/RS-6 connection, all those sets I've owned, had originally been supplied through the U.S. Air force MARS program, or surplused through Air Force DRMO channels. Being located in the mid-west where SAC basis are most common, the RS-6 in turn seems to be more common here than anywhere else in the country. Lastly, only four documents are known to have survived which detail the RS-6. The first two are the before mentioned original manual, and it's SAC produced addenda. The second two are conversion articles produced by Air Force MARS in the mid sixties. One had to do with a conversion to AM modulation just before the MARS transition to the Single Side Band mode in the late sixties. Pete has spent a great deal of time investigating the possible companies that might have manufactured the RS-6. Though his findings are not yet conclusive, in doing so he has recorded serial numbers in excess of 10,000 with all observed numbers being above 2300, though the manual addenda mentions numbers as low as 33. In any case, we can easily assume, there was a BUNCH of these things built! To close this chapter, the RS-6 is not the "Ultra-Rare" multi mega-buck "Spy" radio many sellers would have you believe. The going price for a set in Fair-Good condition is about $150-$200(at most), and for an "extraordinary" example with all it's accessories $300-$350(again, at absolute most!). Testimony: Over the years numerous persons with first hand experience have been questioned about the origins and use of the RS-6, some of their comments are below. For The SAC Connection: Col. Leon Yates USAF ret. was an Air force pilot and flew every heavy, and medium bomber in inventory from 1951 till 1980. When asked of the RS-6 he related his experience with the set detailing his training missions in the Desert South West flying a JATO equipped C-47S in the late 1950's-early 60's. Another local ham retired from the Air force in the mid-late 1950's. He then went back to work for them as a civilian employee until the late 1960's. His job as a civilian was the training of SAC crews in urban and rural survival tactics. The major focus of his training schedule was the use of the RS-6. A former Lockheed employee (Jerry WA4CPL) reportedly says that there was a B-47 re-fit contract at Lockheed in Atlanta in 1961, and that each Stratofortress had an "RS6 bag" in a survival sled fixed to the roof of the bomb bay. For The Special Forces Acquaintance: Wayne N0TE a communications engineer, long time civilian/military employee and Ham radio operator. Though he had always been very evasive when questioned about what he did for the military, he once opened up when he saw a RS-6 of mine on display at a hamfest. He tells me his (first) RS-6 was purchased in 1960 while he was serving with the 77th Special Forces Group at Ft. Bragg, NC. It seems that at this time several hundred RS-6 sets were surplused from this unit. He also noted that it was possible the radios came from a Special Warfare Group also stationed there, but admits that he was not sure what they did. Many others were purchased by Hams on the Base for $10.00 ea. Within the last week, prompted by advertising of the equipment that I was to have on exhibit at the Little Rock Arkansas Hamfest, I was contacted by LTC Robert Pratt USA ret. who is currently employed by the Central Bible College Springfield Missouri, and the Trustee/advisor for their Ham club, callsign W5CBC. He tells me of his using what most definitely sounds like an RS-6 in the late 50's-early 60's. Had there not already been collaborating evidence, the below might have been simply filed away to await additional information. But now, his testimony coincides perfectly with the date, and place of N0TE above. "I am a retired LTC from the Army and before that was a radio operator for several years in the Marines in the late 50's and early 60's. I was a CW op in a Force Recon unit and I remember we used some very small gear that we borrowed from the Special Forces in about '63 or '64 that was suposedly very classified at the time. It was two units (rcvr / xmtr) about 5" to 6" square and had a small CW key that swiveled out of the side of the xmtr. The rig ran about 10-15 watts and worked pretty well! Largest part of the system was the hand crank generator! (I recall that I thought the whole thing would be a nice little rig for Ham Radio Hi!) I can not remember much about the little CW rig, as I only got to use it for a few days. The SF had only 2 or 3 of these little rigs and we got one to try out. I got to work it and made a contact from a NC field site to another Marine Recon team we had training along a Florida coast line. As I remember I set the freq from a chart that was attached...dialed in one or two controls according to the chart and then it was ready. We used a short pre made dipole and it worked pretty good. I also used the old ANGRC 9 on CW a lot. Clunky but good an reliable." For The CIA Origin: While interveiwing a retired CIA communications specialist, Pete McCollum extracted the following. "And I have used a few RS-6 but there was a better one, and I have one in my possession it is a