Gulf War/OIF radio antennas have a round base, a wire "spring" middle and a two-step "top" before the actual antenna is attached. What did radio antennas during the VN era look like? Frenchy, are you there???

Pretty much the same. The An/PRC-77 hasn't really changed.

If you really want to be high speed, run a wire up to a "V" shaped directional antenna made from wire, usually tens of meters in length and about three meters high. We still used this setup in the early 80's.

Robert has beaten me to it Bill

Here's the manpack version of the AN/PRC-77 :



Another radio set, the AN/PRC-10 can be seen in early war period pics :





H.P.

OOOPS I meant Gino Shouldn't reply to posts early in the morning...

H.P.

Here are two antennas for the AN/PRC-77 :

AT-271A/PRC Fishing Pole Antenna (used with the AB-591 Spring base). It's about 3 meter long :



AT-892 Tape Antenna (used with a gooseneck base). It's 3 foot long :



H.P.

For Most of the Vietnam war the MX 6707 Antenna combination was used on Vehicles and AFV . These continued in service well into the 90's and can still be seen in a lot of conflicts.
Try a quick search online for MX 6707 (Base - AMU) or AS 1729 the complete assy including AMU.
The TM can be found here:
http://www.rasigs.com/docs/054769%20AS1729.pdf
Cheers
Al

Here you can see the MX 6707 fitted to M113 ACAV's :

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Armored_cavalry_assault_vehicle.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/ACAVs_Herringbone_Formation_Vietnam.jpg

H.P.

Bill,
Are you talking about the antenna on a vehicles or dismounted radios?

It sounds like you described a matching unit for a vehicle mounted radio system.

John C

Sorry, guys, I was imprecise (my wife tells me all the time how I left out the part about taking a left turn at Clifton ). I meant a vehicle-mounted antenna.

I'm building a USMC LVTP5 Vietnam-era.

Second, thank you ALL for your valuable information.

The photos Frenchy referenced seem to show the same base as today's antennas, but with a two-piece mast of different diameters?

Hi Bill

Here's a picture of the howitzer variant of the LVTP-5 (a.k.a LVTH-6) :

http://phenix59.deviantart.com/art/USMC-LVTP-5A-261733267

The antena base appears to differ from the MX 6707 base (earlier model I guess )...

H.P.

Another view of the antenna base on a LVTP-5 :



From the AFV Interiors website LVTP-5 article by Mike Kendall : " The AN/GRC-7 radio set was typical of the time and composed of a number of radio boxes and associated equipment, all hooked together. The main component was a RT-68 receiver-transmitter using the 38-55 MHz range [../..] Also included in the AN/GRC-7 was a RT-70 Receiver-transmitter operating at 47-58MHz range."



I wonder if the mount is the same as the one fitted to the M47, as this tank was equipped with similar radios...

http://svsm.org/gallery/m47/P1130906

H.P.

Looks like it's not

Another LVTH6 view :

http://www.toadmanstankpictures.com/lvth6a1_51.jpg

Vietnam :



H.P.

Thanks, H-P. I'm unsure now what I should go with: spring-loaded antenna or hard mount??

I'm afraid it's up to you...

Here's another option for the antenna base :



This one is the AB-15/GR Antenna Mast Base (I guess this one is an early equipment) :



A spring-loaded base should be a valid option though...

Operation Fortress Sentry, September 1967 :


Maybe the one above is a command vehicle ?

Same operation, different bases ? :



A few more pics here :

http://www.amtrac.org/1atbn/Battles/FortressSentry.asp

It seems to me that hard mounts are more frequently seen in period pics...

H.P.

Not sure when the NATO model came into play, but here's the version prior to more modern one you are describing.






Here's the more recent version that I think you were describing - I say recent, but really from 70's to current... Often, the base of the fiberglass antennae is dull brass but here it looks like a black version.

Thanks, H-P and Bruce. I will have to ruminate on this.

The only noticeable difference is that the early stuff had a rounded base and the antennas attached appear to lack the large brass fitting.

Photos of the old mounts with the antenna in place also seem to appear shorter than the modern 10 foot two piece fiberglass one. However, I thought the length of the antenna HAD to be a particular length based on the radio transmitters frequency/amplitude so it would be logical that both old and new antennas be 10 foot.

It's a pet peeve of mine when I see cold war/modern NATO models with out of scale antenna. We go to all sorts of trouble to make sure everything else on the vehicles are proper scale size but when it comes to antennas some just tend to snip off a piece of wire that "looks right" and glue it in place.

I agree that antennas really can "make" a build.

I'm stumped about turning a piece of wire into a 2-piece antenna.

I'm looking a getting some very tiny brass tubing as the base and setting a wire in it for the second part, but not sure if that's the right way to go.

Two piece antenna

Thanks, Jason. I was actually thinking about the two-piece antenna, and not the base, but that's a very interesting technique!

There some aftermarket ones with real springs, made of two piece brass and even a little cap for the tip. They are labeled as Korean Tank antenneas but they are just standard NATO type.

Here's a pic - needs to paint touch up, but the base of antennea left brass color on purpose.


Here's one not painted yet on my never ending m60 project...

Nice work, thanks. I have seen the "Korean antenna" sets and wondered....

They are awesome sets, work great!

The spring antennas use the two piece (10 foot) mast. The ones with the rubber base or ceramic base just use one section of the same antenna sections. One is for receiving and another for transmitting I believe. I'm a Navy guy that played with the Marines on and off, so I never had to really understand/remember enough of the intricate workings of the systems, just enough to be dangerous!