[Milsurplus] TCS for marine use

[Mike Bracey]

 I came across this post by Mark Meltzer on eHam:
My experience with TCS gear was from the early 1960s on commercial fishing boats. FCC type approved AM MF-HF gear was expensive back then. The TCS xmtr and rcvr had provisions for xtal control and were dirt cheap, so they found their way onto many boats, usually through the assistance of coastal hams who made a few extra bucks and didnt worry/care much about FCC regs. The TCS gear was VERY reliable, but the xmtr power was pretty low so the TCS's got stepped on when up against the 150 watt commercial rigs. Still, they were soooo cheap and if something went wrong you could get another rcvr or xmtr often for $25. Everything, including cables were in abundance and cheap to buy. The dynamotors (on a separate PS) seemed to last forever, even in the salt air. I don't recall any of these wearing out, seizing up or getting stuck brushes and arc damaging the commutators. The 50s and 60s were wild days for surplus gear on fishing boats. I saw ARC 5, TCS, ART 13, BC 191/375, Collins 18S2 and many others. Nav gear included SCR 269, ARN 7, APN 4, APN 9 etc. The ART 13 xmtr was the best sounding, followed closely by the 18S2s which were ex airline AM HF xvcrs. Some ART 13s used the VFO with autotune, others had the Comco or a local home brew xtal box. Some ART 13s were paired with tunable rcvrs such as BC 348 and others with rock bound rcvrs. The ARR 15 never seemed to make its way into the fleet. R 392s got their sea legs when SSB replaced AM and they offered a cheap way to rcv SSB. AM sets soldiered on long after they were banned, often on illegal frequencies. FCC type approved SSB xcvrs cost a fortune and many fishermen couldnt afford to buy them. One enterprising guy modified ART 13s to put out DSB using a balanced modulator. Nobody listening to USB knew that the same sig was also on LSB simultaneously, except perhaps the FCC. The FCC did show up at the docks once in a while but they were rarely allowed permission to board boats, especially if there was only a TCS pair of radios aboard. They would threaten to return with a US Marshall, but it was usually an empty threat
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