From: military-radio-guy Full-Name: Dennis R Starks To: military radio collectors#4 Fcc: Sent Date: Mon, 31 May 1999 05:00:37 Subject: MILITARY COLLECTOR GROUP POST, May 31/99 Message-ID: <19990531.045934.4071.1.military-radio-guy@juno.com> X-Status: Sent X-Mailer: Juno 1.49 MILITARY COLLECTOR GROUP POST, May 31/99 Index: EASY FIX FOR PRC-25/A15 or PRC-77/A35 MODULES; by Conard Murray USING COMMERCIAL RADIOS WITH MILITARY; Dennis 150cps Tone/Receiver Conflect, Wide Band FM Versus Narrow Band, 150cps Tone Squelch Versus Carrier Squelch, MEMBERS WRITE; Vehicular ARC-51BX & Collins 618M-1? TSC-60 Help Needed, NEW MEMBERS; Freitas, Joe Orgnero, Meir Ben-Dror FLAG FOLDING CEREMONY; Lest We forget *********************************************** EASY FIX FOR PRC-25/A15 or PRC-77/A35 MODULES; by Conard Murray Hey Dennis, Here is a cheap and easy fix for the PRC-25 A15 or PRC-77 A35 1 MHz spectrum generator module. The A35 in my 'new' PRC-77 was dead with either a dead xtal or T1 or both. I had tried rewinding T1, but after three tries of fussing with that tiny wire I gave up. I am too cheap to shell out the bucks for a new module if I could make something else work. Poking around the junk box, I found I had a 1 MHz oscillator module (something like $3.50 from Jameco) handy. I measured the current drain of the oscillator module and determined a 2400 Ohm resistor would drop the 10 Volt line available in the A35 to the 5 Volts required by the oscillator. A 78L05 would work great here in place of the dropping resistor, but I didn't have one on hand. I removed the xtal, placed the oscillator module upside down in the old xtal space and soldered pins 1 and 7 (n/c and ground) to the module frame. I hooked pin 14 to the 10 volt line through the 2400 Ohm resistor. I removed C3, the 10 pF coupling cap between the old xtal oscillator (Q1) and the pulse generator stage(Q2). I hooked pin 8 of the oscillator module to the base of Q2 through a .001 cap. I also removed T1, since it is not needed now. My A35 module now works perfectly. This fix should work fine for an A15 too. Now I will probably get notes telling me that A35 modules are five for a dollar with free shipping from Fair..... BTW, Dave at Fair has been helpful to me in the past. Now to see how long the A31 will take to get here from Fair. I paid $20 for it ..... I dunno if that is too high or not, but I'm desperate. Thanks for all you do with the MGCP! Conard Murray QRV 51.6 MHz no tone in scanner ... tone on the PRC-25 *********************************************** USING COMMERCIAL RADIOS WITH MILITARY; 150cps Tone/Receiver Conflect, For those using a scanner to listening in on 6mtrs for the band to open, or are using commercial/ham equipment to communicate with military radios having a 150cps tone on transmit. It is common even in commercial equipment using sub-audible tone squelch, for the so-called sub-audible tone to overwhelm the audio of some receivers/transceivers. There is a simple fix that might work for you, and does in most cases. Disconnect the center wire from your receivers volume control, and connect a disc capacitor in the line with a value between .1-.01mf. This value is arrived at experimentally, the correct capacitance will filter out much of the incoming tone, yet not effect the receivers audio performance. I had to perform this fix on hundreds of radios a few years ago when our county went to tone squelch on all our emergency freqs. It worked, or at least helped, every time. Wide Band FM Versus Narrow Band, There are those who would tell you that military radios will not talk to modern commercial ones because the wider bandwidth(more deviation) of military radios will "jump" out of the commercial receiver's IF. This is partially true, but can be dealt with using common sense and curtesy. A case in point, while Ike and I were heading towards Little Rock Arkansas last month, we became separated in the mountains by an unduly slow running big truck(me in the old Power Wagon, and Ike following in his Ford mini-van). As the distance between use grew, comms on 2mtrs were lost. With my last readable 2mtr transmission, I told Ike to turn on his newly acquired 6mtr HT and try it(a Cherokee AH-50). I had a URC-773 set up in the Power Wagon which luckily has dual squelch types. Comms were great the remainder of the trip down(150 miles), and we continued to use the pair(joined by a PRC-126 once we got to the hamfest) the entire weekend(on 51mc). The Trick? I just spoke into the mic of the military radios at a normal volume with it about 6 inches from my mouth. If you should hear only the first couple words from a transmitting station, then all audio stops(or pops in and out) but the carrier is still there. the chances are good that his deviation is too wide for your receiver's IF bandwidth to accept. Simply ask the transmitting station to back off the mic some, and stop yelling. A second fix, many modern-simi modern military radios have their mic sensitivity/deviation set way too high. Even higher than what is needed for communicating with another military radio. This is because in the field, it might not be very stealthy for it's operator to talk at a normal tone of voice. He might need to whisper to avoid detection and giving away his position. This need is recognized in