Midwest Military Communications Museum Year End 2000;
I just must do a little bragging, as this has been a great year for the
acquisition of some very long sought after equipment, and too, some
totally unexpected surprises. Aside from a few Ebay adventures, this
success has been totally the result of help received from fellow Group
members.
OPS Series Equipment,(Vietnam, Office of Public Safety)
An extremely rare version of OPS/FM-5 built by Motorola came up on Ebay.
It's price quickly went up further than I was able to either comprehend
or afford. I called Jim Hopper and told him the radio was available &
jokingly told him to buy it for me. He did! He paid a bunch more for it
than I would have, but he got it & sent the unopened box on to me without
even having a peek. This is quite significant as Jim is a Motorola
collecting fool, and this example may well be a one of a kind! Along with
it came a much needed manual for the Hallicrafters version. I fear that I
may be kissing Jim's ass for some time to come.
The original source for the Ebay/FM-5 Jim Hopper got me, was Ken Hoppe
in Hawaii who was forced to sell out his extremely attractive collection
because of a move. He took pity on this poor Hill Billy and donated three
more radios to my cause. All Motorolas, the first was an early, yet
common HT-200, but included were a new boxed pair of Motorola lowband
"Handie Com" portables. These were Motorola's very first solid state
portables. They are a little larger than very early pagers, and have
Art-Deco styled cabinets(transmitter & receiver packaged separately).
Extremely rare, most Motorola affectionates don't even know these ever
existed. Others are sometimes aware of the highband versions, but have
never heard of the lowband models.
The last OPS/Ebay/Hoppe set was another rare example, and the last of
the Hallicrafters FM series. This sleeper went for a pittance on Ebay
possibly because few people realized it's significants. The "Hand
Command" VHF HT is basically a modernized & repackaged FM-1(versions were
also built & marketed as the "Ham Command" for the 2 meter Ham use). They
use the same board as the FM-1 series HT's(VHF/FM versions of the HT-1
"Hamlet Radio"), and boast a more modern pre-packaged nicad battery &
rubber antenna.
Most significant of all is the fact that all these radios had been the
personal property of Paul Katz who was the Radio Industries Engineer who
designed and installed the entire Village & Hamlet radio system in
Vietnam. Very depressing is the fact that Ken sold a number of other sets
via Ebay that I was unable to purchase due to financial limitations(or
Snipers), I sincerely hope that their purchasers realize this historic
significance.
Often mentioned Hamfestin buddy Ike V. came up with a real nice, and
long sought after TR-5(with Vietnamese front panel). It's data plate was
missing and it doesn't have any gut's, but it's better than the nothing I
had. He later came through with several boxes of remote controls, spare
boards, miscellaneous parts & manuals from another source.(Now if I could
only find me a TR-9, TR-10, & -TR-20 to go with them.)
Foreign Sets:
As time has passed over the last 20 years it has become more and more
difficult for the average collector lusting after my extras to pry them
from me. But it's not impossible! Ray Robinson & Pete Williams of
Australia have both found what it takes. Pete saw fit to part with two
radio sets of significance(along with accessories). The first was a WW-II
backpack HF set of Australian origin, the Mk-108. The second set, of
equal interest & same type was an Astor ATR-2B. Both these were traded
for an ARR-41(aircraft crap!).
Ray Robinson, lusting after one of my extra Pogo-Sticks decided to swap
me a fully equipped & operational 3BZ(of WW-II Coast Watcher's fame).
Pete had planned to hand deliver the Astor ATR-2 to me this winter, but
it got bumped to bring me Ray's 3BZ instead(it being far more rare &
fragile). Sorrily though, Pete got stuck in southern California due to
this years nasty weather & poor planning, so the 3BZ had to make the last
leg of it's journey via UPS. Pete has promised to try again in October,
I'm going to hold him to it!
Several years ago I wrote you all an article on the marvelous Australian
A-510 set. I made a vow at that time to someday own me one. John Mackesy
& Steve Hill, both of Australia saw to it that I got one. In fact, I got
two! Steve compensated John for his $35au hamfest investment and shipping
to him, he then combine it with the set he had gotten me and forwarded
them on. Steve got a nice R-392 for his efforts(but I made him pay the
shipping on both the A-510's & the 392. Ain't I an ass!)
Ray is currently negotiating with me for a PE-157 to go with his
Pogo-Stick. All he's been able to offer up so far is an incomplete Mk-38
set. ya think I should make him suffer a little longer?
