[Milsurplus] T-195 transmitter

[Mark J. Blair]

On Jul 8, 2012, at 19:01 , Robert N. Newberry wrote:
> Has anyone had any experience with the T-195? For some reason I got a wild 
> hare and want to get a r-392 and a t-195. How does the T-195 sound on AM? I 
> head the fans are loud, but whats the signal like?


The T-195 and R-392 are among my favorite radios. They're complicated inside, but impressive to behold in operation. The transmitter is hard to work on due to its compact construction, but it's particularly easy to operate due to its automatic PA tuning and antenna matching. The receiver is about as hard to work on as an R-390A, and very similar to operate. My GRC-19 (T-195 + R-392) has been off the air for a while, but I plan to correct that. A few folks check in to the weekly west coast military radio collector's net with GRC-19 sets most weekends.

The AM signal sounds pretty good with a good microphone. It's not big-iron hi-fi sound, but it's still quite acceptable. With the stock carbon mic, the audio sounds very restricted. One easy option is to get an old Motorola TMN6054A mic off eBay or from a ham swap, and replace its connector with a U-77. It's a dynamic mic, but it's compatible with radios that expect a carbon mic input, and it sounds much better than a carbon mic. I'm presently using my TMN6054A on my T-368C.

Yes, the blowers are very loud, and you need a stout 28V power supply to feed the set... especially if your transmitter has the dynamotor power supplies instead of the newer solid-state ones. My set has a bit of the 400 Hz noise from the blower inverter bleeding into the transmit audio. I haven't tried too hard yet to see if I can eliminate it by replacing aged capacitors. Most folks seem to mistake it for a bit of mild dynamotor whine, and that doesn't bother me.

You might have some headaches to work through if you get a unit that's not already running in top shape, but I think it'd be worth the effort. It's a fine rig, and was pretty much the state of the art in its day. So go for it! Join the GRC-19 club!

-- 
Mark J. Blair, NF6X <nf6x at nf6x.net>
http://www.nf6x.net/