Fair radio had a large pile of these back in the 90s. I believe these were surplussed out of Fort Brag, the home of the Army Special Forces. The "Green Berets" used these extensively in Vietnam. That's where I got mine, and I suspect many of you did as well.
Of course there is the GRC-109 and GRC-109A with more rugged cases.
A lot of the GRC-109 units floating around were actually units of the CIA RS-1 (Radio Station One) and have designations like RT-3 (transmitter) and RR-2B (receiver). That makes these legitimate "Spy Radios" and there value has increased in recent years. These were built by the Radio Development and Research Corp. probably here in Jersey City, and some even say RDR on the knobs.
My RR-2B
RDR also built the earlier SSTR-1 for the WWII OSS.
AL
On 7/21/2024 5:10 PM, Ken wrote:
I have a complete GRC-109, receiver, transmitter, "small" powersupply, GN-58, with seat and legs, cable with regulator, and a second GN-58 mounted to a converted exercise-bike.
All bits work well. I used the transmitter, crystal-controlled, to eventually work 35 DX countries, mostly on 40 meters.
The receiver uses a 1L6, which has become extremely difficult to find.
Some time ago, I made contact with a fellow who makes and sells solid-state replacements for the 1L6 one of which works extremely well in my R-1004 receiver, especially when used with the T-784 transmitter.
With the SS 1L6, there is no pulling of the receiver nor blocking, while quite the opposite is true with the 1L6 tube.
The receivers I have seen for sale in the last couple of years go for quite high prices. I got my setup mostly from Fair Radio at modest prices.
Ken W7EKB
Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S21 5G, an AT&T 5G smartphone
Your input is welcomed if you have opinion or advice on this:-------- Original message --------From: Hubert Miller <[email protected]>Date: 7/21/24 13:40 (GMT-08:00)Subject: [Milsurplus] GRC-109 receiver - do they sometimes come up for sale alone ?
At a recent auction i got the transmitter ( only ) for the GRC-109.
I see on Ebay there's the universal power supply for $200 + shipping.
1. Is there a possibility to find the GRC-109 receiver for sale by itself? Do these come up ?
2. Is this even a worthwhile project to go charging off on? Or leave it to someone else?
Additional facts: I have this turf already well covered. I mean 'clandestine' small radios.
I had already forgotten i got this transmitter in March 2024 ! Seeing the PS on Ebay jogged my memory.
I do tend to take on too many projects.
-Hue Miller
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