some radios like the CPRC-26 which has multiple volume/mic sensitivity settings on it's volume control. This over sensitive mic condition has been noted on virtually every PRC-68, and PRC-126 that I have come into contact with. Most of these radios have an internal deviation adjustment. Simply open the radio up and adjust this control for a happy medium were it will work just fine with any type radio you might want to communicate with, commercial or military. There is a more drastic approach with a commercial receiver that can be taken if you plan to use it more with military equipment than other, or are willing to deface the receiver. Most receivers built in the last 20 years use miniature ceramic filters in their IF's. Usually Murata 10.7mc, or 455kc types. A filter with wider bandwidth can be easily installed. These might be robbed from heepy-cheepy FM broadcast radios, CB's, or purchased from various mail order vendors. The latter will yield a wider choice of available band width types. You can either simply replace your existing filter, or add some switching that will allow selectable bandwidth(switching selected filters in and out). There are other alternatives, these are just the simpler ones. 150cps Tone Squelch Versus Carrier Squelch, Very few later model military radios give us a choice between 150cps tone, and regular carrier squelch types. As no simple mod has yet been devised to include carrier squelch in such radios as the PRC-25 and -77 we must then modify the radio it is to be used with if it is not already provided with a 150cps tone on transmit. This it what has been done with such radios as the PRT-4A/PRR-9, PRC-68, and PRC-126, all of which have only a 150cps tone on transmit, but standard carrier squelch on receive. If your selected radio already has a provision for tone squelch, the chances are good that it still will not work(if this squelch option is programmable). This because most programmable tone encoders & decoders can not be programmed with anything other than an industry standard tone, and 150cps is not an industry standard(except for the military). The closest standard CTCSS tone is 151.4cps. While this might sometimes work to open the squelch on the often sloppy tone decoders on some older military systems, it will not with any degree of reliability. And the military radio will not break squelch on the commercial PLL equipped tone decoder(which is far more selective). The answer is to instal a continuously tunable type encoder, or encoder/decoder board. These are available at reasonable cost from several sources, in a size that will fit inside most any radio. For more information on installing these boards, and their availability, see: MCGP Backmail #63: PRT-4 Tone Squelch Compatibility/Commercial Tone Encoder. A last alternative is to just home brew a suitable tone encoder(generator). Circuits that will fill the bill can be found in many Ham publications such as the ARRL or Editors & Engineers Amateur Radio Handbooks. Remember, 51mc for special events, and local comms, 51.6mc for DX, and 50.6mc for whatever, spread the word.. Dennis Starks; Collector/Historian Midwest Military Communications Museum email: military-radio-guy@juno.com *********************************************** MEMBERS WRITE; Vehicular ARC-51BX & Collins 618M-1? Dennis, I'll describe it if I can. It's a ARC-51BX and a Collins 618M-1 in a waterproof case about 2 ft. by 4 ft. by 20 inches high. The two military style control heads lock onto the front. Also on the front is a large round cover that screws part way out for an air intake. On the back there's a 3" x 5" box with a door that has to be opened for the fan before operation. The box by it's self must weigh 60 lbs. I'd like to know if this is a stand alone unit or part of a larger system. Also designators and manual numbers would be helpful. Thanks, Buzz ed) your radios were most likely part of a multi-radio-system mobile FAC Jeep. And probably at one time included a 618T HF/SSB aircraft transceiver that had been likewise modified for ground/vehicular use. The resultant conglomeration of equipment were custom assemble by Collins, and mounted in an M-151 Jeep for delivery(MRC-108). They were often retro-fit into an armored personnel carrier. This all allowed operation on all frequencies HF, VHF, and UHF where aircraft might be found, ARC-51BX(VHF/AM), Collins 618M-1(UHF/AM), 618T(HF/SSB). ----------------------------------------------------------------- TSC-60 Help Needed, Hello Dennis: I am asking is if anyone on the mailing list would have some detail of the AN/TSC60 system. What I need is the cable connector information on the Collins Control-Monitor unit, C-8364/TSC-60 (V) and specifically the J1 connector. The part number of the control unit is 789-8117-001 and is also known as 789-7497-001. Any other information on the origin of the TSC-60 platform would be useful. I know nothing of the purpose of the platform other the URG system is HF. This is the last specific information I need to get to get the Collins URG-II system working again. ANY help would be very useful! In you prior issue (45), you mention the initials "TSC". Is this related to the TSC-60? Could I get a copy of the mail (#70) discussing the Motorola MX series radios? I have a number of these units and