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Old 10-16-2014, 08:43   #16
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In the 05B course, we were taught that lugging the seat and cranking the G were what LTs were goof for!
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Old 10-16-2014, 09:35   #17
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In the 05B course, we were taught that lugging the seat and cranking the G were what LTs were goof for!
Thank God for promotions!!!! Made Captain, took command of an ODA and NEVER LOOKED BACK!!! NOT!!! LOL!!!!

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Old 10-17-2014, 20:50   #18
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waiting for Comm Time

The message has been encrypted on a one time pad (thank you DIANA). The antenna has been measured and strung. The 1LT, wearing "smokey" jungle fatigues over a thin waist, has his powerful arms bared.
In a few minutes it will be crank-crank-crank until sweat soaks his OD green t-shirt, but until then he uses the antenna bag as a pillow to catch a few minutes of sleep, lulled by the steady beep-beep-beep-BEEP of WWV, BBC, or Kol Shalom.

Ah, the good old days.
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Old 12-13-2014, 22:14   #19
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ANGRC109 and a smaller transistorized version

When I was with Co B, 20th SFG (A) in Jackson MS we had ANGRC 109s. They were all we had so we used them and adjusted our training to make them really useful. Every 05B had a working knowledge of CW and antenna theory so it was not a stretch to make them work for us. RF burns were like WWII M-1 thumbs. They were a curse from the beast. After a little practice, trial and error, they were a great radio set. The antennas were a product of theory, trial and error, and lots of practice. One of the traditions we developed was that the person who wrote the message cranked the generator when it was sent. Kept 'em short and concise.
I moved to Co A 20th SFG in Montgomery AL for a short while and we had a version of 109 that was small and transistorized. I can't remember it's exact nomenclature but it worked exactly the same. The Transmitter, Receiver, and "small" Power supply would exactly fit -one each in a field jacket pocket. It had all the performance without the bulk and weight. There was nothing you could do with he generator except lug it and the seat. We found some very inventive ways to get AC power. "Good Old Days?" I wouldn't change a thing!
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Old 12-17-2014, 19:24   #20
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GRC-109 / RS-6

Hi WTB - Good stuff...Thanks.
I wonder if the smaller set you were using might be the RS-6? It has the same basic capability, power output etc and is CW. The Transmitter, Receiver and Power Filter/Adapter are much smaller than the '109 components and they are each a good fit to M-65 field jacket pockets. However they were not transistorized, still miniature vacuum tubes.. They also used the GN-58/G-43 hand generators. Transistors showed up in the next generation gear (like the PRC-64, PRC-104) but not as 3 separate units. Does RS-6 ring a bell??
Thanks,Tim
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Old 01-01-2015, 20:10   #21
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Mini '109

The nomenclature is lost in my memory but the description is exactly right. We didn't open one of them up to look inside because they worked really good and no one wanted to "Fix something that wasn't broken" The transistor remark was off the cuff. Lots of radio receivers were getting smaller and smaller using transistors then.

In spare moments we would hook one of these up to a 100 ft inverted "L" longwire and "Talk" to the hams on the MARS network. They were usually talking to each other vocally. We would try to "Break" using our CW. Once in a while we would get a response. One guy copied our CW and answered us in voice. That was cool!

The little guys had lots of power and worked great. This was in 1968. At 71 I really have a bad case of CRS. Thanks for the info.
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Old 01-01-2015, 21:08   #22
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RS-6 versus GRC-109

Hi WBT - It could have been the RS-6 set you were using. Back then, MARS operators you worked would have been CW qualified. The GRC-109/RS-1 referenced at the beginning of this thread was in service for a long time and it is a contemporary of the smaller RS-6. Incidentally, two equipment cache containers were recently sold on EBay. They had been found in the attic a building in Austria and had been cached there in 1961. The cache included a complete RS-6 set as well as a comm plan, crypto encode/decode materials, one-time pads etc.
A pretty interesting "find".... There is a CIA FOIA declassified release with the contents - including radio serial numbers - of this particular cache.
I have some info in a post on the RS-6 here - it includes a photo of the Austrian equipment cache.
http://www.n6cc.com/the-rs-6-radio-set
Does that set look familiar?
Thanks for your service..!
Tim
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Old 01-02-2015, 17:51   #23
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that's the one

The RS-6 shown is definitely it. I loved the little radio set. Would love to find a set for sale or a 109. Right now I have a fair SW receiver (Doesn't have antenna lugs but can be hacked w/soldering iron if needed.) Not much CW on it. I am looking at a Zenith Trans Oceanic MOD 550. This is something that has recently come into my head as a "Nice To Have" in case of SHTF. My dad had one when he was in Korea in 1950-51.

