Posted: 10/12/2010 3:52:56 PM EDT
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I'm writing a 2-page memorandum based on a chapter of Signal Corps history. Back in Vietnam. the Army introduced the AN/PRT-4 transmitter and AN/PRR-9 reciever. This VHF combo was intended to be used down to the squad level. For various reasons, it failed to be fully implemented. What I'm wondering is if the Army ever tried to field any other squad-level radios after that. With the proliferation of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) radios, I know we have a bunch of different stuff out there now. But what I'm wondering is if the Army ever fielded a mil-spec squad-level radio after the failure in Vietnam. Thanks |
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Quoted: Quoted: We use MBITRs down to the team level on a platoon net. Great piece of technology there  Yeah...I'm not a huge fan of most commo...it's like I emit a bubble that radio signals can't enter or exit. Guy 10 feet away can have perfect comms, but I just hear static. Maybe operator headspace and timing.  |
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Quoted: The answer is yes, but I don't know enough about them. Doesn't the PRC77 fit your criteria? <––-was an infantry soldier, a while back, but not that long ago. As far as I know, the PRC-77 was a platoon-level radio. Quoted: PRC-68 and PRC-126 are what I remember. I was leaving the Army when I heard about the MBITR (or PRC-148). Awesome, this looks like what I need. I found on http://www.olive-drab.com/od_electronics_anprc68.php "The AN/PRC-68 project began in the middle 1970s as a Marine Corps effort to develop a squad radio to replace the unsatisfactory helmet-mounted AN/PRR-9 receiver and receiver/transmitter hand-held AN/PRT-4 (both developed by the Army). The AN/PRC-68 was first produced in 1976 by Magnavox, was issued to the Marines in the 1980s and it was adopted by the US Army as well." |
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Quoted:
I was acting infantry in Iraq. We used both the mbitr and another newer radio, but I can't remember then name(someone help me out, the green one that looks like an mbitr). We also used COTS radios. We used them at the squad, and team leader level, but we always operated on the platoon freq. Just out of curiosity, how can you be "acting" infantry? Is that like the XO being the acting CO? 
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The Combat Land Radio is standard issue to the individual rifleman in an Airborne Infantry Company now (Z00862) with JEMS at the squad leader and above level.
Every individual on my teams had a JEMS/MBITR issued as well. And the MBITR is a damn fine radio (having grown up with PRC-77 with Vinson 
In theater, there will be more MBITRS floating around. |
| I used it in Vietnam. The receiver was heavy, weighed down your helmet and the speaker was horrible, made the drive thru at McDonald's sound good. The transmitter had a limited range and ate batteries, they weren't waterproofed very well so after every rain they were useless. I believe they lasted less than a month before they were recalled and we never saw them again. |
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Quoted:
I was RTO in Iraq. I hated MBITR's so much, especially when squad leaders didn't keep them charged. The new MBITR's aren't as bad though. I traded my MBITR in for a Harris PRC-152 and I fell in love with that thing. PRC-152 FTW. MBITR is/was trash. But re-keying them was much easier than the 152. Gotta love the cloning cable. MBITR, kiss my ass. CYZ10, you too can kiss my ass. |
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We used PRC-77 with Vinson and prc-68 While I served with a scout platoon 86 to 89. 2/187 Inf 101st.
Prc-68 was hit and miss and I was told they limited there range on purpose to keep people from flooding the frequency. We had a am radio too can't remember the nomenclature. |
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Quoted: Quoted: I had a PRC E7 that worked really well at making sure it always had good reception  That's odd, my PRC E7 didn't work for shit and caused more problems than it fixed You just got to update it to a PRC E8 so it'll be someone else's problem. I wish I was kidding. |
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Quoted: I used it in Vietnam. The receiver was heavy, weighed down your helmet and the speaker was horrible, made the drive thru at McDonald's sound good. The transmitter had a limited range and ate batteries, they weren't waterproofed very well so after every rain they were useless. I believe they lasted less than a month before they were recalled and we never saw them again. You may find the following interesting... One the main gripes about the PRT-4 / PRR-9 system was the basis of issue. The Platoon Leader, Platoon Seregant, and Squad Leaders got both units. The Team Leaders only got the receiver, so he couldn't acknowledge orders. Guess who came up with that? A Captain at the Army Infantry School named Colin Powell. https://www.benning.army.mil/library/content/Virtual/Donovanpapers/Papers%201900%20Forward/STUP6/PowellColin%20L.%20CPT.pdf |