HornetWSO
Private 1st Class
"We may not have a history, but we have a rendezvous with destiny!"
Posts: 551
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Post by HornetWSO on Feb 24, 2012 21:58:23 GMT -5
Purchased the SCR-536 (BC-611) reproduction from WPG this week. Seems that WWII comms is always a big hole at any event, so I figured it was time! A good friend and I each purchased one. For $135 plus shipping it was a risk. As usual the shipping was super fast from the UAE. About 3 days. It is an extruded aluminum case with mouth and ear piece tubes welded in place. The black aluminum caps for the ear piece and mouth piece screw on/off to reveal the mic and speaker. I will run a bead of caulk around the inside of the tubes to keep out water. I will also tape some black cellophane around the holes in the cups to keep water out too. The unit is powered by and FRS radio that has been cleverly mounted inside the bottom of the 536. To operate, you open the bottom, and turn on the FRS Radio, select the channel and then secure the bottom. The rubber PTT switch on the side of the transceiver works well. It does not require much pressure or travel. The antenna is revealed under the metal antenna protective cover. There is a chain attached to this cup to prevent it's loss. Additionally there is a screw base on top of the SCR to attach the protective cup to reduce noise. The antenna is crome, and should be "blued". Not sure if I really care. There is a nice sling, that is secured to the SCR on the back of the Radio. It is adjustable and works fairly well. Overall impression Very positive! This is the third generation for WPG on the unit, and I think each run improves. It feels good in the hands, although the color seems to be a little lighter than the wartime units, I can live with this though. I've done some rudimentary testing and have been able to Rx/Tx up to a mile, with the caveat that it must be line of site. Remember it is an FRS, so line of site out to mile is about all you'll get. I found 1/2 mile this little gem worked 5x5. I think this unit performs on par for distance with the original, and is more reliable. I'm happy to have this unit, and will update this post after the Bastogne Event in Wolcott this March.
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
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Post by 2nd Bat on Feb 24, 2012 22:47:29 GMT -5
Those look great and have been on my "want to have" list for some time. Every time I pursued them however they were out of stock. Nice to see them back and available. The BC 611 is commonly misidentified as the "walkie talkie" when in fact that term was officially reserved for the back pack radio the BC 1000. The BC 611 was officially labelled as the "handie talkie"
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HornetWSO
Private 1st Class
"We may not have a history, but we have a rendezvous with destiny!"
Posts: 551
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Post by HornetWSO on Feb 26, 2012 19:19:41 GMT -5
Would be nice to have a repop SCR-1000 too. We all forget the big part comms played at the small unit level. At the WWII events I've attended in the NE, there was not a whole lot going on for comms. So the more comms we get, the more realistic we can make the scenarios.
We have 3 Handie Talkies for the Bastogne Event in March, and I'm pretty excited to throw these units into the fray!
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
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Post by 2nd Bat on Feb 27, 2012 17:14:45 GMT -5
The FM capabilities of the US military played a major role in our victory that is sledom fully appreciated. One of the reasons our combined arms teams managed as well as they did and our artillery was as lethal as it was was our radio comms advantages over the Italians, Germans and Japanese.
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HornetWSO
Private 1st Class
"We may not have a history, but we have a rendezvous with destiny!"
Posts: 551
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Post by HornetWSO on Mar 12, 2012 17:01:05 GMT -5
Just a quick update on these radios. We used a couple of these during the Battle of Bulge event in Wolcott this last weekend. I have to say they worked flawlessly and really added to our event.
I was able to effectively communicate to forward elements, gain intel, and to flex with the battle as it unfolded.
Coordinated attacks can now be coordinated!
This is a welcome addition and will be used in future events.
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
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Post by 2nd Bat on Mar 14, 2012 0:06:18 GMT -5
that's a great report. wish I could have been there. I have a couple reproduction BC 1000s that I got from LTMACbefore he discovered he lost money making them. Wish I could have gotten the molds from him. I am going to get some of theses handy talkies as well. The BC 1000s function the same with modern GMRS FRS radios and I rigged a telephone style handset for each of them and mount them on a packboard
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Post by gunner on Apr 12, 2012 15:08:54 GMT -5
Good to hear theres's some good stuff coming out. I bought a 'repro' BC 611, AND an SRC from a guy at the vnas site who 'built' them spent quite a bit of money on them AND two PRC 25/77's. All are/were crap!!! expensive paper weights!! I've got the PRC's re built by a pro, former SOG guy (luckily for free!) and we've had the 611 and SRC rebuilt/re-wired. I wish I'd been patient and just waited....Thanks for the positve feedback!!!
