Gunner Asch wrote:

On Sat, 12 Sep 2009 04:25:49 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell"
wrote:


Larry Jaques wrote:

When I worked as a Quality Assurance inspector, I used the height
gauges to check hole placement for the manpack radio chassis and other
panels. Nowadays, if I had one, I might use it to scribe lines for
hole placement, using the extra adaptor so it didn't cause damage to
my tool.


What radio? I did electrical QA on the PRC-77.

So YOU are the guy! Hummmm....well..its been a long time and I like
you anyways.


Don't blame me. It was a crappy RCA NATO radio design that required
every member nation to sign off on design changes. Even as a tech, I
could have made a lot of improvements starting with a better transistor
in the front end. Motorola was the only source, and it had been
obsolete for several years when Cincinnati Electronics took over the
contract from another company. Motorola agreed to make a batch, but
wouldn't guarantee that they met Mil Spec. They shipped over 11,000
transistors to be tested in house in an attempt to get 10,000 that
qualified.

There were about a dozen manufacturers, including someone in Pakistan.
It was early '60s germanium technology, at best. Crystal mixers to
synthesize the Local Oscillators, and designed to replace the PRC-25,
which replaced the PRC-10. It used the same battery, ignoring the 90 V
B+ and operating the radio off what had been the filament supply. It
used the same crappy Korean War carbon microphone handset and antennas.
In other words, it was a low budget radio designed to replace crap that
replaced crap. The only thing that it had going for it was module
interchangability, implying that it could be serviced in the field by
swapping modules. It was to be replaced by the PRC-70, that used modern
ICs and digital synthesis to generate the Local Oscillators. They were
intended for short range communications only. There were a few linear
amplifiers built for them to put out something like 20 watts instead of
a half watt. I saw a few at Cincinnati Electronics, along with the
motorized antennas designed for tactically equipped Jeeps.

BTW, that was the same place where a security guard accused me of
stealing a 'GRC-106, Complete' and carrying it out of the plant in my
shirt pocket. That was about 600 pounds of electronics, cables and
spare parts. The head of security got mad when I laughed in his face.
then I asked who made the complaint. He refused to tell me, so I asked
how many were missing, and what were the serial numbers. Finally I
explained that two, 'GRC-106, Complete' filled one pallet, and required
a forklift to move. He wasn't amused, but called that department for
conformation. He finally apologized.



--
You can't have a sense of humor, if you have no sense!