[Milsurplus] parachute mobile MACV-SOG

[Greg Mijal]

Are you talking about MACV-SOG?
The abbreviation stands for Military Assistance Command Viet Nam - STUDIES 
and Observation Group.
No idea what Special Operations Group is.
I was a paratrooper during that time not a HALO guy but I knew some of them. 
they really didn't have any in-flight radio stuff.  You are correct that the 
lead jumper used a beacon for the following jumpers to track during free 
fall.
They also had ruck sacks under the chest reserve chute.  You pulled a chord 
to drop the ruck sack tied to a  bungee chord so the ruck sack landed just 
before the jumper did.  Landing without dropping the ruck sack is like being 
tied to a brick. Splat!
73's
Greg
WA7LYO
Kinston NC
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sean Kelly" <seanthomaskelly at hotmail.com>
To: <milsurplus at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 2009 8:19 PM
Subject: Re: [Milsurplus] parachute mobile


>
>> http://boeing377.googlepages.com/parachuteradio
>
>
> Was that you in the pictures? How high did your heart rate go during the 
> descent?
>
>
>
>> Would really like to use a mil radio on one of my parachute mobile comm 
>> jumps, but my PRC 74 is just too big and heavy. Any suggestions? It is a 
>> lot of fun to do QSOs under canopy even if it was likely not done by the 
>> military.
>
>
> Well, one thing you don't have during the usable part of a parachute jump 
> is the ground to refract the HF signal back up towards the part of the sky 
> that will cause the signal to bounce off of the ionosphere and land where 
> you want to communicate. That said, I believe that air mobile operations 
> require less power in spite of that. But the only example I can come up 
> with is the 100 watt AM and CW liason sets installed in allied bombers of 
> WWII, which I expect could communicate back to their bases in the United 
> Kindom from deep inside of Germany.
>
>
>
> I think the best factor that could improve the chances of success in this 
> situation is planning. That is, planning to have people who want to 
> communicate with you so that they know when and what frequency you plan to 
> communicate on. The next thing is a suitable rig. If you are willing to 
> spend the time reading the ARRL Handbook, you can build a small crystal 
> controlled transmitter and transmit-receive relay, then use a commercial 
> receiver such as a used Radio Shack DX-390. Or you could get one of the 
> currently-made HF transceivers. I know one of them has an internal 
> battery, solving the problem of where to put it.
>
>
>
> Antenna issues should be easily solved by having a weighted lower half 
> dangling and an upper half supported by it's own small parachute. Perhaps 
> some fishing weights will allow you to throw this far enough so that it 
> could rise to a position above your main 'chute if that is safe.
>
>
>
>> I have been reading about SOG (Special Observation Group) HALO jumps made 
>> in Viet Nam. The jumpers reported being supplied with a beacon (for the 
>> leader) and DFs?(for the rest) ?that looked like converted BC band 
>> transistor radios. The gear was used ?to locate each other after landing 
>> in the jungle.
>>
>>
>>
>> Any ideas on what this gear was?
>
>
> "(b) No amateur station transmitting in the 1900-2000 kHz segment, the 70 
> cm band, the 33 cm band, the 23 cm band, the 13 cm band, the 9 cm band, 
> the 5 cm band, the 3 cm band, the 24.05-24.25 GHz segment, the 76-77.5 GHz 
> segment, the 78-81 GHz segment, the 136-141 GHz segment, and the 241-248 
> GHz segment shall cause harmful interference to, nor is protected from 
> interference due to the operation of, the Federal radiolocation service."
>
>
>
> That paragraph above is from the Part 97 rules. Probably the converted BC 
> band radios were converted to work above 1900 KHz. The antenna in a 
> portable BC band radio exhibits a deep null when the axis of the loop is 
> pointed towards the station. So, shoot a bearing on the directions of the 
> null (there are two), walk far enough for the bearing to change, shoot 
> another bearing to figure out which of the two directions the transmitter 
> is at, and close in on the transmitter, using the receiver to make sure 
> you are staying on the right heading.
>
>
>
> The transmitter was probably contracted and designed from scratch.
>
>
>
> Please keep me apprised.
>
>
>
> Sean Kelly
>
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