Radios and antennas

[Shrek]

I think I will soon have a stock 710K to pamper if all goes well. Does anyone know the correct military radios and antennas used by the Swiss Army in 1976? Can they be bought somewhere? Also, what is the short (about 16" high) central antenna or piece of antenna for? Thank you in advance.

[edzz]

Sides MX-6707/VRC base 30 – 76 MHZ
AS-1720/VRC Lower 52" Antenna
AT-1095/VRC Upper 66" Antenna Element
Center for HF receive-- Antenna Mast for AB-652/GR with 15-foot whip antenna consisting of an antenna cover, antenna tip assembly, guy ropes, one mast section MS-118A, one mast section MS-117A, and three mast sections MS-116A.

http://www.mat-mag.ch/images/pdf/SE-412.pdf
http://www.olive-drab.com/od_electronics_anvrc12.php

:idea: Or on the sides you can use the newer SFB3512/VRC system 30-512 MHz for 6M – UHF these look very similar to the originals however function 30 – 512 MHZ with no tuner required
http://shakespeare-military.com/milante ... FB3512/VRC
as I am more concerned with the performance of my radios than their originality the radios I use are a Kenwood TMV71A for UHF / VHF and a ICOM IC-7200 for HF these are much more compact, have better capabilities and lower power consumption. As well as being much less expensive than the original radio set


edit: Remember these radio sets do require you to be licensed for operation.
Ed

[audiocontr]

Great info!

Any chance you can recommend an INEXPENSIVE cb radio ant that would work well on a pinz?

[edzz]

For cheap CB any yard sale find.
The CB I use a Cobra 75 WX ST (about $100 for the radio) with a cheep magnet mount antenna. This radio is easy to install and simple to remove as the bulk of the radio (including the speaker) is contained in the hand set. This radio also has the NOAA weather channels.

Ed

[Shrek]

Great info, thanks, and you saved me a lot of money in the process, buying stuff I don't really need. I guess I just want a radio I can talk to people with, but would also like to monitor and scan some frequencies, especially police, emergency and marine. The Kenwood is surely top-of-the-line. The antenna for it sounds expensive, but worth consideration if it's so good. Those antennas would surely look cool on any K, especially all of them at once. Do you use a 24-12v converter for your radios (had not planned on having one)? What's the capacity and where did you install it? Under the table?

[Shrek]

Great info, thanks. Sorry for the double posting.

[Jimm391730]

Astrodyne makes a 350W, fan cooled 24-12V converter for about $140 that can output 27A: http://www.astrodyne.com/Product/sd350.asp It is about half the size of a cigar box. You can dial it up to 13.8V but it might be a good idea to put a small 12V battery (like a 6-10AHr) battery in parallel with the output at that voltage level. This should run any 100W radio (most draw 20, 22A at most). I've been using a smaller power Astrodyne for my HTX-252 2m but I'll be upgrading the converter for my dual band Yaesu FTM-350R and eventually HF.

I'm not worried about looking stock (just look at the avatar!) so I'm using a Comet CA-2x4SR since I also opperate GMRS for our local disaster group; good performance for 1/10th the cost of the Shakespeare. HF would use a different antenna than VHF/UHF, anyway.

Best of luck,
Jim M
AF6XL

[Shrek]

Great info, thanks.

[edzz]

FYI, the SFB3512/VRC antenna's I have were sourced for under $100 (not the scary price the military paid) per side at a local military vehicle swap meet. I do also use a smaller magnetic mounted antenna for on the road.

Ed

[kpoling]

I bought the AS-1720/VRC Lower 52" Antenna & AT-1095/VRC Upper 66" Antenna Element as kits, that EDZZ lists from Cold War Remarketing after I visited the shop. They have them in the original storage bags for a decent price. They have a lot of items not listed on their web site. You might also check EI, they have a lot of stuff not listed also.

Regards, Kevin