The AN/PRC-77 Portable Transceiver, also known as AN/PRC 77 Radio Set, is a man-pack, portable VHF FM combat-net radio

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 ...

manufactured by Associated Industries
Manufacturer's website. and used to provide short-range, two-way

radiotelephone A radiotelephone (or radiophone), abbreviated RT, is a radio communication system for conducting a conversation; radiotelephony means telephony by radio. It is in contrast to ''radiotelegraphy'', which is radio transmission of telegrams (messag ...

voice communication. In accordance with the

Joint Electronics Type Designation System The Joint Electronics Type Designation System (JETDS), which was previously known as the Joint Army-Navy Nomenclature System (AN System. JAN) and the Joint Communications-Electronics Nomenclature System, is a method developed by the U.S. War Depa ...

(JETDS), the "''AN/PRC-77''" designation represents the 77th design of an Army-Navy electronic device for portable two-way communications radio. The JETDS system also now is used to name all

Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...

electronic systems.

History

The AN/PRC-77 entered service in 1968 during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

as an upgrade to the earlier AN/PRC-25. It differs from its predecessor mainly in that the PRC-77's final power amplifier stage is made with a transistor, eliminating the only vacuum tube in the PRC-25, as well as the DC-DC voltage converter used to create the high plate voltage for the tube from the 15 V battery. In addition, the PRC-25 could not support voice encryption devices, but PRC-77 transmitter audio bandwidth was widened to give it the ability to use the TSEC/KY-38 NESTOR voice encryption system used in Vietnam, and the later KY-57 VINSON family. Problems were encountered in Vietnam with the combination as described in the NESTOR article. The transmitter's spurious emissions were cleaned up to create less interference to nearby receivers. The receiver's performance was also hardened in the PRC-77 to enable it to better reject interference suffered from nearby transmitters, a common operating set up that reduced the effectiveness of the PRC-25. The receiver audio bandwidth was also increased to operate with the encryption equipment. There were no changes to the external controls or looks, so the two radios looked and the operating controls were the same. The equipment tag glued to the edge of the front panel was the main (external) way to tell the difference. The original batteries had a 3 V tap (series diode-reduced to 2.4 V) for the PRC-25's tube filament. This remained unchanged so the batteries could operate either radio it was placed in, but the PRC-77 did not use the 3 V tap at all. With the more efficient all-transistorized circuitry, and without the DC-DC step-up voltage converter for the tube, the common battery lasted longer in the PRC-77 under the same conditions. "OF THE TWENTY-FIVE (25) ELECTRONIC MODULES ORIGINALLY USED IN BOTH THE TRANSMITTER AND RECEIVER PORTIONS OF THE AN/PRC-25, ONLY EIGHT (8) OF THE MODULES USED IN THE AN/PRC-77 ARE INTERCHANGEABLE WITH THE AN/PRC-25.'" Today the AN/PRC-77 has largely been replaced by SINCGARS radios, but it is still capable of inter-operating with most VHF FM radios used by U.S. and allied ground forces.http://www.olive-drab.com/od_electronics_anprc25.php AN/PRC-25 and AN/PRC-77, Olive-drab.com It was commonly nicknamed the "prick-77" by U.S. military forces.

Technical details

The AN/PRC 77 consists of the RT-841 transceiver and minor components. It can provide

secure voice Secure voice (alternatively secure speech or ciphony) is a term in cryptography for the encryption of voice communication over a range of communication types such as radio, telephone or Voice over IP, IP. History The implementation of voice en ...

(X-mode) transmission with the TSEC/KY-57 VINSON voice

encryption In Cryptography law, cryptography, encryption (more specifically, Code, encoding) is the process of transforming information in a way that, ideally, only authorized parties can decode. This process converts the original representation of the inf ...

device, but is not compatible with the SINCGARS frequency hopping mode. During the

, the PRC-77 used the earlier TSEC/KY-38 NESTOR voice encryption system. Major components: *Transmitter/Receiver unit *Battery Minor components - CES (Complete Equipment Schedule): *3 ft antenna - 'bush/battle whip' *10 ft antenna *3 ft antenna base - 'gooseneck' *10 ft antenna base *Handset *Harness

Users

*: The Austrian Army still uses the AN/PRC-77, though in a limited capacity such as training cadets in radio communications. For border patrol the Austrian Army now uses a new device called "TFF-41" (Pentacom RT-405), which is capable of frequency-hopping and digital encryption. The Austrian Army also uses the AN/PRC-1177 for example the Austrian AN/PRC-77 have a special switch for a 25 kHz mode, which reduces the bandwidth of the selected channel by 25 kHz and therefore doubles the number of available channels. *: The

Bangladesh Army The Bangladesh Army () is the land warfare branch, and the largest component of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. The primary mission of the Army is to defend the land of Bangladesh from any external attack. Control of personnel and operations is ad ...

use the AN/PRC-77 as a section level communication equipment. In Chittagong Hill Tracts area it is still used for operations. Some modified/improvised local antenna concepts often increase the communication range up to 15–20 km. Now being phased out by far superior Q-MAC's VHF-90M *: In Brazil it is used by

Brazilian Army The Brazilian Army (; EB) is the branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces responsible, externally, for defending the country in eminently terrestrial operations and, internally, for guaranteeing law, order and the constitutional branches, subordina ...

