Questions about BC-659-k

Radio Telephone and Telegraph Transmitting and Receiving Equipment
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Bart1015
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Questions about BC-659-k

Post by Bart1015 » Thu Jan 26, 2017 6:51 am

Hello everyone,

I am not new to military radios, just new to WW2 military radios. Currently, I have a working AN/VRC-46 radio set in my 1967 M151a1.

Recently, I bought an early 1942 GPW with a BC-659-k radio with all of the accessories.

As of now I have not tried to turn the 659 radio on and I do not believe it has the small internal battery that is required to make the radio function.

I know the AN/VRC radio sets are identified as a unit, for example AN/VRC-46. That number represents the complete radio unit including cables, radio, mounts etc. For insistence, AN/VRC-46 is a RT-524 radio with all accessories to mount and use in a vehicle.

So, my questions to the radio experts are:

During WW2 did the military use the same identification system for radios? If so, what would a BC-659-k radio with all accessories for a vehicle be identified as?

I have not been able to determine what the "K" identifies. Any idea?

I really want to locate a TM for the radio set, however I do not know what TM number I need to look for. Does anyone have the TM number, or a reprint, PDF or original they would be willing to share or sell me?

I understand I need the small internal battery to run the unit. After searching the G I found there is a person making replacements on Ebay. Does anyone make the battery in the states?

Thanks for all your help,

Brett
1942 VEP GPW, J-2 winch, BC-659, 1919a4
1945 GPW, 1943 MBT
Sold - 1967 M151a1, 1943 MB, M416
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g504
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Re: Questions about BC-659-k

Post by g504 » Thu Jan 26, 2017 7:45 am

Hello.

PM sent.

g504.

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Re: Questions about BC-659-k

Post by g504 » Thu Jan 26, 2017 8:01 am


Radtech
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Re: Questions about BC-659-k

Post by Radtech » Thu Jan 26, 2017 8:12 am

The BC-659 was manufactured for artillery units on frequencies assigned to the artillery.When used in a vehicle with vibrator power supply it is SCR-610.When used in the field with the battery pack it is SCR-609.The BC-Basic component and SCR-Set Complete Radio designations were used until the JAN Joint Army Navy designation was adopted in 1943 but not fully implemented until some time in 1944.The BC 659 requires a multiple voltage bias battery to operate properly.When I was restoring the BC-620 and 659 radios I used to build battery packs with 4, 15v flash batteries and 3 N cells.The current draw is minimal and batteries will last for years depending on radio use age.

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Re: Questions about BC-659-k

Post by Bart1015 » Thu Jan 26, 2017 1:39 pm

Thanks guys. I know have a great foundation to start my research on.

Brett
1942 VEP GPW, J-2 winch, BC-659, 1919a4
1945 GPW, 1943 MBT
Sold - 1967 M151a1, 1943 MB, M416
www.ToThePointPolygraph.com

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Re: Questions about BC-659-k

Post by cjv-35 » Thu Jan 26, 2017 2:00 pm

That very same Manual above was available for down load on the Radio Nerds site. I down loaded the entire manual for my working BC-659J with P E-120A power unit awhile back. Just checked and on my search, it comes up with 'cannot find site" on my search engine. Hopefully, it is just down temporarily. Great site for all military radio info.

brian in denver
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Re: Questions about BC-659-k

Post by brian in denver » Fri Jan 27, 2017 6:36 pm

yah whenever we do a bunch of uploads it seems to go down.

http://www.radionerds.com/index.php/SCR-610

but it saves an archive you can go to.

BB
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David B
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Re: Questions about BC-659-k

Post by David B » Mon Jan 30, 2017 7:25 am

Bart1015 wrote:Hello everyone,

I understand I need the small internal battery to run the unit. After searching the G I found there is a person making replacements on Ebay.
Brett
Hi Brett,

Radtech is pretty thorough and a wealth of knowledge.

For those who may not know (or lost his contact info) of who that "Italian" guy who makes the PSU's on Ebay is (I have a number of them for my rigs-most recently the WS58 Canadian) his name is Piertro Noto (pietronoto@tiscali.it)...Ebay handle "Inverter45".

List of current PSUs here http://www.ebay.com/sch/inverter45/m.ht ... 7675.l2562

Best,

David
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Re: Questions about BC-659-k

Post by MkDorney » Wed May 03, 2017 7:53 pm

The BC-659 with a power supply was known as the SCR-610. The BC-620 with the power supply was known as the SCR-510. Why ? Who knows- it's the Army. That's why it doesn't make any sense.

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Re: Questions about BC-659-k

Post by MkDorney » Wed May 03, 2017 8:14 pm

What power supply do you have for the radio? You need to make sure that the voltage set on your power supply matches the voltage of the vehicle you are mounting it to. The PE-117 and PE-120 have different ways to set the power supply for voltage. On these two power supplies, you need make sure the power supply is set up to use the same voltage that the vehicle the power supply is installed in uses. The PE-117 could be set up for either 6 or 12 volts. The PE-117 used a Vibrator VB-1, or a lighter weight VB-7. Both are 6 volt, 4 pin vibrators. The PE-117 only required the setting up of the jumper connections inside the power supply to the correct voltage . The PE-120 could be set up for either 6, 12 or 24 volts. There is a power selection plug in the front center of that power supply chassis that needs to be set correctly to the correct voltage for the vehicle. The PE-120 also needed the correct vibrator installed in the power supply, again matched to the voltage of the vehicle. Vibrators common for the PE-120 series power supplies are the VB-12-A (6 volts) and the VB-13-A (12 volts), and the VB-11-A (24 volts). All these vibrators are 9 pin, and the pins are set in a specific pattern that permits only 1 way to install the vibrator.

Setting the voltage up correctly is absolutely paramount for operation. Set improperly, you will get to witness the blue smoke of death as the internals of the power supply ( and perhaps the radio also ) depart this world for the happy hunting grounds ( or the electronics recycler )

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Re: Questions about BC-659-k

Post by wa5cab » Wed May 10, 2017 11:42 am

Actually, if you know and understand the whole system, most of the Signal Corps nomenclature does make sense. "SCR" stands for "Set, Complete, Radio" (not Signal Corps Radio). The numbers generally were simply assigned in order. There were over the decades a few cases of misuse. SCR-211 should have been RC-something, for example. But most of it makes sense. SCR-500 to SCR-599 was originally set aside for Armor and SCR-600 to SCR-699 for Artillery. Infantry did not have a set aside block. SCR-508 and SCR-609 were the battery operated pack set variants of the low power FM sets. SCR-510 and SCR-610 were the vehicular variants.

And so forth.
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