[Milsurplus] BC-342 question

[WA5CAB at cs.com]

Elden,

The holes are "official".  They are to mount the receiver end of the FT-178 
anti-sway mount in vehicular installations.  I think I remember that only 
one was used in most installations.  But I could be confusing it with the 
similar FT-172 for the BC-191 and BC-223-(*) which installed at the center or 
the top of the cabinet.

Apparently all (most?) of the mounting holes were drilled in the field, or 
maybe at a depot, which accounts for there being no paint in the holes.

The FT-178 is an assembly consisting of one Lord 150PH6, a 1/4" diameter 
steel rod 12" long threaded 1/4-20 both ends, a 1/4-20 hex jam nut at the 
shock mount end, two 1/4-20 wing nuts at the other, a steel angle bracket 
drilled to match the holes you see in the top of the receiver cabinet with the 
vertical leg cut partially away at both ends, and hardware to attach the 
bracket to the receiver cabinet.  A 1/4" slot runs from the center of the 
remaining part to the vertical leg of the bracket to the right edge, breaking out of 
the material.  The center hole of the 150PH6 is threaded 1/4-20.  The shock 
was attached to the bulkhead behind the receiver (usually the rear wall of 
a steel cabinet containing receiver, transmitter and dynamotor.  There was 
also a rectangular reinforcing plate matching the four-hole pattern on top of 
the receiver cabinet.  It was installed inside.

FWIW, FT-178 and FT-172 are the same except that the shockmount for the 
transmitters was Lord 150PH12.

In a message dated 4/12/2011 10:50:19 AM Central Daylight Time, 
elden_meyer at yahoo.com writes: 
> I recently got a BC-342 receiver which has two sets of
> holes drilled in the top of the case, each set being
> four holes in a square pattern, one set near
> each end. Holes are about 1/8 inch diameter and were
> not repainted after drilling allowing local rusting.
> 
> Years ago I had a receiver with a similar pattern of holes
> and assumed at the time this was a personal modification
> by a previous owner. With a second identical unit I
> now wonder if this was a military modification.
> 
> Something must have mounted there. Can anyone explain?
> 
> Elden

Robert Downs - Houston
wa5cab dot com (Web Store)
MVPA 9480