BC-611 Radio Transmitter-Receiver - National Cryptologic Museum - DSC07810

The SCR-536 was a hand-held

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

transceiver In radio communication, a transceiver is an electronic device which is a combination of a radio ''trans''mitter and a re''ceiver'', hence the name. It can both transmit and receive radio waves using an antenna, for communication purposes. The ...

used by the

US Army Signal Corps The United States Army Signal Corps (USASC) is a branch of the United States Army responsible for creating and managing communications and information systems for the command and control of combined arms forces. It was established in 1860 by ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It is popularly referred to as a

walkie talkie A walkie-talkie, more formally known as a handheld transceiver, HT, or handheld radio, is a hand-held, portable, two-way radio transceiver. Its development during the Second World War has been variously credited to Donald Hings, radio engineer ...

, although it was originally designated a "handie talkie".

History

The SCR-536 is often considered the first of modern hand-held, self-contained, "handie talkie"

s (two-way radios). It was developed in 1940 by a team led by Don Mitchell, chief engineer for Galvin Manufacturing (now

Motorola Solutions Motorola Solutions, Inc. is an American technology, communications, and security company, headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. It is the legal successor of Motorola, Inc., following the spinoff of the mobile phone division into Motorola ...

) and was the first true hand-held unit to see widespread use. By July 1941, it was in mass production. In November 1942, the SCR-536 received coverage in the

amateur radio Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency radio spectrum, spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emer ...

magazine

QST ''QST'' is a magazine for amateur radio enthusiasts, published by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL). It is a membership journal that is included with membership in the ARRL. The publisher claims that circulation of ''QST'' in the United S ...

. It appeared on the cover as well as in Signal Corps advertising, and was featured as part of an article on the Signal Corps, "Smallest field unit of the Signal Corps", in which a photo caption read: "it is not much larger or heavier than a conventional handset". It was carried among the first waves to hit

Omaha Beach Omaha Beach was one of five beach landing sectors of the amphibious assault component of Operation Overlord during the Second World War. On June 6, 1944, the Allies of World War II, Allies invaded German military administration in occupied Fra ...

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

in June 1944 (and in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

and

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

before that). Every rifle company of the

U.S. 29th Infantry division The 29th Infantry Division (29th ID), also known as the "Blue and Gray Division", is an infantry division of the United States Army based at Fort Belvoir in Fairfax County, Virginia. The division is currently a formation of the Army National ...

had six; one for each of the three rifle platoons, two for the weapons platoon, and one for the company CO. The

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

s were deeply impressed by the SCR-536 and the

SCR-300 The SCR-300, designated AN/VRC-3 under the Joint Electronics Type Designation System, was a portable frequency modulated (FM) radio transceiver used by US Signal Corps in World War II. This backpack-mounted unit was the first radio to be nickna ...

after capturing several units in

. By war’s end, 130,000 of the units had been manufactured by

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois. It was founded by brothers Paul and Joseph Galvin in 1928 and had been named Motorola since 1947. Many of Motorola's products had been ...

. They were also produced by other firms. Today, the SCR-536 is often restored and operated by

vintage amateur radio Vintage amateur radio is a subset of amateur radio hobby where enthusiasts collect, restore, preserve, build, and operate amateur radio equipment from bygone years, such as those using vacuum tube technology. Popular modes of operation include spe ...

enthusiasts and military radio collectors.

Specifications

The SCR-536 incorporated five

vacuum tube A vacuum tube, electron tube, thermionic valve (British usage), or tube (North America) is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric voltage, potential difference has been applied. It ...

s in a waterproof case. There was no external power switch on the SCR-536. The operator pulled out or pushed in the antenna on the top which operated an internal switch to turn the radio on or off. The power was supplied by a BA-37 1.5 volt dry battery for the filament supply and a 103.5 V BA-38 battery for plate supply. Battery life was about one day of normal use. The SCR-536 weighed 5

pound Pound or Pounds may refer to: Units * Pound (currency), various units of currency * Pound sterling, the official currency of the United Kingdom * Pound (mass), a unit of mass * Pound (force), a unit of force * Rail pound, in rail profile * A bas ...

s (2.3 kg) with batteries and 3.85 lb (1.75 kg) without batteries. The unit operated in AM voice mode between 3.5 and 6.0

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

frequency range on any one of 50 channels. Plug in crystals and coils were used to control the frequency of the receiver and transmitter. The antenna was a 40 inch (102 cm) telescoping rod that slid into the case. The SCR-536 had an RF output power of 360

milliwatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named in honor o ...

s. The range of the unit varied with terrain; from a few hundred feet (about a hundred metres), to approximately one mile (1.5 km) over land, and 3 miles (5 km) over water. Under the Army Nomenclature System, the BC-611 transceiver was the core component of the SCR-536

Signal Corps Radio Signal Corps Radios were U.S. Army military communications components that comprised "sets". Under the Army Nomenclature System, the abbreviation SCR initially designated "Set, Complete Radio", but was later misinterpreted as "Signal Corps Radio ...

set. The Signal Corps technical manual number was TM 11-235.

Components

* BX-48 box for spare crystals and tubes (5 sets) * BX-49 box for spare crystals and tubes (24 sets) * BG-162 bag for batteries (BA-37, BA-38) * CH-146 chest for equipment * CH-233 chest for spare tubes, crystals, (400 items) * CS-144 parachute case * CS-156 canvas case * CH-312 case for IE-37 tuning unit

References

External links

{{commonscat
War Department Manual, ''Radio Sets SCR-536-A, -B, -C, -D, -E-, and -F'', Mai 1945
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn2xOEuvax4 Radio systems of the United States Army World War II American electronics Military equipment introduced in the 1940s Models of radios Military electronics of the United States

History

Specifications

Components

See also

References

External links