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Old 02-07-2015, 19:27   #31
Elfstone44
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Thanks Tim, actually I still have a bug and my CW skills are pretty good still...one doesn't forget how to ride a bicycle.

As for that attack on FOB-4, I missed it by two days....I passed through there on 25 Aug 68 coming from FOB-2 Kontum heading out on R&R to Bangkok. Sat on the beach and watched a cruiser come boiling up over the horizon, level off about 2 kliks from shore and bombard some target for 30 min, then put the hammer down and with a huge rooster tail head back over the horizon...great theater...from a "Japanese on Iwo Jima" prospective.

I will be testing my 109 next weekend. I have no crystals but those are $10 a piece on the web. And who knows, when this wanderlust gets out of my system, going back to Ham radio seems somehow more pure than the internet.
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Old 02-07-2015, 20:31   #32
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Team radios ca. 1977

Not sure why I didn't post this before - this picture was given to me to show how to lay out our team radios for inspection - pretty much captures what we had at that time, though I note that the coder-burst equipment isn't shown. Two complete AN/GRC-109s with all the extra bits..

Would you like a nice trigraph for your collection?

Hartley
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Old 02-07-2015, 20:35   #33
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hartley View Post
Not sure why I didn't post this before - this picture was given to me to show how to lay out our team radios for inspection - pretty much captures what we had at that time, though I note that the coder-burst equipment isn't shown. Two complete AN/GRC-109s with all the extra bits..

Would you like a nice trigraph for your collection?

Hartley
Great photo! Note the M-3 bag (Dental Kit) in the upper right corner ready for inspection.
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Old 02-07-2015, 20:57   #34
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Best site I've found on the AN/GRC-109:

http://www.n6cc.com/angrc-109-special-forces-radio-set

I'll be posting two photos which didn't make the cut...one from 10th SFG Rocky Burris which shows several radios laid out for some sort of demo and another from the above site with the burst transmitter.

Rocky Burris:

http://i1292.photobucket.com/albums/...psa52b2b6e.jpg

Burst transmitter:
http://i1292.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6bc3b01e.jpg

Last edited by Elfstone44; 02-07-2015 at 21:01.
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Old 02-07-2015, 22:59   #35
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Hi - Well if you want to try the transmitter, there are a couple of places to get ham-band crystals. These guys http://www.expandedspectrumsystems.com/prod4.html have a good collection but they are wire-lead types so you must adapt them to the crystal socket (and they are cheap!) It's what I generally use. Also try AF4K.COM (no connection to either outfit). Yep - one doesn't forget CW, just have to clear some rust out occasionally...
Hartley: Nice photo, ready for inspection!...But you DO show the GRA-71 code burst kit, approximately in the center of the photo, below the receiver/transmitters. It's all there. Those gas generators are different though. Interesting.

That website www.n6cc.com is mine. It's where I've been putting my research on these sets plus recent photos of boondocks ops with mine. There is also a post on the RS-6 set if you are familiar with them too. Similar capability as the '109 but a lot smaller and lighter.
It all works!
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Old 02-08-2015, 07:12   #36
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Wow Tim...that's your site??!!! www.n6cc.com?? What a great resource and an outstanding compilation of material - history, operational tips. That is truly excellent.

Last edited by Elfstone44; 02-08-2015 at 07:16.
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Old 02-08-2015, 10:55   #37
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Elfstone,

Unless I'm mistaken you have not followed the site rules and introduced yourself. You risk the wrath of the moderators if you do not comply with some simple requirements. and that would be a shame as I believe the info you placed in your profile to be true.


Just my $.02.

.
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Old 02-08-2015, 13:13   #38
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Site rules

Be glad to introduce myself. Can I do it here or is there a place to do it. Thought when I registered with the site in 2008? it had my bio.