It was nicknamed EB-11 RY-20/ERC-110 manufactured by Associated Industries U.S.A and manufactured by AEG Telefunken do Brasil S/A, São Paulo 1970 the radio is used today but is now being replaced but still the PRC-77 remains stored in military units also used for training of technicians in military communications sergeants communications. *: The Telecomm Regiments in the

Chilean Army The Chilean Army () is the land arm of the Chilean Armed Forces. This 80,000-person army (9,200 of which are conscripts) is organized into six divisions, an army aviation brigade and a special operations brigade. In recent years, and after sever ...

still using the PRC - 77. (In process of modernization). *: Salvadoran military and security forces used both American and Israeli-manufactured versions during the civil war. *: The

Finnish army The Finnish Army ( , ) is the army, land forces branch of the Finnish Defence Forces. The Finnish Army is divided into six branches: infantry (which includes armoured units), field artillery, anti-aircraft artillery, Combat engineering, engineer ...

uses this radio as a "battalion radio", using it as a common training device. The radio is designated LV 217 'Ventti-seiska' ('ventti' is Finnish slang for '21', from the Finnish variant of

blackjack Blackjack (formerly black jack or ''vingt-un'') is a casino banking game. It is the most widely played casino banking game in the world. It uses decks of 52 cards and descends from a global family of casino banking games known as " twenty-one ...

), slowly being phased out of reservist service. FDF also operates PRC-1077 under the designation . *: The

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

used this radio extensively from the early 1970s to the late 1990s, when it was gradually replaced by modern digital devices. However, it can still be found in some units, mostly in stationary temporary posts. *: The

New Zealand Defence Force The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF; , "Line of Defence of New Zealand") is the three-branched military of New Zealand. The NZDF is responsible for the protection of the national security of New Zealand and its realm, promoting its interests, ...

used the '77 set' as its VHF combat arms communications equipment, both manpack and vehicle-mounted

Land Rover Land Rover is a brand of predominantly four-wheel drive, off-road capable vehicles, owned by British multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), since 2008 a subsidiary of India's Tata Motors. JLR builds Land Rovers in Brazil ...

'fitted for radio' (FFR) variants, from the late 1960s until the 1990s. It came into New Zealand service with a lot of other US equipment during New Zealand's contribution to the

, replacing the New Zealand-built ZC-1 and British equipment dating back to the Second World War. *: The AN/PRC-77 has been replaced as a main source of radio communication for regular forces of the

Norwegian Army The Norwegian Army () is the land warfare service branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces. The Army is the oldest of the Norwegian service branches, established as a modern military organization under the command of the King of Norway in 1628. The ...

by indigenously developed radio sets called MRR (Multi Role Radio) and LFR (Lett Flerbruks Radio) (Norwegian for Light Multi Role Radio), and other modern radios. However the Norwegian Army did not throw these radio sets away. Instead many of them were handed over to the Home Guard which still uses it as their backup radio as there is a limited supply of MRR sets for the force totalling 40 000 soldiers. *: The

Pakistani Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

has used the set for the past 25+ years. Purchased from different sources including the US, Brazil and Spain, it is scheduled to be replaced in the next 5 years. *: Used alongside the French TRC 372. *: The

Philippine Army The Philippine Army (PA) () is the main, oldest and largest branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), responsible for ground warfare. , it had an estimated strength of 143,100 soldiers The service branch was established on December ...

made extensive use of the AN/PRC-77 for several decades until they were phased out of service with the introduction of newer manpack radios such as the Harris Falcon II during the 2000s. *: The Singapore Armed Forces formerly used the AN/PRC-77 up to around the 1990s. *: The Spanish Army, Spanish Navy (Armada Española), Spanish Marines and Spanish Air Force formerly used the AN/PRC-77. It was replaced by the French PR4G since 2002 *: In the

Swedish Army The Swedish Army () is the army, land force of the Swedish Armed Forces of the Kingdom of Sweden. Beginning with its service in 1521, the Swedish Army has been active for more than 500 years. History Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1 ...

the radio system goes under the name Radio 145 and Radio 146 (Ra145/146), predominately the Homeguard (National Guard) is issued the Ra145/146. *: The

Swiss Army The Swiss Armed Forces (; ; ; ; ) are the military and security force of Switzerland, consisting of land and air service branches. Under the country's militia system, regular soldiers constitute a small part of the military and the rest are ...

used the radio as SE-227. *: The Taiwanese army nicknamed the radio as "77", and had used it for over 40 years when AN/PRC-77, along with AN/VRC-12, were replaced by indigenous radio systems in 2010s. *: Still found in some units within the

Royal Thai Army The Royal Thai Army or RTA (; ) is the army of Thailand and the oldest and largest branch of the Royal Thai Armed Forces. History Origin The Royal Thai Army is responsible for protecting the kingdom's sovereignty. The army was formed in 187 ...

Photo gallery

Image:EB-11 RY-20.ERC-110 of the Telefunken do Brasil S.A,DSCF69200.JPG Image:EB-11 RY-20.ERC-110 of the Telefunken do Brasil S.A,DSCF6920.JPG Image:EB-11 RY-20.ERC-110 of the Telefunken do Brasil S.A,DSCF6922.JPG Image:EB-11 RY-20.ERC-110 of the Telefunken do Brasil S.A,DSCF6924.JPG Image:EB-11 RY-20.ERC-110 of the Telefunken do Brasil S.A,DSCF6923 - Cópia.JPG Image:Conjunto ERC 202 30Watts.DSCF6919.JPG

References

External links