[Milsurplus] Newly acquired RT-46/TRC-10

[Mike Morrow]

What a gem you've come across, Meir!  That's one of the rarest of the rare "spy sets" like its predecessors AN/PRC-1 and AN/PRC-5.  It appears to be the best designed and it is a very attractive set.

The only part I have is the original instruction book.  Note that it is conspicuously marked SECRET, equivalent then to our current TOP SECRET.  That's no doubt due to the listing of frequencies in the standard set of crystals that is part of the set.

There are interesting U.S. Army procurement statistics for 1940 through 1945 found in a 96-page report from 1952:

 http://www.alternatewars.com/BBOW/Stats/USA_in_WW2_Stats-Procure_9-APR-52.PDF

On page 60 it lists

AN/TRC-10, for military intelligence service

and shows that 155 were made in 1945.

Do you have a story you wouldn't mind telling about how you got it?  What's its serial number?

Congratulations on a great find.  I'm no longer acquiring stuff, but I can really appreciate the value of your new rare little radio.

Mike / KK5F

-----Original Message-----
From: Meir Ben-Dror WF2U 
Sent: May 3, 2018 5:44 PM
To: Military Surplus Mail List 
Subject: [Milsurplus] Newly acquired RT-46/TRC-10

Folks,
I recently acquired a neat HF field transmitter/receiver I never saw before and don’t even think I ever saw the nomenclature. According to the tag the contract is from 1944, but interesting that it must have been issued in the beginning of the JAN numbering system. Not too much is coming up for this set when searching for it on the Internet, but managed to find and download the manual for it (TM 11-636, dated 14 March, 1945).
 
The radio covers 2 -12 MHz in 2 bands, it has separate transmitter and receiver circuits. The transmitter is CW only, with crystal control, with a single crystal socket on the front panel (under a cover), the receiver is tunable; the mode switch has an AM position besides CW. The tube line-up is 6V6 and 2E22 in the transmitter; in the receiver 6J5, 6SA7, 2 x 6SK7, 6SL7.The radio is in a cabinet with legs similar to the BC-654 or the BC-474, it has a dedicated key model I never saw before, based on the J-37 type. The issued headset is the  HS-30U.

The radio came with the full complement of crystals in the original case. The spare tubes/fuses/lamps are also in a case, and the third case is for the key and headset, the 3 cases slide into the cabinet under the radio. Just from the configuration it looks like it may be a predecessor of the GRC-109 as far as the functionality goes (it also has a full cover on the front for storage/transportation).

Unfortunately I don’t have any of the radio’s power supplies which are the PP-74/TRC-10 AC supply (115 to 250 VAC, with several taps in between, front panel selectable),  the PP-84/TRC-10 6 VDC vibrator supply and the G-4/TRC-10 hand generator – which all supply 6 V AC or DC filament voltage and 600 VDC plate voltage. The power cable is CX-83/TRC-10. The lower DC voltages for the various stages by dropping resistors in the radio, except the plate of the 2E22.

It should be very easy to homebrew a power supply for this radio, because I have the feeling that TRC-10 accessories are going to be hard if not impossible to find – so anyone with any of that stuff floating around and looking for a home, please let me know. If anyone has the same radio or is familiar with one, any comments are welcome. Sorry for the long-winded post, but I think this radio is fairly obscure, so I wanted to give a bit of detail.

73, Meir WF2U Landrum, SC