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Post by brownien on Apr 12, 2012 22:37:47 GMT -5
Nice little radios you've got there! It would be really nice to see some repros of the Bc1000/scr300 radios. I've always thought they looked the most interesting on the backs of the squad's radioman. I would love to have one of them to go along with my future aeg M1 carbine! ;D
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
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Post by 2nd Bat on Apr 13, 2012 14:08:17 GMT -5
I have a couple BC1000 replicas set up with GMRS radios in the hollow telephone like handsets. They can be set up on their own backpack straps or on a vintage packboard. They look great and work super. I tried to cajole the molds from the guy who made them but he wanted too much money for them to make sense unless I thought there was a viable market for them. Ashe had them laid out they required roughly $100.00 in materials alone so funneling in the costs of the mold and other expenses they would have to be sold for more than most people would be willing to spend.
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Post by brownien on Apr 15, 2012 17:43:36 GMT -5
How much do you think those Bc1000's you have are worth 2nd, if you were willing to sell one that is? I don have the funds at the moment for such a purchase but i may look into getting a radio in the future.
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
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Post by 2nd Bat on Apr 15, 2012 18:16:41 GMT -5
the retail price on each of them was 275.00 plus shipping. That was the radio itself, the handsets and screw in antenna. It did not include the actual GMRS radios although I had a bunch of them and they were relatively easy to set up in the handsets. The only reason I knew his material costs is I seriously looked into stepping up and buying his molds but he said he sold very few and never recovered his costs with the mark up even at $275.00. If I was confident I would sell a bunch of them I would have done it and I know I could do a better job than he did promoting them but it's just too big of a risk.
I should make another run at him and see if He would maybe reduce his asking price on the build out materials or sell me some left over "seconds" that I could fix up. They are heavy so shipping is also quite expensive. I think he designed them heavier than they needed to be. They are lighter than the actual ww2 radio of course but still weigh about 18 pounds. That's a lot of plastic! They are hollow inside so a guy could add weight if he wanted to!
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Post by brownien on Apr 18, 2012 17:34:31 GMT -5
Did the bc1000 have a pack system to carry it or just shoulder straps? If its a separate system to carry it, did he make or have plans to make them?
P.s. do you have any pictures of these heavy things? ;D
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
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Post by 2nd Bat on Apr 18, 2012 19:21:36 GMT -5
the BC 1000was often mounted on a pack boards other items could be carried by the RTO otherwise they would have no place to haul their personal items. The radio did have a harness which primarily consisted of a couple harness straps and a small pad at the back of the radio. I fabricated some things that looked and work well. I am on the toad so can't post any pictures unfortunately althoughI think some were posted in another threadwayback when.
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Post by brownien on Apr 19, 2012 17:22:39 GMT -5
Just a suggestion, have you ever thought of making the bc1000 body out of a light sheet metal with stampings? seems like it would be cheaper and faster to make with a simple die. Then make the top and bottom and any other coplicated parts out of resin. They may end up lighter and more durable than the all resin copies and would still provide room for those who want to add weight to make it realistic in mass.
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Post by brownien on Sept 26, 2012 21:24:31 GMT -5
Hey 2nd, could you post some dimensions and possibly some photos of your Bc1000 radios? I'm thinking of making a crude (at best) representation of one for use as a mobile field comm. I cant seem to find any exacting dimensions of the radio unit as a whole to base off of.
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
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Post by 2nd Bat on Sept 27, 2012 0:57:05 GMT -5
mine were molded off originals so the dimensions would be correct. i get home this weekend from a month long road trip so i can get measurements and will get them posted. I tried to contact the original seller while I was out here on the east coast but wasnt able to. i am again out in New England next month and will try again. my hope is that we could work things out and get the molds shipped while im out this way.
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
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Post by 2nd Bat on Sept 28, 2012 14:23:24 GMT -5
Brownien,
I got home last night and pulled my radios out to take some pictures and get you the measurements. The overall height of the box is 15 inches although at the top of the radio is a hinged shelf that opens up and adds an additional 1.8 inches to the height of the radio standing up. The radio box is 5 inches thick and 10.5 inches wide.