It has been a long time since learning code but I remember more of it than I thought I would. Not only CW but the Q and S codes too. A little practice and I'll be copying 8-10 words and sending an equal number.

73's
Bill T.
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Old 01-04-2015, 00:41   #24
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RS-6 and code practice schedule

OK Bill - That's the RS-6. Still very usable and reliable, they occasionally show up for sale on EBay but they are getting rather expensive these days...They have a collectors following and some are on the air with Hams.
Code: Many say it is like riding a bicycle. Once you learn it, "re-acquiring" comes fairly easily with some practice. With your receiver, you might want to listen in to Ham station W1AW in Connecticut. They transmit practice CW sessions per the freqs/times in this link:
http://www.arrl.org/code-transmissions
Have fun with it - a handy skill to have.....
Tim
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Old 02-06-2015, 20:26   #25
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I was asked by Lonny Holmes...former medic with 46th Company, Plei Djarang and II-Corps Mike Force, and former President of SF Association in S.California and editor of their award winning mag "The Sentinel" to write an article on the AN/GRC-109. I was in Africa last month but the request, along with my purchase of a 109 on the internet, took me back 50 years and I wrote it in the hotel in Conakry.

I posted the article on www.militaryphotos.net here. It's a bit simplified since I was writing for an audience broader than the ham radio group and had limited column space. But the 109 deserved the attention; It is a genuine piece of American military history and deserves its place alongside the half-track mounted quad .50 (now why did that come to my mind?)

You'll note I cribbed a photo from the web-site of one of our contributors and my predecessor as 1-0 of RT Delaware at FOB-2 in 1968.

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums...ead.php?244310
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Old 02-06-2015, 22:40   #26
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The message has been encrypted on a one time pad (thank you DIANA).
Need I say, thank you ARTEMIS also ....

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Old 02-06-2015, 22:42   #27
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Originally Posted by Elfstone44 View Post
I was asked by Lonny Holmes...former medic with 46th Company, Plei Djarang and II-Corps Mike Force, and former President of SF Association in S.California and editor of their award winning mag "The Sentinel" to write an article on the AN/GRC-109. I was in Africa last month but the request, along with my purchase of a 109 on the internet, took me back 50 years and I wrote it in the hotel in Conakry.

I posted the article on www.militaryphotos.net here. It's a bit simplified since I was writing for an audience broader than the ham radio group and had limited column space. But the 109 deserved the attention; It is a genuine piece of American military history and deserves its place alongside the half-track mounted quad .50 (now why did that come to my mind?)

You'll note I cribbed a photo from the web-site of one of our contributors and my predecessor as 1-0 of RT Delaware at FOB-2 in 1968.

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums...ead.php?244310
Read the article, right on the money. Good work!

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Old 02-07-2015, 15:47   #28
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GRC-109/RS-1

