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

[Meir Ben-Dror WF2U]

Mike, 

Thanks for the information. Interesting that the TM 11-636 manual is only RESTRICTED, with all the supplied crystal frequencies listed…
I looked at the document you linked.  My radio’s s/n is 191. If 155 were made in 1945, according the procurement stats, mine was either made after the end of the war so it is outside the scope of the wartime procurement numbers, or the serial numbers of issued units started from a higher number, like 50 or 100 (which was the usual practice anyway because of production samples, engineering and evaluation units, etc. and confuse the enemy about production numbers, if an item is captured).
I found it a couple of weeks ago on the Military Radios Facebook group. Someone posted a few photos of it, inquiring whether anyone knows what this radio was that he picked up. The nomenclature tag was very clear on the photo, so I did an Internet search, which led me to the link for the TM. I couldn’t identify the radio just from its front panel, as I never saw even a photo of one, nor I heard of its JAN designation. I gave the guy the link to the TM and briefly described the unit’s specs, with the question whether he’d consider selling it. He sent me a private message asking for an offer. We agreed on an amount and we made a deal.

73, Meir WF2U
Landrum, SC


Sent from Mail for Windows 10

From: Mike Morrow
Sent: Thursday, May 3, 2018 9:57 PM
To: Military Surplus Mail List
Subject: Re: [Milsurplus] Newly acquired RT-46/TRC-10

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


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/milsurplus/attachments/20180504/93fb90c0/attachment.html>