Not just foreigners have been coming up with the foreign goodies. Joe
Pinner wanted my junker BC-222, and a PE-157 for his Pogo-Stick. He
offered up, & I accepted, a British Special Forces MK-128(kinda looks
like a cross between a miniature GRC-9 & a GRC-109). To my great surpise
this is one NEET little radio set complete with canvas bag, antenna, key
etc. Now I need a manual ta go with it.
Alan Tasker cut me in on one of his many deals which resulted in my
getting a German PRT-37/47. Great radio with lotsa audio output from it's
internal loud speaker for us hearing impaired.
An over abundance of BC-348's here have plagued my limited storage
facilities for years. Chuck Melton & Peter Berg both came to my rescue.
Chuck replaced one of my 348's with a mint Mod 19 Mk II complete with ALL
it's accessories, thanks to the U.S. Postal Service though, the mount got
lost! Peter had an extra inverter power supply for the BC-611, and an
extra SEM-35 with accessories. These were plenty enough excuse to rid
myself of some more aircraft crap.
And as you may have all read, Ralph Hogan made the mistake of bringing
along an SEM-35 & FSE-38/58 for Show & Tell when he visited last spring.
If you read the story you already know he wasn't allowed to leave with
them.
Two more Desert Storm Trophies made their way here too. A German
E-6862(SE-6862), and Iraqi built French TRC-552, were received in trade
for an RS-6. All the promised accessories didn't show up, and the party
will not answer messages about them, but I guess I was lucky anyway.
The most recent additions came from Canada, 2ea CPRC-26's & 2ea
CPRC-510's. Though I've had multiples of both these radio sets for years,
and they didn't come cheep, they included some ultra rare accessories
that I just couldn't let get away. Most noteworthy was their canvas carry
bags, I didn't even know that the CPRC-510 was carried in a bag, and I
got an original Canadian manual in the deal too. Though I already had a
canvas bag for my CPRC-26, like most, if not all, of the very few found
in the U.S., it is a Dutch variant. I also got the carry straps for all
these too, but I'm still missing some of the buckles(standard UK type)
that connect the straps to the bags. The swap netted me a some very
desirable pieces but left me with a bunch more extras to dispose of. Oh
well, such is life.
PRC, URC, GRC's:
Over the last four years, due in very large part to member
contributions, I've been able to almost double the information needed to
close some of the gaps between the known & unknown PRC designated
Equipment types. But the net gain has not just been information.
Alan Tasker(& others) and I have often pooled our efforts rather than
compete especially when bidding on Ebay. This has resulted in a number of
fruitful endeavors. The first was a pair of PRC-33's which came up on
Ebay. Both where in mint condition, & while the radios themselves are
rare, these included antennas, manual, mics, and canvas carry bags which
are very nearly, if not, extinct. We both got us a set! Alan later
donated a PRC-17 to my cause, I suppose I should get off my butt and find
him the MAB carry bag he needs.
For many years I have lusted after a PRC-70, but lust is all I ever
expected to have. One was offered up for $700 if I could prove that I was
indeed a museum. Buying it would mean eating nothing but saltine crackers
& bologna for a month, but I had to have it! The purchase was made and
the radio was shipped straight to Jim Karlow(valued member & friend) so
he could give it a good going over. He not only went through it but
installed selectable SSB, opened up FM for the lower bands, and provided
me with an extra front panel complete with all controls. For this service
he would accept no compensation, what a great guy! Later he sent me a kit
for selectable SSB to install in my recently acquired PRC-74B.
While I've had a PRC-74 for years, a PRC-74B had always eluded me. I
finally got me one from Mark Burgess in swap for a PRC-68 & some cash..
In short order a complete set of accessories including antennas(yes the
whip & mount too), key, code burst cable, the works, all in their canvas
carry bag was had from Ebay for $40, yes $40! Good deals can be had on
Ebay for the non-moronic! Another rarity & Ebay sleeper are the PRC174
carry harnesses recently offered for $20. The PRC-174 is an Israeli built
PRC-74 I/E a CHEEP way to carry your PRC-74 and all but a couple of you
missed it! DAHHH! Actually, these carry harnesses look exactly like an
ST-138 for the PRC-25/77 but the shelf is a little wider and is located
lower on the harness.
Among the other items Ralph brought with him during his visit was a
nylon carry bag/backpack harness. He pulled it from his car saying "I'll
bet you know what this is for, I got it at a surplus store hoping you
would". Big mistake on his part and one I hope he repeats on his next
visit! Though I'd never seen one, it's dimensions & appropriately placed
pouches & access slots immediately said PRC-108. I had purchased one ten
years or so ago from Steve Haney(one of their ex CAP radios) and had
given up hope of ever locating anything for it. Needless to say, Ralph
was not allowed to leave with this item either. Sadly, Ralph was the
winning bidder on a PRC-108 a month or two ago, but he ain't got no carry
harness/bag ta go with it. I might add, Ralph brought with him only one
item for Show & Tell that he was able to leave with, a Browning High
Power, but I'll get it some day.
