[Milsurplus] Question for our UK and Australian Friends

[robinson at tuberadio.com]

Hi Dennis,

The 3BZ did have steel cases, with removable lids and rounded corners.
It was used by the USA forces in WW2.
The generator was a petrol engine,
and used three 6 volt accumulators.
There was no hand crank generator.

Maybe a hand generator was adapted in theatre
from a BC-1306 or similar.

The Australian designed PRC-F1 HF backpack was not built until Vietnam.

Regards
Ray

> Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2013 19:02:07 -0800
> From: mac <w7qho at aol.com>
> To: Milsurplus QSLNet <milsurplus at mailman.qth.net>
> Subject: [Milsurplus] Question for our UK and Australian Friends
> Message-ID: <E5A15EE3-163C-4504-B0E4-E83823F8C298 at aol.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain;	charset=US-ASCII;	format=flowed;	delsp=yes
>
> All,
>
> A number of us here in the US have been curious about the radios used
> by the 5307th Composite Group (Provisional), popularly known as
> "Merrill's Marauders" in their operations in Northern Burma,
> 1943-1944.  In a book "The Marauders" by Carlton Ogburn, Jr. the
> familiar SCR-300, SCR-536 and SCR-284 radios are listed but the author
> (and other sources) also list an AN/PRC-1 "long range" radio used to
> communicate with Marauders' home base at Dinjan in Northern India.
> Distances of between 100 and 200 miles would have been involved here
> over the course of the 1943 campaign.  Ogburn describes the set as
> being powered by hand cranked generators that were strenuous to
> operate.  Discussions with Marauders veterans at the Marauders website
> <http://www.marauder.org/> further describe the radio as a multi
> component unit mounted in metal boxes with lids and "rounded corners."
>
> The mystery here is that the only equipment in the US inventory at
> that time carrying the PRC-1 designator or anything close to it was a
> suitcase spy radio used by the OSS that doesn't come close to matching
> that description (or being suitable for that mission).
>
> Question: Does the above description of the "PRC-1" sound like
> anything in the UK or Australian inventories of that period.
> Something Wingate might have used in his earlier operations in that
> theater for ex?
>
> Any information would be much appreciated.
>
> Dennis DuVall  W7QHO  (ex G5BSW, DA1IN)
> Glendale, CA
>
>
>