[Milsurplus] [MRCG] Navy WRC-1 & URC-35 family history - Stromberg-Carlson SC-900A

Mon Sep 26 14:14:38 EDT 2022

Those RF founders are prominent in the SC900A patent case testimony.

So did anything derive from the SC-908A amp? It had a single PL-8295 PA,
8117 driver, and ??? pusher. I’d not seen that term used before.

And what was the SC-907 amp/ps?- all I know is that the manual was
copyrighted 10/61.

Cheers,
Nick

On Mon, Sep 26, 2022 at 12:10 PM John Vendely <jvendely at cfl.rr.com> wrote:

> ...and, of course, don't forget the redoubtable AN/GRC-106.  All these
> historically important radios are descendants of the original SC-900
> family.  The SC-900 series was indeed well ahead of its time,
> particularly its frequency synthesizer, and GDE got a lot of
> evolutionary mileage out of that baseline design.  The GRC-106A was
> still being produced at Cincinnati Electronics in the early 1980s.
>
> The core group of engineers that founded RF Communications, Elmer
> Schwittek, Bill Stolze, and Roger Bettin (plus lawyer Herb VandenBrul)
> all  worked at Stromberg-Carlson/GDE.  Both companies were in Rochester,
> NY.  In the ensuing years, a number of other engineers came over from
> GDE to RF Communications (later acquired by Harris Corp).  The result
> was that some of the same people who worked on the SC designs worked on
> the design of RF Comm products such as the highly advanced RF-110 power
> amp series, and the evolution is plain to see.  I worked for Harris
> Corporation (in Florida) for 20 years, but worked closely with and knew
> many engineers at the RF Comm division in Rochester, and spent a lot of
> time up there.  There were still a few old S-C/GDE hands there and in
> Florida at the time...
>
> 73,
>
> John K9WT
>
>
>
> On 9/26/2022 10:16 AM, W2HX wrote:
> >> It would be interesting to know how the transition from the SC product
> line to the RT-618/R-1051/URT-23 happened.
> > And don’t forget the T-827
> >
> > 73 Eugene W2HX
> > Subscribe to my Youtube Channel:
> https://www.youtube.com/c/w2hx-channel/videos
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: mrcg-bounces at mailman.qth.net <mrcg-bounces at mailman.qth.net> On
> Behalf Of Francesco Ledda
> > Sent: Monday, September 26, 2022 10:13 AM
> > To: Jim Whartenby <old_radio at aol.com>
> > Cc: mrcg at mailman.qth.net; milsurplus at mailman.qth.net
> > Subject: Re: [MRCG] [Milsurplus] Navy WRC-1 & URC-35 family history -
> Stromberg-Carlson SC-900A
> >
> > Jim,
> >
> > The SC-900 was surely ahead of its times. Potentially, it was vastly
> superior to the KWT-6. I am totally in the dark about the possible youth
> problems that the SC-900 may have suffered from.
> >
> > The SC-908 amp was not very successful, and its follow up (URT-23) was
> totally different and therefore not an evolution of the SC-908. It would be
> interesting to know how the transition from the SC product line to the
> RT-618/R-1051/URT-23 happened.
> >
> > Regarding the URC-32/KWT-6, as you well know, it is not auto tuned, and
> it is a simplified version of the ARC-58. There was another version of the
> URC-32 that kept the auto tuning capabilities of the ARC-58.
> >
> > Best, Francesco K5URG
> >
> > Sent from my iPad
> >
> >> On Sep 25, 2022, at 22:24, Jim Whartenby via Milsurplus <
> milsurplus at mailman.qth.net> wrote:
> >> 
> >> If the SC-900 development started in the Fall of 1958, that answers the
> question of which of the three systems came first.
> >>
> >> Another thing is that the SC-900 is contemporary with the KWT-6.  The
> original ground station developed during Birdcall used a receiver - exciter
> similar to the 310F-1 as shown in a photo in the Fall, 1958 Collins Signal,
> Volume 7 # 2.  This is essentially an ARC-58 receiver - exciter, for
> automatic tuning, repackaged for rack mounting with a 60 to 400 cycle motor
> - generator.
> >>
> >> Not exactly sure when the KWT-6 made it's debut but it certainly wasn't
> ready for Birdcall in the mid to late 1950's.
> >> Regards,
> >> Jim
> >>
> >> Logic: Method used to arrive at the wrong conclusion, with confidence.
> >> Murphy
> >>
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: Nick England <navy.radio at gmail.com>
> >> To: Jim Whartenby <old_radio at aol.com>
> >> Cc: mrcg at mailman.qth.net <mrcg at mailman.qth.net>;
> >> milsurplus at mailman.qth.net <milsurplus at mailman.qth.net>
> >> Sent: Sun, Sep 25, 2022 4:48 pm
> >> Subject: Navy WRC-1 & URC-35 family history - Stromberg-Carlson
> >> SC-900A
> >>
> >> OK - The internet tar-baby got me today but I believe I now have a
> >> solid history - See https://www.navy-radio.com/xmtrs/sc-radio.htm
> >>
> >> I have added photos and references to the SC-901X transceiver, 907,
> >> 908A, and 910A amplifiers, 910R receiver, 910E exciter, and 905C
> >> antenna coupler. These were sold commercially (beginning in 1961 I
> >> believe) and to the USAF as a result of a 1959 USN R&D Contract. The
> >> Navy's R-1051, T-827, RT-618, URC-35, URT-24, and WRC-1 resulted from
> >> this contract
> >>
> >> Aha! - I found a patent case showing that in June 1959 the Navy
> contracted with Stromberg-Carlson (General Dynamics) "to design and furnish
> experimental, mock-up, and developmental models of a single sideband radio
> set and a single sideband portable transceiver." (NObsr-77628, dated 16
> June 1959 for AN/WRC-1 and AN/URC-35). The Navy had rights to patents
> developed during the contract, but General Dynamics claimed some of the
> inventions "were conceived and reduced to practice during plaintiff's own,
> independent project to develop a single sideband transceiver, called the
> SC900A, prior to the award of contract NObsr-77628".
> >> That led me to the SC900A development background.
> >> https://www.navy-radio.com/xmtrs/sc/SC900A-Board_of_Contract_Appeals_D
> >> ecisions.pdf Evidently they had a working radio before the Navy
> >> contract was signed.
> >>
> >> Trivia - the original Navy contract referred to the AN/PRC-45 portable
> transceiver and AN/URC-35 fixed transceiver. The names were later changed
> to AN/URC-35 portable transceiver and AN/WRC-1 fixed transceiver.
> >> [The URC-35 was called portable - HA!]
> >>
> >> And finally I found this -
> >> April 1959 Stromberg-Carlson Advertisement -
> >> - A new approach to Single-Sideband radio by Stromberg-Carlson......
> greater power output, less power input with a smaller volume.
> >> - The SC-900A digit-tuned Single-Sideband transceiver marks a
> significant advance in the state of the art.
> >> - The SC-900A is designed for both vehicular and fixed point-to-point
> communications adaptable to rack mounting and back-pack meets full military
> requirements.
> >> - Provides 28,000 stabilized channels from 2 to 30 megacycles, with a
> transmitted peak envelope power output of 100 watts.
> >> - Receive input power : 50 watts.
> >> - Average transmit input power for voice: 150 watts.
> >> - Available soon.
> >>
> >> Any additional info, photos, etc. would be greatly appreciated Nick
> >> England K4NYW www.navy-radio.com
> >>
> >> ______________________________________________________________
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-- 
Nick England K4NYW
www.navy-radio.com
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