I took some photos and can email them to you. PM me with your direct email address and I will do so. These will be a lot of work to replicate authentically as the shapes are a bit more involved than one might think. I still havent been able to get through to him to see if I can buy any inventory he might have left over or better still his molds. In considering the project it would seem logical to mold the outer surfaces and the upper shelf and then simply attach these facades to an appropriate sized tin box.
This would no doubt be lighter as well as his replicas are quite heavy with each weighing 18 pounds. They are hollow but he used a ton of plastic and poured it over metal for strength.
When I spoke with him last (a couple years ago). He had several "seconds" that he wasnt happy with in terms of how they came out of the molds. If I could buy them cheap enough I know I could patch and adapt them so they would look and work fine.
For local large events it would be nice to have four or five of them on hand. For Namsofting I have nine PRC 77s and an additional 3 from buddies in the area and we still seem to not have enough. Radios however were available down the squad and patrol level with six man LRRP teams typically hauling two sets.
In WW2 a BC 1000 would be platoon or company HQ asset.
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Post by brownien on Jun 17, 2013 13:54:29 GMT -5
Sorry to bump such an old post, but I thought this would be the best place to ask. Does anyone have a wiring diagram of the repro internals of the Handie-Talkie? I was hoping to do up something similar with longer wires for a BC1000. It would be made out of 1/2" thick cardboard with some internal bracing and bondo to shape it. I've looked all over the web and I simply cannot find how to wire it up! I already have the mic and speaker to use inside one of these "retro" telephone adapters that work with Iphones.
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
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Post by 2nd Bat on Jun 20, 2013 1:49:28 GMT -5
I'm on the road so i can't help with pictures but essentially i house the GMRS components inside the handset. Like you i bought the cheapo telephone style handsets that are novelty items for cell phones.
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Post by dusty on Feb 17, 2014 23:09:36 GMT -5
Those look great and have been on my "want to have" list for some time. Every time I pursued them however they were out of stock. Nice to see them back and available. The BC 611 is commonly misidentified as the "walkie talkie" when in fact that term was officially reserved for the back pack radio the BC 1000. The BC 611 was officially labelled as the "handie talkie"
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
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Post by 2nd Bat on Feb 18, 2014 23:09:07 GMT -5
For my bc 1000s the actual functioning radios are just enderneath the hinged upper flap. Wires lead from the radio to the handset which includes the microphone and speaker with a functioning push to talk. The bulk of the large BC1000 is simply a fake box to provide the right look. It is quite simple to change frequencies, adjust the volume, replace batteries or turn the radios on and off. The antenna, buttons and switches on my BC1000s are non functional. Visually they look spot on. I'd love to get some actual data plates however to enhance their looks.
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Post by 347dogco on Mar 9, 2014 15:11:13 GMT -5
If someone sends me schematics for radios, and what they want them to operate at, i can build you radios at cost of parts, labor @$12/hr, and shipping.
Former Army Comms Tech, I built SINGAR and Survival radios for years.
EDIT: I actually have access to some Original Radios as well, and could build modernized versions, in Civilian frequency.
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
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Post by 2nd Bat on Mar 9, 2014 17:50:43 GMT -5
What would you charge for an actual shell BC 1000 radio set up with modern GMRs internals? $12.00 an hour, plus materials I'm afraid doesn't tell me anything. What would you sell a BC 1000 shell for?
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Post by 347dogco on Mar 10, 2014 11:00:02 GMT -5
What would you charge for an actual shell BC 1000 radio set up with modern GMRs internals? $12.00 an hour, plus materials I'm afraid doesn't tell me anything. What would you sell a BC 1000 shell for? Let me get back to you on that.
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Post by CPL. Mills 2nd Rangers on May 7, 2014 20:07:17 GMT -5
The Sarg and I each got one, they are really great to have in the field. You are able to use them without pulling out the antenna, but its not historically accurate and the range isn't the greatest. Best to pull out the antenna.
The only real problem I have with it is the top strap is connected to the tip lid, and that lid is only held on by one screw. Makes me paranoid that I will brake it if I let it swing around. Other then that, they freaking rock!
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
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Post by 2nd Bat on May 8, 2014 11:13:18 GMT -5
So they are back in stock again? It seems whenever I checked they were sold out.
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