Korean War era Portables
DH4PY

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      SE-103
  PRC-34/36
      RT-209/PRC-21

 

 

 

 

 

 

  PRC-34/36:

A few words on development: (By Alan Tasker, WA1NYR):
 
"The Army attempted to replace the PRC-6.

  • The first unit they made just a few of was called the PRC-15. It did not meet the performance goals. It looked like a smaller BC-611.
  • Next came the PRC-30, they made just a few.
  • Next came the PRC-26, but they changed its nomenclature to PRC-35 in order to avoid confusion with the Canadian CPRC-26. It had the same problems as the PRC-15, i.e since they still had to use tubes, by the time they got the radio performance they needed, the weight was too heavy. They made just a few of those. They looked like the CPRC-26. But then again, it could have been the PRC-30 that looked like the CPRC-26.
  • Next came the
     
    AN/PRC-34(X1) (See: "To picture gallery")
    and the
    PRC-36(X1) (see pictures below), both using the same Transceiver. It used one tube, Tx output ( CK6051 ). For some reason, they decided to make enough of them to try out in the field.
    One was the
    AN/PRC-34(X1) ,the helmut. It has a special control section that plugged into the helmut wiring. The microphone plugged in too. The helmut was not a real helmut, i.e. protective. I do not think Kevlar was developed until a lot later. They made two housings to contain the transceiver and battery.
    The other,
    AN/PRC-36(X1) had a belt worn box, that had the controls on it. You opened the door, plugged in the transceiver unit and plugged in the battery, then closed the door. The microphone plugged into the panel.
    AN/PRC-36(X1)
    Picture 1: complete
    Picture 2: belt-worn box
    The mike connector should be the same for
    helmut and belt box- but here are different. Reason:
    the first helmuts could have different connectors.
    But the performance of both experimental radios ( X for experimental ) was not what was needed, so they never went into real production with these either."
    This experimantal device also is a "Squad Radio". The collection shows all American Squad radios from their beginning (1941) to 1986.

    MAB
    (1941)

    DAV
    (1941)

    SCR-511/ BC-745
    (1941)

    SCR-536/ BC-611
    (1942)

    RT-196/ PRC-6
    (1950)

    (PRC-34/ PRC-36)
    (1961)

    PRR-9/ PRT-4
    (1965)

    RT-1113/ PRC-68, A,B
    (1976/84)

    RT-1547/ PRC-126
    (1986)

     
    You may also read the article by Alan Tasker :
    "U.S. Military Portable Radios"

    Frequency range:
    AN/PRC-34(X1): 38 ... 51.0 MHz, 12 possible frequencies
    AN/PRC-36(X1): 47.8 ... 51.0 MHz, 9 possible frequencies
    (they built fixed frequency radio sets)

     

    Technical Data:
    Channels:
    1
    Channel Spacing:
    400 KHz
    Mode:
    FM
    HF Output:
    30 mW
    Frequency Control:
    crystal
    Frequency tuning:
    Fixed frequency
    Number of Tubes:
    1, CK6051
    Number of transistors:
    15
    Number of crystal diodes:
    10
    Number of pluck-out modules:
    3
    RF Sensitivity:
    3 µV
    Year of development:
    1961
    • l>