[Milsurplus] BC-348 with mil AC supply

[Hue Miller]

I brought back from my Thanksgiving travels 7 BC-312/ 342 and 4 BC-348, 
planning to sell them this spring - I hope!
I was looking at one BC-348 and thinking, damn, that is a pretty good 
looking 348, too bad someone had to build an
AC supply in it and add a switch and fuse holder in the upper right corner, 
right of the dial lamp control. At least they
seemed to have done a professional job, with a couple screen plugs above the 
dynamotor area. ( Plugs about the size
of a half dollar, with screen, like on the back of the ARC-2 ). I decided 
I'd have a look inside. My first clue as I pulled
the chassis forward, was the shielded cable running from the added items. It 
was carefully laced and fastened along
the way. I pulled the chassis out farther and was astonished at the size of 
the power transformer. It started to become
clear to me - I seemed to remember the EP-298 AC supply. I turned the 
chassis over, and saw that the power supply
chassis, which plugged into the dynamotor well, had 7 bathtup metal caps on 
its bottom - I have no idea what those
do, but it was a totally professional job - not a hammy deal at all. I 
noticed the filter lytic in the AC PS was a plug-in
thing, and it bore a date of 7-45. Interesting. I wonder who built the 
supply. This AC supply is much more robust
and mil-spec style than the EP-298 pictured on the web. The nameplate on the 
set is BC-348-J and bears no indication
of who and why installed the AC. But it is a total mil-spec job, much more 
robust than a surplus dealer.  But the
manufacture date of the plug-in cap would seem to suggest that the radio was 
considered surplus after V-E day
and then repurposed for some other military use.

I also looked at a couple SFR-labeled army of France, BC-312 types I brought 
back. Interesting sets, but I discovered
I prefer the classic U.S. presentation, with MWO stickers and rubber stamp 
notices all over the front.

Oh- BTW, saw one BC-348 with "OVERHAUL BY STARK" sticker on the nameplate. 
( NOT overhauled by 'Starks', hi hi )
Below the nameplate, was added another metal tag displaying a graphic of a 
series of small circles. One circle had
a number "1" in it. I think this tag had the text caption something like 
"MODIFICATION INSTALLED".
-Hue Miller