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The SCR-299 was a
U.S. Signal Corps The United States Army Signal Corps (USASC) is a branch of the United States Army that creates and manages communications and information systems for the command and control of combined arms forces. It was established in 1860, the brainchild of Ma ...
mobile
military communications Military communications or military signals involve all aspects of communications, or conveyance of information, by armed forces. Military communications span from pre-history to the present. The earliest military communications were delivered b ...
unit used during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
.


History

The SCR-299 "mobile communications unit" was developed to provide long-range communications during World War II. The
US Military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...
sought improvements of range, flexibility and durability over its existing SCR-197 and SCR-597 transmitters. In 1942,
Hallicrafters The Hallicrafters Company manufactured, marketed, and sold radio equipment, and to a lesser extent televisions and phonographs, beginning in 1932. The company was founded by William J. Halligan and based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. In ...
Standard HT-4 was selected as the SCR-299's transmitter, known subsequently by its military designation as the
BC-610 The BC-610 was a radio transmitter based on the Hallicrafters HT-4 and was used by the U.S. Army Signal Corps during World War II. History In the early 1940s, the U.S. military sought a high-powered radio transmitter capable of infallible voic ...
. The SCR-299 was first used on November 8, 1942 during Operation TORCH involving companies of the 829th Signal Service Battalion establishing a radio net that could exchange messages between beach-landed forces and bases in Gibraltar. Despite initial problems unloading the sets from convoy ships, the SCR-299s served until the installation of permanent Army Command and Administrative Network stations. According to US Army military historians, "General Dwight Eisenhower credited the SCR-299 in his successful reorganization of the American forces and final defeat of the
Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...
s at
Kasserine Pass The Battle of Kasserine Pass was a series of battles of the Tunisian campaign of World War II that took place in February 1943 at Kasserine Pass, a gap in the Grand Dorsal chain of the Atlas Mountains in west central Tunisia. The Axis forces, ...
."''The SCR-299, United States Army Signal Center, Fort Gordon, GA''
 The range of the SCR-299 exceeded original specifications, sometime establishing contact over . The SCR-299 provided reliable communications with
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
during the North African campaign, and in Normandy on D-Day, served as a connection between two airborne divisions with
Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
. The SCR-299 was also used in the
invasion of Sicily The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers (Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany). It began ...
and the
Allied invasion of Italy The Allied invasion of Italy was the Allied amphibious landing on mainland Italy that took place from 3 September 1943, during the Italian campaign of World War II. The operation was undertaken by General Sir Harold Alexander's 15th Army Gro ...
. War correspondents and press reporters frequently made use of the SCR-299 and SCR-399. Access to the sets was provided to them by
US Second Army Second Army was most recently located at Fort Belvoir, Virginia as a Direct Reporting Unit to Headquarters U.S. Army, Chief Information Officer (CIO)/G-6. Under the CIO/G-6, Second Army served as the single point of contact for Army missions an ...
and
US Third Army The United States Army Central, formerly the Third United States Army, commonly referred to as the Third Army and as ARCENT, is a military formation of the United States Army which saw service in World War I and World War II, in the 1991 Gulf W ...
Group Communications Teams, and in one instance, the SCR-399 became the only means of getting press copy direct to London. In 1944, a
short subject A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...
film was produced by the
Jam Handy Organization Jam is a type of fruit preserve. Jam or Jammed may also refer to: Other common meanings * A firearm malfunction * Block signals ** Radio jamming ** Radar jamming and deception ** Mobile phone jammer ** Echolocation jamming Arts and enterta ...
and sponsored by the Hallicrafters Company that showed the construction of the SCR-299 and dramatized its use during World War II. Hallicrafters Company advertising of the period sometimes used illustrations of the shelter-mounted SCR-399 to describe the achievements of the SCR-299.


