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The Army PRC-74 Radio I had in Korea
I was at Camp Humphreys on my 3rd tour to Korea, in 1978-79. I was assigned
to Hq Company Garrison, and was the Maintenance Sgt and NCOIC
of the Transportation Motor Pool (TMP). I also worked part time
at the MARS Station.
Being a Ham, and having a secondary MOS in commo, I was very
familiar with the Army's PRC74 series radios. I had
purchased a few of them at a PDO sale at Ft Campbell Ky prior
to PCS to Korea. I had used these radios before, and studied
the Rhombic Antennas, and thought it would be a neat radio to use
while I was in Korea. Since these radios only put out 20 watts,
I wanted to put up the most efficient HF antenna I could.
I got a aerial photo of the camp, and oriented it North with a
compass to figure where I needed my antenna. I Acquired (4) 1/4
mile rolls of wd1 commo wire, and set off making the antenna. I
located some telephone poles and trees that lined up pretty good.
I ended up terminating it on the top of HQ Company Garrison
barracks, which was a 2 story building. The antenna was aprox 2200
ft tip to tip. Great antenna. :)
I am a person that thinks it is better to request Forgiveness,
rather than seeking Permission in some cases. When I decided to put
this antenna up, I borrowed a set of climbing gaffs, pulled my rank
off my uniform, and just followed the direction I had laid out from
the aerial photo, and started stringing wire. I had acquired 4 rolls
of commo wire that the army uses for field phones, and away I went.
For a couple of weeks, I went to work early, so I could spent some
afternoons putting the antenna up. I was never asked what I was doing.
I guess they just assumed I was working on the phone lines. :)
This is a roll of WD1 Commo Wire.
I removed 1 of the 2 detent balls from each of the frequency knobs to make
changing frequencies easier for Ham use. I routed the antenna out the bottom,
and put a 12 volt conector there also to power it from my 20 amp
12 volt power supply. I was able to talk guys all over the States
on a daily bases.
The PRC74 configured for typical backpack use
These radios were replaced by the PRC104, which covered 2-30 Mhz,
LSB,USB, CW. They are still in use.
One of my more unique experiences operating with a PRC-74, was while I was
in the 101st Airborne at Ft Campbell Ky. We were convoying from Ft
Campbell to Ft Drum NY for Winter Training. This was back in the
mid 1970s, and in the rear of the convoy with the Maintenance Plt,
in one of the Dodge pickups that the Army had back then. I had a
Army PRC-74, a backpack CW-SSB 20 Watt radio to use within the
convoy. Before departing Campbell, we had been given frequencies
to use, during the day and night. The Convoy Commander had a 400
watt GRC-106 in his vehicle to maintain commo with Campbell. My
little PRC-74 had a whip antenna on it, plus could be connected
to a separate antenna. It did have a small built in antenna tuner.
The driver of the truck I was riding in had put a CB in it, with
a whip antenna on the left rear. The Convoy Commanders 106 crapped
out about 4 hours out on the 1st day. Using what I learned about
antennas over the years, decided to try using the CB whip antenna
after modifying it. I cut off a broom handle, and attached it to
the right front bumper. I attached a piece of 12 gauge wire through
the little hole in the end of the broom handle and clamped it to
the top of the CB whip antenna just below the little ball. This
ended up being a horizontal L antenna, that the PRC-74 could
easily tune to our 10 and 6 mhz frequency. I ended up taking care
of the Commo for the 1st 2 days, till the commo guys fixed the 106.
We used VHF radios between vehicles in the convoy, but I also had
the PRC74 so I could talk from the rear with the Maintenance crew,
to the Convoy Commander in the front, several miles ahead.
When we arrived at Ft Drum, our Bn Commander asked me where I had my 106
mounted? When I told him what I had been using, he asked me what
my MOS was? When I told him I was a Mechanic, he asked me where I
learned about Radio Communications? I told him Ham Radio. When
he looked at my Broom Stick Antenna, he then said, maybe his
Operations Sgt should become a Ham Operator, as it took him 2 days
to find that the Convoy Commanders 106 had a loose antenna connector. :)
