[Milsurplus] More SCR-284

[Spike Dennis]

The BC-654 as with the BC-1306 did not survive production until the end of the war. Indeed late war training manuals exist that do not include the BC-654 or  BC-1306, but do include the GRC-9 & Pogo-Stick(go figure). The GRC-9 was in production before the end of WW-2 & examples have been found. However, it is very doubtful that any saw service. It did see extensive & well documented service during Korea. It stands to reason that equipment was not in production at war's end is not nearly as prevalent as those that were(hence the term "surplus"). Even at that there were some that made the surplus market at least in sufficient quantities that a few articles were written about them. The BC-1335 is a very late war addition & at least some of it's ancillary equipment did not exist until after the war.

As Bob eluded to, many of these were still viable tactical radios well into the mid 60's & even later. This too adds to the rarity of some equipment &/or it's extreme expense on the surplus market at that time(just as now). BC-611, BC1306 among other saw extensive service in Southeast Asia with the French, Vietnamese, Tia & others. Then too, all the NATO counties used this same WW-2 vintage equipment at an extreme late date, or at least still had it in inventory.

A simple look through vintage surplas catalogs will show that those sets that were still viable tactical radios did not flood the market as did others. And there just simply was not nearly as many of them made. They were used! The CIA, among others, passed this equipment out all over the world well into the late 60's. Some conversion information came through MARS & CD programs(BC-1306, GRC-9, BC-1000-6mtrs) those members of which enjoyed a little better access these goodies.

KB0SFP
Monitor(all USB): 
3996, 5403.5, 7296, 14342.5, 18157.5



----- Original Message ----
> From: "WA5CAB at cs.com" <WA5CAB at cs.com>
> To: milsurplus at mailman.qth.net
> Sent: Saturday, April 18, 2009 1:36:47 AM
> Subject: Re: [Milsurplus] More SCR-284
> 
> I'm not sure why the SCR-284 (BC-654 and accessories) doesn't much show up 
> in surplus until later.  But the SCR-694 (BC-1306) and SCR-300 (BC-1000) 
> remained in front line service well into Korea or even later with the BC-1306.  
> Same with the SCR-619 (BC-1335).  I have M38 and M38A1 combination radio 
> installation instructions dated January 1956 that still list the SCR-619 and 
> SCR-694.
> 
> In a message dated 4/18/2009 1:20:02 AM Central Daylight Time, 
> kargo_cult at msn.com writes: 
> > Something else that occurred to me. I don't ever recall seeing
> > a surplus conversion or simply war surplus use article on some
> > sets such as BC-1000, BC-654, or BC-1306. Does this mean
> > these were too highly priced in the surplus era, still having value
> > to foreign militaries? Looking over the BC-654, for example, seems
> > like it would have made a decent Novice radio - with some mod for
> > xtal control transmit. Maybe the Novices couldn't lift it? What about
> > the BC-1306? I have seen a couple photos of them in early 1960s
> > missionary stations in remote locations where the hand crank system
> > was a real asset. I also owned a TRC-2 once that i'm fairly sure did
> > a stint on a small boat. Maybe these relatively big rigs BC-654 and
> > BC-1306 didn't put out enuff power for the hams? But would have not
> > been that hard to plate modulate them?
> > 
> 
> Robert & Susan Downs - Houston
> wa5cab dot com (Web Store)
> MVPA 9480
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