Name: Gene H. Williams
-- Joined army 03 Jan 1965
-- Jun 65 - Benning Jump School then straight to Smoke Bomb Hill
-- Dec 65 - Graduated from SFTG - assigned to 3rd SFG - 05B2S
-- Jul 66 - Assigned to 5th SFG.
-- Jul 66-15 Aug 66 - Nha Trang
-- 15 Aug 66-01 Dec 66 - Commo at B-23 Ban Me Thout (many pics)
-- 01 Dec 66 - late Jul 67 - A-233 Ban Don (Trang Phuc) 05B4S
-- Aug 67-Mar 68 - 10th SFG, Bad Tolz (Lengries), FRG
-- Apr 68-Nov 68 - MACV SOG, FOB-2, Kontum - 1-0 of RT Deleware (succeeded Terry Dahling)
-- ETS - 03 Nov 1968

Subsequently joined the State Department and have spent 25 years out of the last 40 abroad; I've travelled to Afghanistan and Pakistan some 18 times since 9/11.
I'll add, biological father killed in Normandy with 508 PIR (82nd Airborne); Step-father got his ham license in 1929 (four letter/digit something like K4RT) and was the first Phd in electrical engineering ever given at Univ of Florida.

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Old 02-08-2015, 19:40   #39
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The copy of the article on Military photos was a little small and difficult to read. Here is Lonny's on-line edition of the February 'The Sentinel" which can be easier read. But now that I know Tim posts here, I'm a little embarrassed and can only plead limited column space and a need to make it readable for the layman for it's banality.

http://specialforces78.com/wp-conten...tinel-News.pdf
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Old 02-08-2015, 20:23   #40
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No worries! Very interesting article, good, new info! "The Jeep of Radios" - I like it!

You've been around the block - I just write about it...LOL
Tim N6CC
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Old 02-15-2015, 20:01   #41
Elfstone44
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Tim...need a 60's era speaker for my 109. I see a lot of vintage LS-454 speakers on e-bay. I think I saw one on your site as well. Good choice? By the way, what earphones are you guys wearing on your site? I can't remember what we used.
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Old 02-15-2015, 23:03   #42
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Hi - The receiver is designed to deliver 30 milliwatts (not much!) into a 4000 ohm headset. The issued headset is the H-65/U and they can be seen in Hartley's neat "inspection" photo. They are somewhat rare....The set will also work with the HS-30 or any other high impedance headset - it is otherwise pretty versatile.. The LS-454 speakers are 600 ohms and will work in a pinch if that's all you have - and it won't be very loud and somewhat distorted due to the impedance mismatch. Modern 8 ohm headsets won't work - the impedance is way too low. You can also try a Radio Shack (maybe a going out of business sale!) little amplified speaker. They work well and also allow others to listen in too. Not MilSpec, but Improvise, Adapt, Overcome....... The receivers also sound good on international shortwave broadcast stations in the evenings. Have fun!
Tim
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Old 02-16-2015, 09:38   #43
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Headsets for the 109

Those HS-65 headsets set the record for "least comfortable headset -evah" - they might have been OK when they were new, but as they aged, the rubber ear cup parts got hard and they would give you an earache right away. Most olde commo guys I knew had acquired a set of high-impedance headsets of their own.
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Old 02-17-2015, 19:29   #44
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Very true - very uncomfortable. Even the newer ones made for the VRC-12 series FM sets had the same problem. The HS-30 was no prize either - although those could be worn under a steel pot helmet. Some old school high impedance sets worked great, you could slide them forward a bit and wear them for a long time. The best ones were the WWII aviation headsets with the chamois cushions - especially in cold weather! LOL
Tim
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Old 02-21-2015, 22:31   #45
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Yes, I remember in Fall 1965 we all bought out own headsets...just as we bought our own bugs before heading to Vietnam. But darned if I can remember where we bought them from or what they were. I may have some old pics from that December 1965 exercise up in Pisgah....have to dig through some stuff and will post them if I can find them. In the meantime, following Tim's recommendation, a $15 Radio Shack speaker is doing the job.
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