> Can anyone out there tell me who makes the PRC-10 and PRC-77 back pac
> radios. Who sells them? and about what they would run, price wise, for both
> working and non-working units? Also, what kind of licenses are needed, if
> any? What are the frequencies ranges of these radios?
Like a lot of military equipment (whether they're radios, vehicles,
rifles, etc.), many companies got contracts to build PRC-10 radios. I
have a PRC-10 that was built by RCA with a 1951 contract date (so it
was probably built during or shortly after 1951), and a PRC-10A that
was built by Standard Winding Co. with a 1963 contract date. There
were probably something like a dozen different manufacturers over the
years, and I'd be surprised to find out that any were manufactured
after the mid-1960s or so.
I don't know who made PRC-77 sets, or when.
The PRC-10 set is continuously-tunable, and covers 38.0-54.9
MHz. There are also a couple other radios called the PRC-8 (20-27.9
MHz) and the PRC-9 (27-38.9 MHz); these radios look identical, and are
interchangeable except for operating in different frequency bands. The
PRC-8's band was intended for use by armored units, the PRC-9's band
was for artillery units, and the PRC-10's band was for infantry units.
You could legally operate the PRC-10 within the 50-54 MHz amateur
radio band (AKA the 6 meter band, because the wavelength of radio
waves in that band is about 6 meters) if you obtained an amateur
("ham") radio license. If you think you might want to do that, find
out if you have any local friends with ham radio licenses, who might
be willing to help you out. You also might see if you have any local
amateur radio stores nearby; they could probably tell you about any
local classes that might help you, and would certainly have training
books that you could use to study for the license. You would also need
to learn what your local band plans are, so that you don't transmit on
a frequency that would interfere with other things. The licence costs
aobut $5 and is good for 10 years. There are several different grades
of licenses to get, with different requirements and different
privileges. I have a "Technician" class license, which is the easiest
to get. The test covers some basic electronic theory, operating
practices, rules and regulations, and safety rules ("Duh, how come I
shouldn't climb that there 60' steel tower when it's a-thunderin,
Cletus?"). Don't let "electronic theory" scare you away; 10-year-old
kids and 80-year-old grandmas manage to pass the test, so you
certainly don't need a degree in electrical engineering to pass it
(though that sure made it a no-brainer for me! :-)
Above 54.0 MHz is TV channel 2. You don't want to transmit
there. Makes the neighbors hostile. 38-50 MHz is mosly commercial
bands, cordless phone, emergency services, etc. Stay out of there,
too, or you might find a marshall at your door. Oh, I should point out
that it's illegal to eavesdrop on cordless phone conversations, so
never, ever tune the radio between 46.5-47.0 or 49.5-50.0 MHz to
listen to your neighbors phone calls. You've been warned.
The PRC-77 covers 30.0-75.95 MHz in 50 kHz steps. I don't have one, so
I know a lot less about it.
Prices of both sets would vary widely depending upon condition, where
you buy it, and what accessories are included (i.e., battery box,
handset, antennas, backpack harness, canvas items, etc). A beat-up
probably-not-working PRC-10 without any accessories might be as low as
$10 at a ham radio swap if the seller isn't too hungry, and a complete
working set in mint condition with all accessories might cost a few
hundred. A PRC-77 would probably cost a LOT more, starting at a few
hundred bucks for a beat-up radio with no accessories, and approaching
several hundred bucks for a good one, and maybe even topping $1000 for
a complete vehicular installation with all mountings and
accessories. Be patient; it might take you months or years to find
exactly what you want and all of the accessories. Or you might stumble
on exactly what you want, the whole thing, in a big pile, with a big
"BUY ME KEN I COST $50" sign tomorrow morning on the way to work. I've
seen that whole spectrum in my own experience.
Possible sources for these radios, their accessories, and other green
radio gear includes the following:
1. local ham radio swap meets (generally have the lowest prices
here, because ham radio operators are just ordinary shmos, and
thus most of them don't have a whole lot of money to throw
around)
2. gun shows (prices tend to be high, because there are lots of
collectors at gun shows who want a piece of military radio gear,
but who don't really know what they're worth, and there are lots
of greedy sellers who know they can sell a beat up piece of junk
to some dumb rich guy)
3. army surplus stores (prices tend to be very high, just like in
number 2. except even the seller usually doesn't know anything
about the radio)
4. Military electronics surplus vendors such as:
Fair Radio Sales (in Lima, Ohio): call 419-223-2196 or email
fairadio@alpha.wcoil.com to request a catalog; prices can be a
bit high, because they have to pay for their wonderful catalog;
mostly have older stuff from the 50's-60's, but sometimes they
have some newer stuff or older WW-II stuff;
definitely order the catalog, and be prepared to drool a lot;
these guys have a lot of my money! For that matter, I'm expecting
a 150 lb. power supply from them sometime this week or next...
my UPS guy must hate me!
Murphy's Surplus Warehouse (near San Diego, CA): mostly has newer
stuff (Vietnam era through last week), call 619-444-7717 and ask
to speak to Mike, no catalog, just know what you want and how
much you want to spend
Before you think about getting one of these sets, ask yourself this
question: Who's going to fix it when it's broken? Keep in mind that it
might not be working when you get it.... Electronics is my hobby (and
my profession -- it's sure nice to be paid big bucks to do my hobby at
work!!), so I like working on my sets, I know how to do it, and I
didn't mind buying a whole bunch of test gear to work on my radios. If
you don't have the knowledge, time, money or inclination to work on
them yourself, you might get stuck with broken radios, or pay somebody
a bunch of bucks to fix them, or pay a big premium for working
radios. I'm not trying to discourage you, but think about it before
you buy. A PRC-10 that you find at a swap meet might be almost 50
years old, and it might take a lot of TLC and $$$ to make it work
again. If you plan to do your own repair work, then be prepared to buy
some test equipment (ham swap meets can be a good place to start for
cheap), and look for the repair manuals for the sets. Ironically, the
older pre-Vietnam stuff is a lot easier to work on, because the
manuals were a lot better-written. Before the Vietnam-era stuff, the
repair guy needed to know how the radio worked, but later manuals
generally just tell you how to swap out whole bad modules without
really knowing what's going on.
Good luck!
-- Mark J. Blair KE6MYK e-mail: mblair@gruumsh.irv.ca.us DO NOT SEND ANY UNSOLICITED COMMERCIAL EMAIL TO THIS SITE=== To unsubscribe from the mil-veh mailing list, send the single word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of a message to <mil-veh-request@skylee.com>.