RADIO RT-176/PRC10 Power connections pinout?

Thread Starter

MisterBill2

Joined Jan 23, 2018
18,179
RADIO RT-176/PRC10 Power connections pinout?

I was given one of these radios by a neighbor and since if covers tha 6-meter band and I have the license to operate there, I am seeking information about the power and Audio connections. This is an interesting radio from a long-past era, but built incredibly rugged. But given that probably the tubes are no longer available, and that it is well used, I don't want to spend a lot until I can verify that it works. So information about the connections and the voltages is what I am seeking. Not wanting to spend $25 for a PDF download of a manual at this point. Yes, I am being cheap at this point.
 

Ya’akov

Joined Jan 27, 2019
9,074
RADIO RT-176/PRC10 Power connections pinout?

I was given one of these radios by a neighbor and since if covers tha 6-meter band and I have the license to operate there, I am seeking information about the power and Audio connections. This is an interesting radio from a long-past era, but built incredibly rugged. But given that probably the tubes are no longer available, and that it is well used, I don't want to spend a lot until I can verify that it works. So information about the connections and the voltages is what I am seeking. Not wanting to spend $25 for a PDF download of a manual at this point. Yes, I am being cheap at this point.
https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/military_handset_handapparat_h_33f.html
 

Thread Starter

MisterBill2

Joined Jan 23, 2018
18,179
I had not seen that, Yaakov. THANK YOU !!!
The first link wants to install something on my computer and it is not clear that it should be trusted. But the second one seems to contain the information that I need, or at least, the information that I asked for. Thanks again.
 

Thread Starter

MisterBill2

Joined Jan 23, 2018
18,179
Thanks again. Do you have one of these radios? This one certainly looks interesting, and I have not visited six meters yet.
 

Ya’akov

Joined Jan 27, 2019
9,074
Thanks again. Do you have one of these radios? This one certainly looks interesting, and I have not visited six meters yet.
When I was a kid I had one for a while. I got the receiver working though I didn't have my ticket yet so I didn't play with the transmitter. It was a long time ago, I don't recall too much about it but I sure had a lot of fun with it at the time.

The hardest part was powering it because batteries were expensive and I couldn't afford to keep it fed.

I was always fascinated by them because portable radios were really neat. Have you ever seen the stuff hams built for WERS during WWII?

I had a collection of old QSTs that included 20s, 30s, and 40s and the home-brew portables they built were amazing. I found this example: https://www.rfcafe.com/references/qst/a-self-contained-handie-talkie-jun-1944-qst.htm
 

Thread Starter

MisterBill2

Joined Jan 23, 2018
18,179
Years ago I had a copy of the "war emergency Radio Service" version of the handbook, and I actually built a 112 MC transceiver, The amazing thing as I look back at it is that the receiver used a 6V6 as both the transmit oscillator and as a regenerative receiver. That is an audio power tube! My guess is that the power out was not much, and no telling about the frequency, I did hear an airport receiver beacon sending out the call letters in morse code so I know that part worked. Nobody answered my calls, probably just as well because a kid talking on an aviation band frequency was not a good thing. So it sat on a shelf until the parts were needed for something else.
But the PRC10 is an incredible radio, at least 7 tubes, 6 being subminiature ones plus one that I have not seen what it actually is, because of the shield on it. Certainly the band below 6 meters will be entertaining because of all the license-free stuff there, and it is all FM.
 

Ya’akov

Joined Jan 27, 2019
9,074
Years ago I had a copy of the "war emergency Radio Service" version of the handbook, and I actually built a 112 MC transceiver, The amazing thing as I look back at it is that the receiver used a 6V6 as both the transmit oscillator and as a regenerative receiver. That is an audio power tube! My guess is that the power out was not much, and no telling about the frequency, I did hear an airport receiver beacon sending out the call letters in morse code so I know that part worked. Nobody answered my calls, probably just as well because a kid talking on an aviation band frequency was not a good thing. So it sat on a shelf until the parts were needed for something else.
But the PRC10 is an incredible radio, at least 7 tubes, 6 being subminiature ones plus one that I have not seen what it actually is, because of the shield on it. Certainly the band below 6 meters will be entertaining because of all the license-free stuff there, and it is all FM.
Yes, I was totally amazed by ruggedized tube gear with acorn tubes. I used to love the metal tubes in some stuff and I would collect metal versions and swap them into stuff I was using.
 

Thread Starter

MisterBill2

Joined Jan 23, 2018
18,179
Metal tubes are indeed unique. The opposite extreme was the loctal tubes, which in my experience were the worst product ever created, at least they were the most fragile I have ever come across.
 
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