it is always interesting to more about them. Thanks for your assitance. Kevin Greene KE6CQU ed) there is no similarity between the WW-II Navy designation of TCS, and your current one of TSC. *********************************************** NEW MEMBER; Freitas Dear Mr Starks I must thank your attencion on inviting me to be part of your group. I do wish to become part of it ,complying with the terms you want fullfiled. What can I say about me ? ... I managed to gather an impressive collection of millitry equipment, most of it being vacuum tubes radio equipment . I frequently buy magazines and attend D-Day displays in France, therefore I can recognize my little collection of millitaria as "very interesting" if you thought most of it was found through painstaking hours of "industrial archeology" practiced on several scrapyards, fleemarkets,Army and AirForce public disposals ... anywere I could smell the -MULTIFUNGE PROOF- varnish :-) Among them are the bread-to-butter AN/GRC9 , the BC 1000, the PRC 10 ,but less usually seen on collector shelves TCS 12 (Collins R.D.) , the WIRELES SET Mk38 ,WS Mk19, the BC683 (rec./transm. ,yes I do a complete shelve for it !!!) or the ARC5. I reserve a little corner for the radios used in our colonial wars, fought in Angola ,Moçambique and Guiné ,who's design and electronics were conceived by G.E. in Portugal. A most peculiar piece of machinery is the one found nearby, in a complete state of forgoteness, the SIGABA coding machines I mentioned (Sigaba ECM MkII ). The one I managed to rescue is in mint condition ,i.e ,the craclet paint still on, all mechanics seem to work properlly, it even come with its foreign office's wood container. Also found with it were other of its kind ,but completly wrecked by the "engineer" in charge of space managment ,this meaning, the guy who shooved it into a pile of ruble aided by his catterpiler !! Not knowing the value of such things at the time ,I made use of all handy screwdriver and pliers ,gathering all spares I could get. I would have brought home the hole pile if I had known the historical interest it has. I think this should be enough for a starting friendship, I got many more stories about my collected items if you wish to know about it. As for trading porpouses I got two Potuguese made radios from the '60s (as above mentioned) ,and a few cristal units (type 4044) of assorted frequencies. once again ,thanks for your attention. yours, Freitas ed) Glad to have you with us, I'd like to hear more about those radios used in your "colonial wars". Which were those radios of Portuguese manufacture you mentioned? ----------------------------------------------------------------- Joe Orgnero, Dear Dennis, Thanks for the Collins list and the "invitation". I would be interested to belong to such a selected group but I don't know if I qualify. I will give you a brief summary of my interests and let you decide. I "cut my teeth" so to speak, in radio and electronics during my teens at the end of WW2. At that time, as I am sure you know, the place was flooded with surplus and I was lucky enough to have access to a good selection of it. I was really impressed with the quality of the mmaterial and developed great affection for it. I continued to use and collect military radio equipment for years until my retirement when I decided to narrow my interest to Collins equipment and literature (military, commercial and amateur). Prior to moving to this West coast city last year I did volunteer work for the Calgary Aerospace Museum restoring radio and navigation equipment and instruments, mostly of WW2 vintage. It was a very rewarding experience to attenpt to bring back to life these old pieces of equipment. When we moved, and due to cost and space restrictions I donated a great deal of my collection to the museum where I am sure it will have a good home. Currently, as I said, I concentrate my hobby around Collins, however, I maintain an interest in military and aeronautical surplus equipment, especially now that I have access to the Internet and the many sites dedicated to it. I have some material and literature that I can make available to those interested if my contribution is of interest. Sincerely Joe Orgnero ed) I've known, and traded with Joe for many years. I'm happy to see that he has finally gotten email capable, it's about time! ----------------------------------------------------------------- Meir Ben-Dror, I've been a military radio collector/user since I was first licensed in 1964 at the age of 18, with a few years' hiatus in the 70's due to moves, college and career changes. Presently I participate in the East Coast Military Radio Collectors' weekly net, and the Wireless Set 19 weekly/monthly net (see http://www.qsl.net/ve3bdb ). Besides collecting US equipment, I have a moderate collection of Canadian and British military radios. Last year I started with the former Eastern Bloc/Soviet equipment collecting. (I read your articles on this subject with great interest...). I have a collector friend in Hungary who supplies me with the equipment he can find there, swapping Eastern equipment for US surplus (last time I visited him in March, I brought over an R-392 and a PRC-47). In this department I own a Russian R104 HF transceiver w/accessories, including the power plug (except the power unit, which I'm building now so I can use it on the ECMRC net), a Russian R326 receiver, a Russian US-8 LF/HF aircraft receiver that was used in bombers and transport aircraft, complete with the pilot's remote control box, power supply, junction box and all the necessary connectors - I just have to make up the cables. I'm waiting for an RBM1 for which unfortunately I don't have any schematics, and the last item is a Czech R4-1 field HF field receiver with the power supply unit and cable. My Hungarian friend has a connection in the Hungarian Army Officers' School Technical Department who took me to the School communications museum for a personal tour (it's not open to the public) where I saw Russian equipment from WW2 to the end of the Soviet era. It was one of the most memorable events of my life.... Best regards, 73 from Meir Ben-Dror, WF2U wk hm *********************************************** FLAG FOLDING CEREMONY; Lest We forget Our Country was founded on religious principles, and even the folding of the Flag shows forth this wonderful truth. The point of honor of the Flag of the United States is a canton of blue containing the stars representing the states our veterans served in uniform. Our Flag dresses from the left to the right and the only time it is inverted and displayed in another manner is when it comes to serve as a pall on the casket of a veteran who has served his or her country honorably in uniform. In the evening, in the Armed Forces of the United States, at the Ceremony of Retreat, the Flag is lowered and folded in a triangle fold, and kept under watch throughout the night as a tribute to our nation's honored dead. The next morning it is brought out as the Ceremony of Reveille and ran aloft as a symbol of our belief in the resurrection of the soul. We are here to perform the Flag Folding Ceremony in order to show that our efforts to attain peace throughout the world have not been in vain and shall never be forgotten. The first fold of our Flag is a symbol of life and our belief in the eternal life. The second fold we make in honor and remembrance of a veteran who gave a portion of their life for the defense of our country and our Flag. We fold to the right in the shape of a triangle representing our weaker nature, for we as American citizens trust in God and it is to him we turn in times of peace as well as in times of war for his divine guidance. We fold again to the right as a tribute to our country, for in the words of the immortal Stephen Decatur, "Our Country, in dealing with other countries, may she always be right, but it is still Our Country, right or wrong". We fold to the left in the shape of a triangle, for this is where our hearts lie and it is with our hearts that we pledge Allegiance To The Flag Of The United States Of America And To The Republic For Which It Stands, One Nation Under God, Indivisible, With Liberty And Justice For All. We fold again to the left as a tribute to our Armed Forces, for it is through these same Armed Forces that we protect our Country and our Flat against all her enemies, whether they be found within or without the boundaries of our Republic. We fold to the right as a tribute to the one who entered into the valley of the shadow of death, that we might see the light of day and this fold is made to honor Mother, for whom it flies on Mother's Day. We fold again to the right as a tribute to our womanhood, for it has been through their faith, love, loyalty and devotion that the characters of the men that have made this Country great have been molded. We fold to the left as a tribute to Father, for he too has given of his sons and daughters for the defense of our Country since she was first born. We fold from the stripes towards the stars; for whereas the stripes represent the Thirteen Original Colonies that founded our Republic and they are now embodied in the fifty sovereign states represented by the stars, so that the stars cover the stripes. We fold to the right in the shape of a triangle, for in the eyes of a Hebrew citizen this represents the portion of the seal of King David and King Solomon and glorifies in their eyes the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. We fold once more to the right in the of a triangle, for in the eyes of a Christian citizen this represents an emblem of eternity and glorifies in their eyes God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. After the Flag is completely folded and tucked in, it takes on the appearance of a cocked had, ever reminding us of the soldiers who served under General George Washington and the sailor and marines who served under Captain John Paul Jones, and they, followed by their comrades and shipmates in the Armed Forces Of The United States have preserved for us the rights, privileges and freedom which we are enjoying today and with the Flag being completely folded, the stars are uppermost, which reminds us of our national motto, "IN GOD WE TRUST'. *********************************************** 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 concerning this group or membership contact Dennis Starks at, . A list of selected articles of interest to members can be seen at: http://www.softcom.net/users/buzz/backmail.html ***********************************************