RT-49 transmitter and RR-49 receiver. The first fully transistorized rigs. The RS-6 was designed strictly for agent use. I had no idea it had been used by SAC. We did our own prototypes of all our units ...thoroughly tested by operators and ops officers before having them built outside." Keith Melton reported in his book, "CIA Special Weapons & Equipment" that a Russian propaganda publication "Caught in the Act: Facts About U.S. Espionage and Subversion Against the USSR", Soviet Information Bureau, Moscow 1960, pictures among other items, an RS-6. But there is no information offered on how it came to be in their hands, and several possibilities exist. Though the RS-6 has been rumored to have been carried aboard the U-2 Spy plane(which is still in CIA inventory), there has been no evidence to support this claim. RS-6 Variants: At least two other variants of the RS-6 are known to have existed. The first is the RS-6(A) model. As discribed by Pete it is identical to a standard RS-6 excepting for it's frequency coverage of 4.5-22mc vice 3-16.5mc, and it's use of a 6AK6 oscillator instead of a 6AG5. The manual mentions RT-6A serial numbers of up to 9750. The second is the "Attache Case Radio" featured in several of Keith Melton's books(see below). It is based on the RS-6A and retro-fit into an aluminum brief case. As can be seen, the RS-6 is much more than just a "Spy" radio. It deserves more than just a label that completely overshadows it's possible contributions to history. A history that only now is starting to unveil. Recommended reading: MCGP, Apr.30/99: MYSTERY RADIO; The RS-6, Part I MCGP, Sept.25/98: THE QRC-222, AND THE GRA-71?? MCGP, Oct.7/98: QRC-222=RS-8?; MCGP, Mar.2/99: INTERROGATION OF A RETIRED CIA COMMO VETERAN; MCGP Backmail #43: GRC-109/RS-1; What, Why, When, Where Pete McCollum's "Clandestine Radio Reasurch Paper" can be veiwed at: http://www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/Node/7408/ (note the use of capital letters - it matters) The Ultimate Spy Book, by H. Keith Melton(still in print) CIA Special Weapons & Equipment, by H. Keith Melton Dennis Starks; Collector/Historian Midwest Military Communications Museum email: military-radio-guy@juno.com *********************************************** THE MARINE CORPS HISTORICAL COMPANY'S BACK IN ACTION; Dennis: Three notes: First, although I have been pretty quiet on the Post lately, I want to say that I am very impressed with how you have kept the quality up on this forum. Too often, these turn into un-interesting drivvle. Good job to all who are active on the MCGP! Second, for those interested, the Marine Corps' Historical Company is once again presenting "Solomon's- Cradle of Invasion", in conjunction with Project Liberty Ship, and the Calvert Marine Museum. The Navy, Army Transportation Corps, Marine Corps League, the Admiral Nimitz Museum, and the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation are all participating again, along with a host of other folks. Program dates are 07-08 Aug, with a trip from Baltimore to Solomons, MD, (the site of the Naval Amphibious Training Base, Solomons, MD) on board the Liberty Ship S. S. John W. Brown on 06 AUG. Training landings off the Brown are scheduled for both program days, as well as interactive programs throughout both days dealing with such things as WW II Naval/Marine communications, crew-served weapons, medical, etc. More info can be had upon request. We learned a lot from last year's very successful program, so this year should be even better (and a lot easier on us!). Third, I'd like to put a couple of notes on the Wants/Trades list, if I may: Looking for: -2 or 3 BC-611 cases or junkers with complete cases -BC-745, cosmetically restorable -TBX, cosmetically complete, "display-able". None of the above needs to be functional. They are to be used by the Marine Corps Historical Company for display/educational purposes. To Trade: -A/N-PRM-1 I believe this to be complete, in original wood boxes. -MAB canvas bag Brian Scace *********************************************** MEMBERS WRITE; Another Book Source, Hi Dennis, There is a web site that has second hand books. http://www.abebooks.com So if you need a Terman, or Radiotron Designer's Handbook, The Signal Corps:(Emergency, Test, Outcome, Today, The Perisa Corridor) this site has them. The site is a place where any bookshop can list their secondhand books. It is primarily intended for First Editions and Rare books, but it has common books too. The bookshop sends it's book list and prices to this site, and they are entered into a database. Use the search engine to find what you want. Prices and locations vary, but most of them are in the U.S.A. and Canada and in US dollars. I have been looking for several books for a few years, and when I found this web site, it had 6 of the 7 that I wanted, so I paid their price, rather than keep on looking. Regards Ray ------------------------------------------------------------------ Mystery Radio, RCA AVT-23? Just received a real jewel from a kind gentleman. Wondering if any of you know anything about the RCA AVT-23 Aircraft transmitter. Appears