'Real radios have motors'

(An asterisk by a link means the link hasn't been created as yet.)

The lucky grunt...
   ...you know, the soldier who carries the squad radio. That's him over there - weighted down by the gross avoirdupois of a supposedly 'portable' radio, tangled up in hundreds of feet of counterpoise wire, his clothing in tatters from spilled BB-451 electrolyte, berated by the CO because of poor reception, cussed by the repair depot REMFs because of all the bullet holes in the radio - he's the guy right under that 15 foot tall 'target designator' called a whip antenna.
    Dedicated to that lucky grunt, here's a brief selection of some interesting, perhaps unusual, possibly noteworthy, or maybe just plain goofy military manpack radios.
- The TBY, a late 1930's vintage 28-80 MC AM/MCW transceiver
    fine & funky old technology...
- The PRC-14, a Korean War vintage 225-400 MC AM transceiver
    An early try at building a man-portable radio for the new military aviation band...
- *The PRC-36, RCA's early solid-state attempt at a VHF FM 'handie-talkie'
    one tube in the PA, many transistors, a misguided attempt to create a soldier's personal radio...
- The PRC-38 (Collins 618K-1), a 1960's vintage 20-70 MC FM/USB transceiver
    'Autopositioner' tuning, conduction-cooled instant heating PA tube, automatic antenna tuner...
- *The PRC-41 (Collins 618J-1), a 1960's vintage 225-400 MC AM transceiver
    Reasonable replacement for the unreasonable PRC-14...
- *The PRC-47 (Collins 618U-1), a 1960's vintage 2-12 MC CW/USB transceiver
    the mother of all manpacks, a 100W HF radio with two backpacks - one for the radio and one for the battery...
- *The PRC-66, a 1960's vintage 225-400 MC AM transceiver
    the radio doesn't weigh much more than it's backpack harness - cute replacement for the PRC-41...
- *The PRC-72, a Vietnam-era Forward Air Controller radio set
    2-12 USB, 30-88 FM, 108-148 AM, 225-400 AM, four separate radios & four NiCad packs in one package...
- *The PCC-1, a Vietnam-era 4-line telephone & teletype multiplex set
    two backpacks, two PRC-25B radios, and a whole bunch of other real heavy stuff...
- Comparison between the Hughes *PRC-104 and the Collins *PRC-515 HF SSB manpacks
    judge for yourself why the Collins item lost out on the Army's HF manpack contract in the early '70s...
Real radios have motors...
    ...and generally speaking, the more complex the motor, the more interesting the radio. From the 28VDC 'Autotune' motor of the ARR-15, through the URG-1 "Autopositioner", to the two-speed 400~ servosystem of the ARC-58, here's an overview and a technology comparison of five generations of remotely tuned radio receivers from the Collins Radio Company.
- The 51H-3 HF receiver (military designation R-105/ARR-15 or R-105A/ARR-15)
    Late '40s design, two 'Autotune' units - one single-turn for bandchange and one ten-turn for main tuning...
- *The R-391/URR HF receiver (commercial designation unknown)
    Early '50s design, two 'Autotune' units - one ten-turn for bandchange and one ten-turn for main tuning...
- *The 618C-3 HF receiver-exciter (p/o the 18Z-3, a.k.a. R-761/ARC-58, used in the TRC-75 & TSC-15)
    Late '50s design, two-speed 400~ servomotor for SMO & synthesizer positioning, 400~ follow-up
    servomotor for main slugrack positioning, DC motor for bandchange...
- *The 651F-1 HF receiver (Collins "URG-I" series, used in the TSC-38, TRC-115, & TRC-136)
    Early '60s design, one 'Autopositioner' for PTO & slugrack positioning, DC motor for bandchange...
- *The 651H-1 HF receiver   (Collins "URG-II" series, mil. designation GRR-18, used in early TSC-60s)
    late '60s squalid-state design, 400~ servomotor for the self-resonating (!) preselector)
Real radios have wheels???
   Yes, certain large-caliber military radios actually do have wheels. The TSC-15 "Communications Central" radio shelter is one of the largest car radios you'll ever see on the road - if you've got time to load a few pix, check out the TSC-15 ...
   And yes, I'll admit to a certain infatuation with the TRC-75 . Many more pix here, including shots of field ops, the GRM-10 & GRM-21 bench test setup, the TS-1324 & TS-1325 field test sets, the 426U-2 & 426T-1 & PP-2352 inverter setup, plus other miscellaneous whatnot...
   And again, yes, I'll concede to actual ownership of an MRC-83 (a TRC-75 installed in an M38A1). This beast is under construction now (spring 2006) and I hope to have it on the air in time for the Ft. Stevens event at the mouth on the Columbia River on August 10 & 11, 2006...

Links...
The Constitution of the United States of America
The 1994 "Normandy 50th Jubilee" (many large pix of the Normandy 50th anniversary event)
The 2002 Military Radio Enthusiasts at Fort Stevens, Oregon (40 thumbnail pix of the MRE 2002 shindig)
Army "Old Family" radios (table & text listing of these radios, from the 1951 PRC-16 manual)
Dovetron documentation (various manuals)
MDM2001 documentation (partial manual copy & software)
TGC-14 MITE teletype documentation package (schematics & basic info in a .PDF file)
CV-2455 documentation package (16 page .PDF file)
PRC-25 "B" model modifications (14 .GIF page scans in one .ZIP file)
Notes on amateur use of military RTTY gear (specs for various military RATT rigs, clatternet plug)
M-209 CONVERTER exercise at MRCG 2008 (original RTTY text as broadcast by KSM)
M-209 CONVERTER simulator for Windows (Dirk Rijmenant's excellent M-209 Converter simulator)
M-209 CONVERTER settings for the MRCG 2008 exercise (XP registry key - save as file.key then double-click to install)
off-the-air Model 28 printout from the M-209 CONVERTER exercise at MRCG 2008 (file courtesy Chris K6FIB)
Information package for the Collins 618T HF transceiver (thanks to Loek D'Hont for some of this)
Schematic - GRC-142B signal wiring, shows GRC-106 & MD-522 loops, etc. (~1 Mbyte JPG file)
Schematic - GRC-142B power wiring, shows GRC-106 & MD-522 (~1 Mbyte JPG file)
Notes on military nomenclature systems (Ray Mote's info, as published in Electric Radio)
Download TTYSIM.ZIP (freeware Baudot/ASCII teletype simulator for the PC)
HF Receiver performance (sensitivity of various HF receivers, measured here in the shop)
Various rants (glowing testimonials from satisfied users of Collins gear)
Amateur Radio Soundblaster Software Collection (software for PC & Sound Blaster - no modem needed)
Fair Radio Sales Company Inc. (good source for surplus military electronics & other unusual gizmos)
U.S. Military Portable Radios (interesting reading, put together by Alan D. Tasker, WA1NYR)
Richard Lacroix's Military Communications Home Page (green radios with a Canadian flavour...)
Clandestine Radio Equipment (covering "RS" & GRC-109 radios & the GRA-71, courtesy Pete McCollum)

Got stuff? Want stuff? Wander through my "Wants & Trades" page...

   current weather at N7EPI (from an Oregon Scientific WMR100 personal weather station)...

"I am often asked how radio works. Well, you see, the telegraph is like a very long cat.
You are yanking his tail in New York and he is meowing in Los Angeles. Do you understand this?
Now, radio is exactly like this, except that there is no cat."
Attributed to Albert Einstein

vicious diatribes of a personal nature? vituperative fulminations? ultracrepidarian rants? denunciations?
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then EMAIL me...       Dave Ross   N7EPI