[Boatanchors] Military Transmitter Question

[howard holden]

In my experience (late 60's mostly on land, at Navcommsta Gitmo NAW and Navcommsta Greece NGR), the Navy didn't "pair" the R-390 with any particular transmitter. Shipboard could be the SRT series, or the WRT, or even some of the lower powered TMC units - GPT-750, URT-19 (SBT-1K), or, on larger ships even an FRT-39. Back in the 60's you probably even found a TBL or other similar unit occasionally used with an R-390. On land, anything went, from the URT-19 all the way up to the FRT-62 (GPT-200K).  I think TMC really had a lock on land-based Navy transmitters. On board ship the transmitters were usually in their own room separate from the receivers. On land the receive side of a link was normally far far away (miles) from the TX side, and the R-390 filled the bill nicely in almost all situations. For the work I did (itinerant ship-shore CW and RTTY), the R-390 was exclusively used, along with the R-389 on MF. The R-1051 was good, and the WRR when it worked was good also, but from my CW op standpoint, the R-390 is more user-friendly. 

For the 51J (R-388) series, I don't recall seeing them at all in my two stations, yet I own one with a Navy inspection stamp, but they would certainly pair up well with a T-368 or BC-610 from an age standpoint. 

My $.02

Howie WB2AWQ
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Todd, KA1KAQ<mailto:ka1kaq at gmail.com> 
  To: Steve Belcher<mailto:wa1zuf at juno.com> 
  Cc: boatanchor network<mailto:boatanchors at mailman.qth.net> 
  Sent: Monday, November 22, 2010 5:42 PM
  Subject: Re: [Boatanchors] Military Transmitter Question


  On Mon, Nov 22, 2010 at 8:24 PM, Steve Belcher <wa1zuf at juno.com<mailto:wa1zuf at juno.com>> wrote:
  > What would be a complementary (contemporary) military transmitter to the R390-A or 51J-4. I enjoy pairing up receivers and transmitters that would have likely been used together back in the day..(and use them)   I have these 2 receivers and would like to pair one up with an appropriate military transmitter.. While a BC 610 may not be out of the question, I would like to have an idea on what to keep an eye out for..   Wish I had paid more attention to my OM (the 1st holder of W1TAV) when he used to talk about the military radios of the 50's..


  Hey Steve - welcome aboard!

  The T-368 would be a good fit for both. It's the correct period and
  was used in communications vans with both types, IIRC. They are fairly
  plentiful, still affordable (if you avoid the gold-plated collector
  versions) around $1K +/- for decent examples, and straightforward to
  service. I've got one here that was a wedding gift, has a HV issue I
  need to sort out but it's day is coming.

  Hope to hear you down this way over the winter -

  ~ Todd,  KA1KAQ/4
  ______________________________________________________________
  Boatanchors mailing list
  Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/boatanchors<http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/boatanchors>
  Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm<http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm>
  Post: mailto:Boatanchors at mailman.qth.net<mailto:Boatanchors at mailman.qth.net>

  List Administrator: Duane Fischer, W8DBF
  ** For Assistance: dfischer at usol.com ** 


  This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net<http://www.qsl.net/>
  Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html<http://www.qsl.net/donate.html>