MILITARY COLLECTOR GROUP POST, May 2/98 INDEX: ANNOUNCEMENTS; NEWS BRIEFS; Government Announces Sales MEMBERS WRITE; DON'S MODIFIED WANT/TRADE LIST; HAL's WANT LIST; HUMOR; *********************************************** ANNOUNCEMENTS; PRC-6 project update; It's been reported that the dealer with the PRC-6's has about 800 of them. I advised that if he has that many, and is not receptive to a reduced price for a quantity purchase, he's a dumb shit! I made a low dollar offer on quantities of 10, provided that the radios were in good or better condition, had xtals, and antennas, and the price did come down. Currently it's a friend of a friend of a friend type deal, soon as I find out who the actual owner is, the exact condition of the radios, and the low dollar/quantity price we may yet have a deal. Two sample rados are on their way, we shall see. Last Sunday's Group Want's and Trade's did not go out, again this was because there were no changes to the previous weeks. Should you want to add your's to the list, or modify what you already have there, have it in by Saturday night. Remember, should you have a long list of want's, and trades, this can be posted once in the daily Group Post, and thereafter an abbreviated version in Sunday Group Want's/Trade's with a note to the availability of a complete list. To our great dismay, the Louisiana Museum of Military History, due to financial realities will be closing the museum within the next several months. We have been asked to help liquidate the Commo gear, and a list is being compiled at this time. The available equipment, prices, and terms will be posted here in the "On the Commercial Front" column soon as completed. *********************************************** NEWS BRIEFS; Government Announces Sales Possible Sale of 16 ALQ-131 Block I Electronic Countermeasure Jamming Pods to Norway (21 April 1998) The Department of Defense announced today the possible sale to the Government of Norway of 16 ALQ-131 Block I Electronic Countermeasure Jamming Pods which will be upgraded to a Block II configuration with receiver/processor and low band capability, modification kits, spare and repair parts, support and test equipment, personnel training and training equipment, U.S. Government and contractor technical support, and other related elements of logistics support. The estimated cost is $47 million. This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by improving the military capabilities of Norway, while enhancing weapon system standardization and interoperability. The proposed sale will increase the effectiveness of the Norwegian Air Force to operate in an electronic warfare environment and participate in multinational operations. This increased capability will enhance NATO deterrence. Norway will have no difficulty absorbing these pods into its armed forces. The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not affect the basic military balance in the region. The prime contractor will be Northrop Grumman, Baltimore, Md. One or more proposed offset agreements may be related to this proposed sale. Implementation of this proposed sale will require one contractor representative for two years in-country. There may be U.S. Government personnel required in-country periodically as the program proceeds. There will be no adverse impact on U.S. defense readiness as a result of this proposed sale. ------------------------------------------------------------------- The Department of Defense announced today the possible sale to the Government of Saudi Arabia of a possible upgrade of 1,500 AIM-9L missiles to the newer AIM-9M configuration (DoD, 21 April 1998) The Department of Defense announced today the possible sale to the Government of Saudi Arabia of a possible upgrade of 1,500 AIM-9L missiles to the newer AIM-9M configuration; and possible sale of five sets of PATHFINDER/SHARPSHOOTER navigation and targeting pods. The upgrade includes removing and replacing the older AIM-9L guidance control units (GCUs) and older rocket motors with the new AIM-9M GCUs and MK 36 MOD 11 rocket motors. This effort includes support equipment, spare and repair parts, publications and technical documentation, personnel training and training equipment, and other related elements of logistics support. The estimated cost is $115 million. This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a friendly country which has been and continues to be an important force for political stability and economic progress in the Middle East. The upgraded missiles will complement 300 AIM-9M missiles previously purchased. They will be used on the Saudi Arabian F-15S aircraft currently being delivered. The country will have no difficulty absorbing these additional missiles into its inventory. The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not affect the basic military balance in the region. The principal contractors will be Raytheon Systems, Boston, Mass. and Lockheed Martin, Orlando, Fla. There are no offset agreements proposed to be entered into in connection with this potential sale. Implementation of this proposed sale will require the assignment of one additional U.S. Government personnel and four contractor representatives for a four month period in-country. There will be no adverse impact on U.S. defense readiness as a result of this proposed sale. Jim Turner 519th MI BN Association Homepage: http://members.aol.com/turnerpi/519.html *********************************************** MEMBERS WRITE; I was interested in your Power Wagon saga. I occasionally drove its military equivalent, the Dodge Weapons Carrier (in the early/mid '60s). My recollection is that it was powered by the old Plymouth/Dodge/Chrysler industrial inline sidevalve 6 engine. Progress was well, stately. The 318 V8 would be a far better thing. Was yours built that way, or modified along the way? Regards, John Mackesy ed) My Power Wagon is actually a 1963 military 1 ton front line ambulance, with the power takeoff winch. It came with a slant 6 which served me well for two years, but as the truck itself weighs 3.5 tons, it was prone to get a little anemic when pulling a trailer, or even pulling itself along in the hills. It has a 4.80 gear it in, but speeds of 70 don't now seem to bother it at all. Your M-37 most likely had a 5.38 gear in it which translates to about 45 mph tops, we still have a couple of them on our area fire departments in use as brush buggies. Luckely, Natural Cover fires generaly do not require a speedy responce. On the other hand, our M-715 Kaisers will move right along, even with 500 gallons of water, and a ton or two of equipment on them. Eat your heart out AM General! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Enjoying the news letter.Am forwarding it to one other green collector here in Delaware. My hats off to you for your efforts. LTC Howards piece was excellent. I hauled a lot of stuff to granada and never saw any MX's.Looked at the comm gear pretty close. 73 Breck. K4CHE ed) The use of the MX-300R by US Forces in Granada was reported to me by one of my Land Mobile customers who was involved in communication there as a civilian. And subsequently by a couple others. I'm not sure now, but the low split UHF version may have been specifically named. Further investigation is indeed warranted, to find out just how, and by whom they were used. The ones I got while at Little Rock last weekend, all came from Army bases in Tennessee, have DES voice encryption, and are both High, and Low split VHF. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dennis, For anyone who can receive JPEG attachments, I have most of the Chinese Radios scanned onto disk. Will send to anyone who wants them. If this is not possible, I have a booklet printed up with color plates. $15.00 covers costs and postage. April issue of Electric Radio has an article by Richard Brenner, titled GRC 9, Operating Notes. His e-mail address is: richard.brunner@stoneweb.com He may have it on disk and maybe you can get it for the group post. Pretty good article on tips for how to get the set working and on the air. Bill Howard THE WILLIAM L. HOWARD ORDNANCE TECHNICAL INTELLIGENCE MUSEUM e-mail wlhoward@gte.net Telephone AC 813 585-7756 *********************************************** DON'S MODIFIED WANT/TRADE LIST; Well, Dennis, As always, it was an adventure. And tell your other list members to make an effort to see your portable radio displays. Very nicely done. Thanks for sharing them with us here in Little Rock. Hope you found some useful trading material out of that stuff you liberated from my trailer. Let me modify my want/trade list: Wanted: trailer mounted 5KW AC generator, like the PE-95. (Actually, I have most of the SCR-399 radio set, except the PE-95 and the K-52 trailer, and of course the 2.5 ton 6x6 truck.) Wanted: Collins R-389 front panel, or 389 basket case with a front panel, or dimensions and drawings of a front panel. For Trade: Manuals: Navships 93415 PP-45D/FRT Power supply TM 11-5820-765-12 PP-4763/GRC PS Operators Guide TM 11-666 Antennas and Radio Propagation TM 11-672 Pulse Techniques TO 31R2-3BC639-22 BC-639A Receiver Collins 242F-5CL VHF Transmitter Federal PP-109/GR and PP-112/GR Power Supplies Regards, Don Reaves WA5BBS 46 Arbor Oaks Drive AMI 1027 CCA 378 N. Little Rock AR 72120 ARRL Life Member dr@cei.net R-390 list manager *********************************************** HAL's WANT LIST; Dennis here's my want (wish) list TA-312 Field Telephones AN/GRA-39 Radio Control Set An/GRC-53 Radio Set have the PRC77 need everything else AT-271/PRC, AB-591A/PRC MK-1964/URC Installuation Kit MK-1963/URC Installation Kit.. diplexer SCR-528 Radio set, have 603 need everything else (BC-604) CG-1773A/U Cable Assembly short lengths. AM-598 Hal Torchboots@msn.com *********************************************** HUMOR; Early one morning a home owner noticed a gorilla climbing in a tree on his property. He immediately called one of the local gorilla exterminators. Within minutes a van pulled into his driveway and the driver unloaded a ladder, long wooden pole, pair of large handcuffs, shotgun and a small dog. He explained the procedure to the homeowner. He would climb into the tree and using the long pole poke at the gorilla until it lost its hold and fell out of the tree. The dog he said, may not look like much but it was specially trained. In a split second that dog would bite down on the gorillas crotch and not let go. The gorilla, in an attempt to protect himself, would place his hands between his legs, at which time the home owner could easily secure the handcuffs. Got it he said, but what's the shotgun for? The exterminator replied, if I should fall out of that tree before the gorilla, Shoot the dog! Ed Guzick ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- David's Parrot David received a parrot for his birthday. This parrot was fully grown and had a bad attitude and a worse vocabulary. Every other word was an expletive. Those that weren't expletives were, to say the least, rude. David tried hard to change the bird's attitude and was constantly saying polite words, playing soft music, anything he could think of to try and set a good example. Nothing worked. He yelled at the bird and the bird got worse. He shook the bird and the bird got more angry and more rude. Finally, in a moment of desperation, David put the parrot in the freezer. For a few moments he heard the bird squawking, kicking, and screaming profanities. Then suddenly there was quiet. David was frightened that he might have hurt the bird and quickly opened the freezer door. The parrot calmly stepped out onto David's extended arm and said, "I'm sorry that I might have offended you with my language and actions and I ask your forgiveness. I will endeavor to correct my behavior." David was astonished at the bird's change in attitude and was about to ask what had made such a dramatic change when the parrot continued on saying, "May I ask what the turkey did?" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I always wondered what great scientists talked about when they got together. Can you imagine Dr. Fahrenheit and Dr. Celsius talking, and Dr. Fahrenheit would say, "Man, it's hot in here." And Dr. Celsius would say, "It's not that hot." -- Dan French ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gore and the Clinton's are flying on Air Force One. Bill looks at Al,chuckles and says, "You know, I could throw a $100.00 bill out the window right now and make one person very happy." Al shrugs his stiff shoulders and says, "Well, I could throw ten $10.00 bills out the window and make 10 people very happy". Hillary tosses her perfectly hair-sprayed hair and says, "I could throw one hundred $1.00 bills out the window and make a hundred people very happy." Chelsea rolls her eyes,looks at all of them and says,"I could throw all of you out the window and make the whole country happy". *********************************************** (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 are included. For more information conserning this group contact Dennis Starks at, military-radio-guy@juno.com) ***********************************************