[MRCA] The T-195

Thu Mar 31 18:06:03 EDT 2022

Gee, I guess my initial impression back in the signal shop in 1968 was 
"right on".  I just got looking at the description of the RF circuits 
and the multipliers last night, and got all warm and fuzzy, just like I 
got with the T-368 and its' PTO and multiplier chain. I guess the 
problem is that you cannot make the T-195 into a manually tuned 
transmitter very easily. (Or can you? )

I'll keep thinking about this project and would appreciate some more 
T-195 stories. When I was in the signal battalion, we turned in a bunch 
of GRC-46 RATT sets and got AN/GRC-106 rigs to replace them. Both were 
in small commo shelters on the back of a 5/4 ton truck. We had about 
eight GRC-26 setups too, that were in larger shelters on deuce and a 
halfs. The T-368s were quite reliable and I only had one repair guy who 
was not afraid to work on them. With 3 KV floating around inside, most 
techs were afraid of them. He was never very busy.

73

Dave K1WHS

On 3/31/2022 2:07 PM, Jeep Platt wrote:

> Dave,
> I have had two GRC-19 rigs in residence, here. One dynamotor powered, 
> the other with the Victoreen supplies. My experience with the servo 
> system seemed to revolve around the discriminator circuits and 
> associated choppers. The diodes apparently are failure items. The TM 
> calls for replacement at regular intervals. My systems would not 
> autorune reliably at voltages below 28.5v. Boosting the PP-4743 up to 
> 29 volts seemed to help. I used mine regularly on the Saturday net on 
> 3885 but, truth told, never QSYed much, if at all.  I may be getting 
> one of my systems back, it appears. Blessing or curse is a TBD.  Of 
> course, the R-392s just soldier on.....
> Jeep K3HVG
>
> Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone
> Get Outlook for Android <https://aka.ms/AAb9ysg>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* mrca-bounces at mailman.qth.net <mrca-bounces at mailman.qth.net> on 
> behalf of Ray Fantini <RAFANTINI at salisbury.edu>
> *Sent:* Thursday, March 31, 2022 1:34:10 PM
> *To:* David Olean <k1whs at metrocast.net>; Military Radio Collectors 
> Association <mrca at mailman.qth.net>
> *Subject:* Re: [MRCA] The T-195
> I have often speculated that the natural condition of a T-195 is 
> broken. Have talked with those tasked with maintaining them and think 
> that although the Collins direct drive servo and discriminator 
> technology is a miracle and on thing like the old ARC-38 or later 618 
> it was  never an issue the plate tuning servo for the T-195 somehow 
> proved to be a bridge too far. Maybe reliable with a long wire antenna 
> but cannot imagine it working consistently with a whip.
> If you have one that will reliably find a tuning solution consider 
> yourself a lucky man. That and when you consider that the choppers and 
> servo motors are all sixty plus years old now you have got to really 
> want to run something that heavy.
> And for all the trouble of having to supply great gobs of twenty four 
> volts required to transmit, the weight of the T-195 and a radio that's 
> almost impossible to work on outside its case you get 100 watt AM only 
> transmitter.
> Been told that if your M-38 was idling that keying that transmitter 
> would stall the engine.
> Most everyone today is getting together on USB or carrier inserted USB 
> for AM but it's only the hardiest amongst us who are doing real plate 
> modulated AM. For reasons I cant explain no one is even trying to run 
> RTTY on those old radios.
> The only advantage that I can think of is at least in the opinion of 
> people like me is that anyone who can get a GRC-19 set up and running 
> and keep it functional has got to be one hell of a Ham in my book, or 
> that of anyone else who ever tried to get and keep that radio up and 
> on line.
>
> Ray F/KA3EKH
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: mrca-bounces at mailman.qth.net <mrca-bounces at mailman.qth.net> On 
> Behalf Of David Olean
> Sent: Thursday, March 31, 2022 12:41 PM
> To: Military Radio Collectors Association <mrca at mailman.qth.net>
> Subject: Re: [MRCA] The T-195
>
> CAUTION: This email originated from outside of Salisbury University. 
> Please exercise caution when clicking links or opening attachments 
> from external sources.
>
>
> For most of my adult life, I have had an aversion to the Collins T-195 
> transmitter. It all started when I ran a signal maintenance shop in 
> the Army from 1968 to 1971.  I saw a never ending stream of T-195s 
> come through the door after each field exercise.  Of course, the R-392 
> companion receiver was never to be seen. They just seemed to work 
> great all the time. I loved the R-392. In my retirement, I have been 
> restoring some R-392s and just love working on them. I just obtained 
> R-392  #5 to re work and it came with a T-195. I have been giving the 
> T-195 a cautious glance, and the more that I see, the more I seem to 
> be liking it.  I am going to try to get it going. I looked over the 
> manuals and I need to get much more familiar with the auto-tune 
> circuits. As I recall, many of the problems in the field involved a 
> failure of the auto-tune sections, but we were dealing with operators 
> who were clueless and heavy handed, so I think my perceptions were 
> clouded a bit!
>
> So my question is:  Am I on the right track getting a T-195 working so 
> that I can check in on AM on 3885?  What are the pitfalls to look for 
> with this set?  I do have the solid state power units for it, and my 
> particular set came with those plus a spare PTO and PA deck.  The 
> insides look quite jammed together and I am sure certain problems may be
> difficult to deal with as a result.   Just looking for some general 
> advice.
>
> Dave K1WHS
>
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