Dave Stinson has a bad (but appreciated) habit of making desperate phone
calls to me from Hamfest to ask what such & such is, and do I want it.
Seldom is his description adequate enough to tell what the hell it is
he's talking about. My general response is "if it's cheep, buy it!" (this
has often backfired on me). But it did net me a supper clean PRC-74 with
accessories for $80, and a large pile of GRC-9 goodies for $150. The last
time he made such a call though he pulled a big dummy! He asked what an
RDR was, I said "big, black, ugly, worthless, Navy, UHF, receiver". A few
days later the damn thing showed up in my front yard! Dave said, "it was
cheep"! Bless his well meaning dumb ass heart!
Ike found several of the UHF component R/Ts for the PRC-72 (RT-837). He
GAVE me one, serial number 2! I'm sure he'll remind me when need is felt.
Another radio who's commercial & collector value has caused me to pass
them over in favor of something more rare, practical, or affordable, is
the PRC-127. Ike found me a commercial Bendix King that would fill this
void temporarily, shortly after it rained PRC-127's on me. Alan Tasker
lucked into a small quantity of them & passed his good fortune on to the
Group, I think it was $100 a copy or there abouts. Ken Hoppe also had
some in the collection he was liquidating, he priced them at $120 & I got
two of um. I longed for 15 years for a Pogo-Stick, any condition was
acceptable, one day I still had none, the next I had six(all from
different sources), history does repeat itself!
Ken Hoppe also sold me a URC-101 for $220. Richard McClung came through
almost simultaneously with a full set of Motorola training manuals for
it. Now how often does that happen!? Richard also came up with a long
sought after manual for my Stoner PMC-12(1968 vintage HF/SSB backpack
transceiver). It doesn't have any service information in it, but I'm damn
glad to have it.
Last year Randy Zelick traded me a supper slick URC-35 with all the
trimmings for a PRC-47(plus a little ta boot). He also gave me a
monstrous pile of old GE Porta-Mobiles & accessories. In return I've sent
him some considerable tonnage of junk that has been clogging my access
ways for years. Pound for pound I'm sure I got the best of him.
Hank Arnet wanted a Sunair GCU-935 antenna tuner that I'd purchased at
an estate sale last summer. Among the goodies he had to swap was an
R-1051. I don't like R-1051's mainly because I had to babbysit a room
full of the damn things while in the Navy. But I felt that the URC-35
needed a companion, so a deal was struck & the swap made. Now I need the
side mounts so the 1051 can be properly stacked atop the URC-35. Maybe
someday I'll have the time to fire all this stuff up & see if it works!
Years ago I traded a south east coast dealer for a GRC-165. Contrary to
the aggreement the radio arived inoperable, without it's accessories, and
turned out to in fact be a commercial RF-301 vice a GRC-165. I sent it
back! In the interaum years I've longed for one of those complete sets
being offered by Mike Murphy & Fair Radio at around the $600 mark. But as
most of you already know, I either lacked the needed funds, or was simply
too cheep to spend the money. A month ago, after sending him one of my
commercial/business band equippment catalogs, Mike Murphy responded with
a long list of items and a note attached, "do I have anything you'd trade
for these?". OH BOY! I now have two GRC-165's! Mike also allowed me to
pay off our PRR-9 Group Project debt via the barter system.
WW-II & Before:
About six years ago I was involved in a very serious car accident while
returning home from a hamfest. As a result I was forced to sell some of
the rarest items from the Museum's collection to pay bills. It's been a
long time coming, but I now have replaced all those treasures I was
forced to sell. The last set to be replaced, and do to it's rarity I saw
no sense in even trying, were those components used in the SCR-178, -179
etc (BC-187, -188, 186 etc). Bruce Hafner knowing that I'd be at the
Peoria Ill hamfest contacted me with an offer to meat & swap me out of my
extra A-510. He not only had the receiver, transmitter, modulator, but
also the battery box, and these were all contained in the chest! Though
there are still some items I need to find for this set, I now have more
than I ever did before.
Two BC-9's were purchased site unseen for $125. to my dismay they
arrived in pieces with maybe enough parts to complete one transceiver.
