[Milsurplus] SCR-583 thoughts

[Hue Miller]

Probably no more than 5 people on the planet are interested in this,
but here goes: 

SCR-583 manual ( "TENTATIVE April 1944" ) states this radio was
for "cavalry, horse artillery, and vehicles". At 70 lbs. plus another 
70 for the accessory chest, it was clearly too heavy to manpack
for any long distance. There is also a packframe for pack animal.
However, the only WW2 US Army use of pack animals i know of,
was in CBI.  The manual states "able to be used in driving rain",
no doubt due to smaller door inside the closable front panel which
exposes minimum area. Has built in speaker on front panel. Manual
says totally immersable in water for short period. Frequency range
2.2 - 4.6 output 12 AM 40 CW max. Able to work on 6 foot antenna.
However, since the antenna goes right to the top of the  plate tank  
circuit, there is NO harmonic suppression, which would be a problem
when operating in some nets. Where was this radio intended to be
used, i wonder? Why was it produced, even when the SCR-284 was
already doing the job? I think when the Army contracting authority saw
what Rauland came up with ( SCR-694 ) that put a quick end to this
radio. -Hue Miller