Hi Elfstone - Very nice article on the GRC-109. Glad you were able to dig up some pix - there are very few of the '109 being used operationally.
The GRC-109 is a rugged, reliable field radio as you described. I use mine almost daily on Ham frequencies - good fun. In the past 6 weeks I have worked Hams in 27 states, including Alaska and Hawaii (plus Aruba and France) from CA using a simple dipole antenna. The '109 can make the distance and it always works. Mine still has all its original tubes.
A minor note on the 1964 frame grab photo of MSG Peghram operating CW with the irregulars: The Signal Corps/National Archives video had misidentified his radio as the GRC-109. It is actually the GRC-9 (note the antenna), another era field radio with roughly similar capabilities. The generator is the same (G-43, Ugh!)
Have fun with your set. Don't miss "Radio Havana Cuba - Free Territory of the Americas" on 6.000 Mc just after local sundown. I wonder how many GRC-109's are still cached in Cuba.
Nice article - you captured it! Tim
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Old 02-07-2015, 16:39   #29
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Yep, I realized after I sent that photo to Lonny that it was a GRC-9. The whole Pegram video when seen on the internet is pretty interesting though since it includes early operations at Plei Mrong (1964) - I Corps. It sure got hotter later up there. - there's a whiny comment on the video re "why they have to burn that poor guy's house" - that was no "house" - it was a way-station. I believe Pegram was killed in the 23 Aug 1968 NVA attack on FOB-4. As for the article, it's not comprehensive, but at least the history is out there for people who don't have a clue. My Ham call sign died 40 years ago WB4IPW....but I may bootleg it for awhile.

1968 08 23 E-3 PFC William H. Bric III ..........11B1P KIA SVN; CCN, FOB4, Quang Nam Prov., Attack on FOB4
1968 08 23 E-4 SP4 Anthony J. Santana ........11B4S KIA SVN; CCN, FOB4, Quang Nam Prov., Attack on FOB4
1968 08 23 E-5 SGT James T. Kickliter ..........05B4S KIA SVN; CCN, FOB4, Quang Nam Prov., Attack on FOB4
1968 08 23 E-5 SGT Robert J. Uyesaka .........05B4S KIA SVN; CCN, FOB4, Quang Nam Prov., Attack on FOB4
1968 08 23 E-6 SSG Howard S. Varni ...........91B4S KIA SVN; CCN, FOB4, Quang Nam Prov., Attack on FOB4
1968 08 23 E-7 SFC Tadeusz M. Kepczyk .......11C4S KIA SVN; CCN, FOB4, Quang Nam Prov., Attack on FOB4
1968 08 23 E-7 SFC Donald R. Kerns ............11B4S KIA SVN; CCN, FOB4, Quang Nam Prov., Attack on FOB4
1968 08 23 E-7 SFC Harold R. Voorheis .........76Y4S KIA SVN; CCN, FOB4, Quang Nam Prov., Attack on FOB4
1968 08 23 E-7 SFC Donald W. Welch ...........11F4S KIA SVN; CCN, FOB4, Quang Nam Prov., Attack on FOB4
1968 08 23 E-8 MSG Charles R. Norris ..........11B4S KIA SVN; CCN, FOB4, Quang Nam Prov., Attack on FOB4
1968 08 23 E-8 MSG Gilbert A. Secor ............91B4S KIA SVN; CCN, FOB4, Quang Nam Prov., Attack on FOB4
1968 08 23 E-9 SGM Richard E. Pegram, Jr.....11G5S KIA SVN; CCN, FOB4, Quang Nam Prov., Attack on FOB4
1968 08 23 E-8 MSG Rolf E. Rickmers ...........12B4S KIA SVN; CCN, FOB4, Quang Nam Prov., Attack on FOB4, Nung Reaction Company 1SG
1968 08 23 E-6 SSG Talmadge H. Alphin, Jr........... KIA SVN; CCN, FOB4, Quang Nam Prov., Attack on FOB4, Recon Company
1968 08 23 O-2 1LT Paul D. Potter ...............74419 KIA SVN; CCN, FOB4, Quang Nam Prov., Attack on FOB4, S-4
1968 08 23 E-7 SFC Albert M. Walter ............76Y4S KIA SVN; CCN, FOB4, Quang Nam Prov., Attack on FOB4, S4 NCOIC

Last edited by Elfstone44; 02-08-2015 at 08:00.
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Old 02-07-2015, 17:40   #30
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Hi - Yes, a very interesting video, I'm glad it was preserved and posted online. I had notified them about the radio error - but so far, no joy, but still a great video.
If you want to get the license back I guess you know that knowledge of CW is no longer required. Just a fairly simple test of rules/regs, procedures, safety etc. Test questions pool (and answers) are online. It's a useful hobby these days.
A salute to MSG Pegram - he was there doing the job.
Thanks for your service....Tim
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