Bob Simpson happened by within a couple days, and as I was expecting him
& I knew of his intense love for 1920'ds vintage radios of all kinds, I
purposely left it laying out where he'd stumble over it. I told him that
as he had nothing to do this winter he should take it home with him & put
it all back together for me. My plan worked! A message was received from
Bob yesterday to inform me that it was all back together and that aside
from all the ancillary equipment that went with the set, all I needed was
the 10-milliamp panel meter, and three VT-1 tubes.
This is not the first time I've been able to con Bob into restoring
something for me. At the Washington Hamfest this summer I was approached
by an old guy who had brought me a couple radios. I asked "where are
they" he said "in the trunk of my car". So we walked the 1/4 mile to the
parking lot, he opened the trunk to reveal, oh shit, another damn BC-604,
and a very badly cannibalized BC-312. Feeling sorry for the old guy as he
had brought these things all this way just for me, I gave him $45 for the
two. I lugged the stuff back to base camp & threw it on top the pile of
other hamfest booty. Bob came by & got to digging through the pile with a
special interest on the junk BC-312. He inspected the hell out of that
old scrap thing, then alerted me that this was not another BC-312, but a
rare BC-344(the VLF version). It had no cabinet, and it looked to me as
though numerous major parts were missing, but Bob saw great promise in
the hulk. So I told him ta take it home with him & see what he could do
with it, if he needed anything for it, come over & get it. Bob came over
a couple weeks later to get a heavily modified, but operational, BC-312
that I had to use for parts. His message of yesterday informed me that
the BC-344 is also ready to go.
Years ago Charlie DeCecca gave me what he figured was a salvageable
BC-474. While I was ecstatic to get it, it had been heavily "Hammed up"
and I had very little hope of ever restoring it to it's original military
glory. But for lack of a better example, it has remained here on display
all these years with the hopes that someday a better one might come
along. Dave Stinson found a quantity of unused sets of legs for them last
year, and passed them along to the rest of us. But still I had no radio
to attach them to(the mounts were gone off the radio Charlie gave me).
Finally! Glen (DKWkid) found one and shipped it to me. I in returned sent
him some commercial Motorola stuff. It's not perfect, and it's missing
it's cover, but it's in pretty darn good shape.
Another rare radio set that has frustrated me for years is the TRC-2(160
meter version of, and companion to, the BC-1306). I had traded Steve
Bartkowski for one several years ago, but once it arrived I noticed that
some dumb shit had replaced it's transmitter with one from a BC-1306.
Well, it would just hafta do until a better one came along. And in June
this year one did! John Liner offered to trade me one. He inspected my
offerings several times, then possibly due the threat of reprisal from
his better half, offered to just send me the thing for the cost of
postage. He didn't hafta offer twice!!
As usual WW-II Navy items were much more difficult to find. About the
only thing worthy of note was a 110vac power supply for my TBX which was
had for $35. A pair of TBS's were offered but somehow negotiations fell
through.
Manuals:
There are some radios that I've had for many years, but lacking any
manuals I've not been able to repair, operate, or even keep a lookout for
the needed accessories not knowing what those accessories were. But this
year has surpassed all the previous years combined when I count library
acquisitions. I recently spent two weeks updating the Museum's library
inventory so that it could be placed on the MCGP web site. The list was
45 pages long! Alan Tasker has a masterful nack for finding the rarest of
manuals, especially for late model stuff. I need not even look for them,
I just set back & wait for him to inform me that he's found them, and
that a copy is on it's way. Such has been the case with more than I can
count, PRC-68, 126, 136, 138, and many MANY others.
Bruce Gentry sent me a manual for my 5kw generator, Ray Robinson sent
one for my WS#108, Tim Cadigan provided copies of manuals for my lowband
MT-500s. And as already noted Richard McClung sent a complete set of
URC-101 manuals, and one for the PMC-12. Glen Little provided a stack of
Bendix King/PRC-127 info. Dale Fravel traded me all the Harris RF-230
manuals I was too cheep to pay Harris $130ea for(also a mic & power
cable).
Oddball Stuff:
While maybe not actively looking for some things sometimes they just pop
up & ya gotta take advantage of the opportunity. Such has been the case
several times this year!
Back in April Jim Mahaffey came across some very interesting
surveillance items while digging through the personal effects of an ex
CIA agent. I didn't personally have all that much interest in them but
felt it was most important that they all be properly documented. So a
swap was agreed to, and I had him to send all the items directly to Pete
McCollum so's he could write us up articles about them, take pictures,
and add this all to his already impressive web site. Pete decided he
wanted to keep this stuff, so another swap was done. So Jim got a
BC-1000, a couple subminiature cameras(Tynar, Minolta, & Steky), Pete got
his spy stuff, and I now have a really nice Japanese type 32 "cavalry
trooper's sword" hanging on the wall.
