[Milsurplus] Japanese little brother of R-392?

[Mike Morrow]

Osamu wrote:

>I recently acquired a military radio off an auction....
>it covers 38MHz to 54Mhz and it has in/out connector and a squelch so that
>it must be Japanese military AM or FM VHF transeiver...
>http://asia.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/osamuhazawa/album?.dir=/6414scd

That's very interesting!  I never knew there were versions of these classic American 1950s-era military FM sets that had panel labels in Japanese.  I wonder if this RT-68 unit was made in Japan?  It appears that this series of radios was manufactured and utilized in Asian and Europe, in addition to the US.  

I share your assessment that these sets are beautifully made.  Look here for a picture of the most complex combo of these units, the AN/GRC-7:

http://www.armyradio.com/Pictures/Radios/American%20Radios/AN-GRC-7.jpg

I have a AN/GRC-7, and I like all 225 pounds of it, except for the power supplies which make heavy use of vibrators and ballast tubes.  I believe the design of these units go back to late WWII, with the first units appearing in quantity after 1949.  They were replaced in US service beginning in the early 1960s by the AN/VRC-12 (44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49) series. 

Mike / KK5F