Commo between MVs

Want to put radios in your jeep? Discuss it here.

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ida34
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Re: Commo between MVs

Unread post by ida34 » May 10th, 2009, 9:55 am

The PRC-25 is transistorized but has one tube. Tubes take more power so the PRC-77 last longer on the battery and is more efficient (puts out more watts out the antenna) but I would not call the PRC-25 a tube type radio since it only has one tube. I have two PRC-25 and wanted to clear something up. I use the PRC-68.com D cell battery setup and it does work with the PRC-25. As I understand it the only difference between the military batteries is current limitation for the battery for the PRC-25. The PRC-68 adapter made by Brooke Clark has the proper current limiter.The military converter will not work but the PRC-68 one will. I am not sure if that will work with the 25. When buying regular military batteries you must get the BA4386 for the PRC-25. The tube mentioned above draws more current when cold and it takes a few seconds for the filament in the tube to heat up when the transmitter is keyed up. The BA4386 limits the current that the tube draws. The BA-5598 will work for the PRC-25 but the lack of current limitation will shorten the life of the tube or allow it to burnout right away in the PRC-25. The PRC-77 does not have the varying current draw because of its totally solid state construction.

Like already mentioned, you will need the AM-2060 for vehicular mounting and this is harder to than the PRC-25 or 77. I have one but am always looking for one more. They can be found but I am a bargain shopper and have not been able to find one at my price point. When you have the AM-mount you will also need to get the antenna, matching unit, Mt-1029 tray, and cables. The AM-2060 slides into the MT-1029 and the PRC-77 or 25 slides into the am-2060. Some matching units require a second cable beside the actual antenna cable. You will also need a power cable for the MT-1029. Some vehicles require a special radio mount that is designed to hold the MT-1029 and some require special antenna mounts.

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Rainman
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Re: Commo between MVs

Unread post by Rainman » May 10th, 2009, 10:53 am

Hey ida34,
Thanks for the details I missed on the PRC's. Perhaps I should have described it as "a tubed radio", but my point was the filament voltage that was required. :oops: I'm not familiar with the Brooke Clark adapter, buy know many of the ebay adapters are for the 77 only. The batteries I can get are the BA4386's, and I too am looking for an AM-2060 if anyone has one for sale. Great in depth info there, thanks for the wealth of info :D
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ida34
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Re: Commo between MVs

Unread post by ida34 » May 10th, 2009, 8:09 pm

Perhaps I should have posted a link. Brook makes a lot of adapters to avoid using expensive radio batteries.

Actually, both batteries provide power for the filament but the newer batteries and the military D cell adapter does not limit the amount of current that can be drawn by the filament lead. The adapters at the link are really well made and great to use. I will keep an eye out for a Am-2060 for you but I hope to get another one to leave in my truck. Basically I wanted two to when I am convoying with my son we can converse. I am going to have my radio going through my vic-1 intercom on my deuce so it will go right through my headset.

http://www.prc68.com/

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Re: Commo between MVs

Unread post by raymond » May 10th, 2009, 9:44 pm

I don't know about radio transmission setups, but there is a world of difference between tube type stereo and transistor stereo amplifiers. My brother has an old Fisher 50 watt per channel 2 channel 8 ohm tube type stereo amplifier that will drive an old pair of Klipsch Lascalla speakers to the point of being painful to your ears when listening to Won't Get Fooled Again off the Who's Next album by The Who. Listen to the same song at 300 watts at 8 ohms on a modern transistorized microprocessor Denon amp and it is not as loud, even though it is 6 times the power. It also does not have the range or clarity of the tube type amp either.
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ida34
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Re: Commo between MVs

Unread post by ida34 » May 11th, 2009, 10:19 pm

The lack of tube in the PRC77 yields longer battery life, increased power output on the transmitter, and more reliability. Also the output on the PRC-25 varies a little since it takes a second or two for the tube filament to heat up. Everything else is transistorized and solid state. Audio on both receive and transmit are comparable. The PRC 77 also is secure capable with x-mode while the PRC-25 is not secure capable. I am not radio expert but I do know a little about the two.

ida34
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Re: Commo between MVs

Unread post by ida34 » May 11th, 2009, 10:30 pm

One other thing I forgot. Both the RT-524 and the RT246 use a tube for the same purpose as the PRC-25. These radios were standard issue up till recently. NG units were the last to use them. When I was getting out of the Army in 1993 we began to replace the RT-524 radios with SINGARS radios. I was in the 101st Airborne so we were some of the first units to get the SINGARS.

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