Two months ago a radio surfaced that I had only seen in pictures, and
seriously doubted that it actually existed. A Hallicrafters HT-21
"Draggie Talkie". It's a 1952 vintage portable FM transceiver complete
with original antenna, internal vibrator power supply, wet cell
batteries, and Civil Defence markings. The price was right so I bought
it. To my great surprise, the guy had two of them on matched frequencies,
so I bought the second one too. I made the major mistake of bragging
about them to Jim Hopper who immediately became ecstatic. I suppose I'm
gonna hafta send him one now in order to partially pay him back for the
Motorola FM-5.
Weaponry:
Though often maligned in print, I've always loved the little Enfield
"Jungle Carbine", Drew Ballard just happened to have one, and a Smith
"Victory" model 38. He wanted a BC-1306, and a DAV-2. Well I just
happened to have extras of both so another swap was on. Some months later
all was accomplished(I'm shamefully slow some times).
I've wanted an M-1 Garand ever sense I was old enough to heft one. Even
back in the mid 70's all I could do was salivate over the K buck examples
rarely seen at a gun shop. My ship came in! A friend found two ex-VFW
guns and one of them had my name on it. As usual, funds were short, but
this time I was in luck! 2ea UHF Midland mobiles, and 2ea UHF Maxon HT's
later, and the Garand is now hanging above my fire place.
Noted Hamfestin buddy Ike V. has a real talent for finding things to
taunt me with. He takes great delight in exerting this talent & did so a
number of times this year(and he dearly loves to add playing 'hard to
get' to the game). He had a mint 1903A3, it cost me a KWM-2A. He came
down with a WW-II Utica combat knife and a hand full of various Marine
Corps combat knife variants. I don't remember what all it cost me but as
usual Ike's mini-van was riding low when it left here.
Friend Bob Simpson too made a couple of pilgrimages to see me this year
I/We must pity Bob some as I have good reason to suspect he suffers from
brain damage. He's a retired ETC who twice re-enlisted for Adack Alaska!
Suffice to say I swapped him out of all his good stuff years ago, so now
I must be content to accept the tribute he brings along to appease me.
I'll throw him an occasional bone to keep him interested, or bribe him
into coming up to haul off some of the junk that's been growing in the
yard for years. The last trip, this poor dumb bastard hauled off a
BC-640, it took some serious grunting & a lot of nasty language to get it
loaded in his truck. He also hauled off hundreds of pounds of SCR-522
crap, BC-639's, and assorted other shit. Thank God for mental defectives,
Ok, so I hauled the stuff home to begin with so maybe I should shut up!
I'll refrain from further comments until Bob finishes the BC-9 he's
restoring for me. He did add to my collection an 1886 Lebel Carbine, 98
Mauser bayonet, and several other trinkets.
Forest Service Radios:
Two years ago Lenox Carruth traded me a mysterious Signal Corps marked
Forest Service radio set model SPF. This started an almost fruitless
search for the purpose of this radio and others in it's family. Joe
Pinner found a book on the subject and loaned it to me. Hue Miller found
another and had a reproduction made for me. Steve Hill turned up a
magazine article that mensioned the Australian verison (Astor ATR-4) and
sent me a copy. Between these three valuable referance tools a pretty
good understanding of these radios and their contributions to
communications theory, application, & history were had. Hardware also
began to turn up. Dave Stinson found me a WW-II Coast Guard marked model
SX in Alaska for $115. Alan Tasker traded me a Type SF walkie talkie (the
very first VHF/FM hand held ever built). A Radio Specialties VHF/FM
portable was found for $40 along with it's canvas bag & manual(Radio
Specialties made a number of PRC designated radios for the military). Ike
found me a Morrow 10 meter AM handie that had been in use by the Forest
Service in the early 50's(but for pictures in period magazines, this
radio was almost thought to be myth). And Joe Pinner has offered up
another, this one being a type FX. I don't yet know what it is exactly,
nor have I yet to find anything to appease him with, but I will!
All the above is just the very tip of the iceberg.
This has been a VERY GOOD YEAR & I sincerely thank you all.
Dennis Starks; Collector/Historian
Midwest Military Communications Museum
Cross Timbers Mo.
Editor & Sponsor of the "Military Collector Group Post"
email: military-radio-guy@juno.com
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Feb 05 2001 - 07:13:45 PST