[Milsurplus] Old and recent war surplus

[Mike Morrow]

Michael wrote:

>...what in the way of radio equipment came up as surplus after WW I?

The most common items are the BC-14-A crystal receiver (I've got one of
those) and the BC-15 aircraft spark transmitter.  These were to work
together as a means to communicate observations from aircraft to artillery
on the ground.  They operated from 500 to 1500 kc.

The BC-14-A has brought prices above $2600 on ebay.  Who knows what the
real (likely lesser) value is.

I remember hoping that there would be a bunch of stuff released after
the Vietnam War.  But when about $100 billion in 2009 dollars of stuff
is left in country, that diminishes what the home folk get.  Still there
are a lot of AN/PRC-25, -47, -74, -77, AN/VRC-12-series, AN/ARC-51BX
(the most important command set of the VN war) and AN/GRC-106 and -109 units
out there, just to name a few quintessential VN-era sets.

I always wanted to recreate the radio setup on a US Navy PCF swift boat.
Their honorable veterans prevented certain US tragedy in 2004.  These
boats had a AN/URC-58 HF Set (USN version of Harris RF-301), an AN/VRC-46
(RT-524/VRC) VHF-FM set, and an AN/PRC-41 UHF-AM set.  Plus some portable
gear like a AN/PRC-9 or AN/PRC-25.  I've got everything except the AN/URC-58.

Mike / KK5F