to be Navy from WW-II or just prior. Details and photographs at http://www.arc5.com/rca/avt23.htm Anyone have connector details, pin-outs, manual, history, anything? TNX ES 73 DE Dave Stinson AB5S arc5@ix.netcom.com *********************************************** HUMOR; THE CRUSTY OLD COLONEL A crusty old infantry colonel found himself trapped at a gala charity fund raiser, hosted by the liberal intelligentsia, in a posh downtown hotel. There being no shortage of idealistic young ladies in attendance, one of them finally worked up the nerve to approach the stolid, uniformed figure and strike up a conversation. "Excuse me," she blurted. "But you have such a dour expression. Are you this way all the time or is something bothering you?" "No," replied the colonel, "just serious by nature." The young lady scanned the six rows of ribbons topped by a master parachutist badge and a combat infantry badge with a star and opined, "You must have seen a lot of action." "Yep." Came the terse reply. "You should relax - you know, lighten up a little - enjoy yourself," said the young lady, tiring of the colonel's apparently limited conversational skills. The colonel just stared at her in reply. "I hope you don't take this as too forward," the young lady chirped, "but when was the last time you had sex?!" The colonel grimaced and replied, "1954." "Well, there you go," she exclaimed! "You absolutely have to chill out and stop taking things so seriously...I mean, no sex since 1954...that's weird!" Glancing at his watch, the colonel smiled for the first time and replied, "Oh, I don't know...it's only 2115 right now." ----------------------------------------------------------------- On some air bases the Air Force is on one side of the field and civilian aircraft use the other side of the field, with the control tower in the middle. One day the tower received a call from an aircraft asking, "What time is it?" The tower responded, "Who is calling?" The aircraft replied, "What difference does it make?" The tower replied "It makes a lot of difference. If it is an American Airlines Flight, it is 3 o'clock. If it is an Air Force, it is 1500 hours. If it is a Navy aircraft, it is 6 bells. If it is an Army aircraft, the big hand is on the 12 and the little hand is on the 3. If it is a Marine Corps aircraft, it's Thursday afternoon." ----------------------------------------------------------------- It's All In How You Look At It... Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back. The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation. And every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window. The man in the other bed began to live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color of the rainbow. Grand old trees graced the landscape, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene. One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man couldn't hear the band -- he could see it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words. Then unexpectedly, a sinister thought entered his mind. Why should the other man alone experience all the pleasures of seeing everything while he himself never got to see anything? It didn't seem fair. At first thought the man felt ashamed. But as the days passed and he missed seeing more sights, his envy eroded into resentmentand soon turned him sour. He began to brood and he found himselfunable to sleep. He should be by that window -- that thought, and only thatthought nowcontrolled his life. Late one night as he lay staring atthe ceiling, the man by the window began to cough. He was choking on thefluid in his lungs. The other man watched in the dimly lit room as the struggling man by the window groped for the button to call for help. Listening from across the room he never moved, never pushed his own button which would have brought the nurse running in. In less than fiveminutes the coughing and choking stopped, along with that the sound of breathing. Now there was only silence--deathly silence. The following morning the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths. When she found the lifeless body of the man by the window, she was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take it away. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone. Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the world outside. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it all himself. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall. The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window. The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall. She said, "Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you." Epilogue. . . . You can interpret the story in any way you like. But one moral stands out: There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations. Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when shared, is doubled. If you want to feel rich, just count all of the things you have that money can't buy. *********************************************** (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) ***********************************************