Specifications

*Transmitter:
BC-610 The BC-610 was a radio transmitter based on the Hallicrafters HT-4 and was used by the U.S. Army Signal Corps during World War II. History In the early 1940s, the U.S. military sought a high-powered radio transmitter capable of infallible voic ...
plus BC-614 (speech amplifier), BC-729 (tuning unit) and BC-211 (frequency meter) *Transmitter output power: 350
watt 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 after James Wa ...
s. *Receivers: BC-312 and
BC-342 The BC-342 was a World War II U.S. Army Signal Corps high frequency radio receiver. It was used primarily as part of field installations such as the SCR-188A, but could be used with mobile sets such as the 2 1/2 ton mounted SCR-399. First designed ...
*Frequency coverage: HF from 2 to 8
MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one h ...
(and 1–18 MHz using conversion kits) *Power supply: 2000 watts, with additional 1500 watts for heater and lights supplied by PE-95 (power unit) on K-52 "Ben-Hur" style trailer. Optional 12 volt storage battery, or 115 volt 60 cycle AC commercial power and two spare 6 volt storage batteries *SCR-299 housing: K-51 van truck *SCR-399 housing: HO-17 shelter mountable on 2-ton trucks. *SCR-499 housing: air-transportable *Frequency Conversion Kit MC-503: coverage down to 1 MHz. *Frequency Conversion Kit MC-516: coverage to 12 MHz *Frequency Conversion Kit MC-517: coverage to 18 MHz. *Antennas: whip antenna (receiver), whip antenna (transmitter). Optional whip antenna while stationary or auxiliary wire antenna for 2.0 to 4.5 MHz coverage. *Remote control: field telephones, control boxes and cable.Fort Gordon Museum
/ref>


See also

* ARC-5 *
BC-348 The BC-348 is a compact American-made communications receiver, which was mass-produced during World War II for the U.S. Army Air Force. Under the joint Army-Navy nomenclature system, the receiver system became known as the AN/ARR-11. History The ...
*
BC-654 The SCR-284 was a World War II era combination transmitter and receiver used in vehicles or fixed ground stations. History The Crosley Corporation of Cincinnati, Ohio manufactured the Signal Corps Radio set SCR-284 that consisted of the BC-65 ...
*
BC-610 The BC-610 was a radio transmitter based on the Hallicrafters HT-4 and was used by the U.S. Army Signal Corps during World War II. History In the early 1940s, the U.S. military sought a high-powered radio transmitter capable of infallible voic ...
*
Collins Radio Rockwell Collins was a multinational corporation headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, providing avionics and information technology systems and services to government agencies and aircraft manufacturers. It was formed when the Collins Radio C ...
*
Hallicrafters SX-28 The Hallicrafters SX-28 "Super Skyrider" is an American shortwave communications receiver that was produced between 1940 and 1946 that saw wide use by amateur radio, government and military services. History In July 1940, the Hallicrafters Com ...
*
M-209 In cryptography, the M-209, designated CSP-1500 by the United States Navy (C-38 by the manufacturer) is a portable, mechanical cipher machine used by the US military primarily in World War II, though it remained in active use through the Korean W ...
*
R-390A The R-390A /URR is a general coverage HF radio communications receiver designed by Collins Radio Company for the United States Armed Forces. History The R-390A military shortwave radio receiver was the result of a project undertaken by the Unit ...
*
SCR-300 The SCR-300 was a portable radio transceiver used by US Signal Corps in World War II. This backpack-mounted unit was the first radio to be nicknamed a " walkie talkie". History In 1940, Motorola (then the Galvin Manufacturing Company) received ...
*
SCR-536 The SCR-536 was a hand-held radio transceiver used by the US Army Signal Corps in World War II. It is popularly referred to as a walkie talkie, although it was originally designated a "handie talkie". History The SCR-536 is often considered t ...
*
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." ...
*
Wireless Set No. 19 The Wireless Set No. 19 was a Second World War mobile radio transceiver designed for use by armoured troops of the British Army. First introduced in 1940, the No. 19 began to replace the pre-war Wireless Set No. 11. Two modified versions were ...
*
List of U.S. Signal Corps Vehicles This is a list of vehicles used by the U.S. Army Signal Corps from World War I through World War II. Designations Vehicles specifically designed or adapted for the Signal Corps were initially designated by a "K" number. The K-number was later pha ...


Notes


References


TM 11-227
10 April 1944 * TM 11-280-B
TM 11-487
Oct. 1944, page 406


External links




The SCR299, Army Communicator United States Army Signal Center, Fort Gordon, GA

SCR and BC list

US Army training film featuring K-55 trailer and SCR-299

Directory of Communications Electronic Equipment

BC-610 data sheet

Voice of victory
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scr-299 Military radio systems of the United States World War II American electronics Military electronics of the United States Military equipment introduced from 1940 to 1944