[Milsurplus] [MRCA] SCR-288 - MI-8751 - BC-474

[WA5CAB at cs.com]

Total number of SCR-284's delivered was 63,972.  Of the total, 21,769 were 
delivered in 1944.  Of the SCR-694-C, 23,732 and 14,416.

On the use of SCR-284 in the Pacific, I don't recall where I read it but 
the Marines were reported to dislike the 284 because at night, its generator 
was noisy enough to draw Jap fire.  The paragraph went on to say that the 
SCR-694-C was much better in this regard.  

I won't argue that the BC-1000 doesn't have a greater effective range than 
the BC-611 despite having about the same power output, because the BC-611 
has about the least efficient antenna of any set in actual use at the time.  
But the frequency coverage, power output and antenna efficiency of the BC-654 
and BC-1306 are all either about the same or exactly the same.  I can see 
the Rangers grabbing the SCR-694-C as soon as it became available, mainly 
because it's much lighter in the pack set variant.  But in a Jeep or a Dodge, 
one is about as good as the other.  About the only thing that the BC-1306 has 
going for it is that its waterproofing is better.  Plus the little fact 
that the PE-237 didn't finally catch up to the rest of the set until early 1945 
due to a shipping screw-up.  So to use the BC-1306 in a vehicle, you had to 
adapt a PE-103.

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

In a message dated 10/01/2017 22:06:30 PM Central Daylight Time, 
Kargo_cult at msn.com writes: 
> Al, I tend toward skeptical about the radio being brought back from Army. 
> I just don’t see how that would pass the 'souvenir' vetting. 
> Even when stuff was destroyed or deep-sixed, it wasn't permitted to just 
> help yourself. So I have to wonder about this. 
> You know, we have learned here to 'never say never', but I so far have not 
> seen any hard evidence that the BC-654 was used in the 
> Pacific War, or Europe, for that matter.  The book on Rangers ( I think I 
> reported on this book, but I don't recall name of it right now )
> I think mentions they trained on it and BC-611, but that these proved too 
> limited-range and were replaced shortly by SCR-300 and 
> SCR-694. 
> 
> The book "You're No Good To Me Dead", mentions some radio this Philippine 
> observer group considered deficient, kind of "left over"
> set. I have wondered if that meant BC-474. 
> 
> You know, some years back, maybe around 1980, Tony Grogan told me this TBY 
> bag was sent back to the states when its carrier, a 
> Marine radio op, was wounded. Tony said his buddies sent back, I think, 
> the whole radio in its bag. ( I think this is maybe a bag I have
> now, but not sure....)   Anyway that seemed unlikely as hell then and it 
> still stretches my credulity today. 
> 
> That said, I know it was MUCH easier to disappear non-pocketable  
> equipment from the military once back in the states.
> 
> I think BC-654 production was around 55,000.  Would you guess BC-474 at 
> around 5,000 ? And the RCA MI, you wouldn't think Sweden
> would be buying more than a few hundred at most?
> -Hue 
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