On The Air With The GRC-109...
Today I finally got the old GRC-109 military "spy" radio on the air, and made two contacts right away! One of the contacts was with John (N4HBH) located on the east coast in Virginia who gave me a nice signal report. The other contact was with a station in Oregon.
The video above shows me calling CQ (calling for any station). Sorry there's no sound, but it shows the lights on the transmitter blinking as I send the call.
This was about the easiest set up I can remember. Just hook the transmitter to the power supply, hook up an antenna, and start transmitting. This radio is about 50 years old, and puts out about 25 watts of power. There is a matching receiver that I would like to add to this setup.
In the video you can see me using the little key that is built right on top of the transmitter.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010
My Newest Toy...
Pictured above is my newest "toy". On the right is a 2-tube radio transmitter (GRC-109). This is a military "spy" transmitter, and was used extensively during the Vietnam war, especially during the early days when the special forces were in operation covertly.The little transmitter is about 8-1/2" x 5-1/2", about the size of a VHS video tape. It runs about 10 watts output and covers from 3 to 22 megacycles, quite a range for such a small set. It only operates "cw", or morse code mode, and has a built in key!
Although low power, with a decent antenna this transmitter has good long-range capability, and many hams have worked around the globe using this set. There is also a matching receiver and power supply that I would like to find (see photo below).
On the left is a home made power supply that I hope to "mate" with the transmitter. I'll do an update once I've connected the two units and run some tests.
There is some interesting background on this radio set. Click on this link: SPY RADIO
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)