Which radio for the HMMWV? - Steel Soldiers::Military Vehicles Supersite

DoctorCheney223 · 10-06-2009, 22:45

Hi Folks,

I want to install a .mil radio in my M998 but have NO clue as to which model. I am not trying to make it period correct because I am not restoring the vehicle to 1986 specfications. We are using the vehicle as an advertising tool and the radio being functional is NOT an issue. If it powers up that's cool but I am not trying to keep comms with friends/others.

Austin Aviation has various radio mounts for the HMMWV and Murphy's Surplus has various radios... can you guys give me some advice on which models I should purchase.

thanks!!!!
Ron

emmado22 · 10-06-2009, 23:52

You can get away with the VRC-12 series stuff, it's easily availible and relatively cheap. Or you can go with the SINCGARS stuff that Murphy's has, but they are BIG $$$$$$$$.

Either is OK for a HMMWV. It's just how much $$ you want to part with for the project.

tmbrwolf · 10-07-2009, 10:57

I've seen the PRC-25 / 77 series with the vehicular amplifier, any of the VRC-12 series of radios or the SINGARS, all would be correct for installation in the HMMWV

Wile E. Coyote · 10-24-2009, 01:59

As others have said, pretty much anything from the VRC-12 family thru current SINCGARS stuff is 'correct'. Both were in Desert Storm side-by-side and even later, and the Guard just turfed the last of their VRC-12 family sets either last year or the year before.

Most common radio in the VRC-12 family in a Humvee configuration is the RT-524 as part of the AN/VRC-46 (basically the RT-524 transceiver with the rest of its kit), and you can add an R-442 if you want an auxiliary receiver too. PVT Jarhead's Surplus has the best deals going on the RT-524 at the moment ($395 in Very Good condition, I think), but there are other vendors out there too, and the odd one shows up on Ebay for around that price or less. Ebay vendor Austin Aviation ('beltfed34') frequently has the early style Humvee radio shelves and installation brackets etc. in his Ebay store, so you might want to check there for the bits'n'pieces.

As to the later family stuff, the basic HMMWV-specific shelves/trays are *mostly* the same between VRC-12 and later SINCGARS - at least before FBCB2 installations. SINCGARS transceivers go for between about $1500 and $2200 each, and the vehicle adapters ('VAA's) go for anywhere between about 50 bucks to about $350 depending on the version and dealer. Mike Murphy has the RT-1523B(C)/U transceiver for SINCGARS right now for about $2200 each, and the AM-7239 VAA (vehicle adapter) for about $250 ea. Mike has good stuff and he has what he says he has...but...you have to dig deep to pay the price.

If you're shopping for SINCGARS stuff it's a bit of a minefield so ask someone knowledgeable before making a purchase. Some transceivers work with some VAAs and not others - some models of them will work after the demil card removal and some won't - and some are advertised as radios when they're really just remotes. Seen lots of all and either.

jwaller · 10-24-2009, 04:13

bottom of this page is a pic of my hmmwv radio setup. I currently have a non working 524 which is the radio you see plus the mount for sale.

WTB: HYP-57/TSEC Vehicular Power Adapter

Wile E. Coyote · 10-24-2009, 12:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwaller

bottom of this page is a pic of my hmmwv radio setup. I currently have a non working 524 which is the radio you see plus the mount for sale.

WTB: HYP-57/TSEC Vehicular Power Adapter

Looks really good with the two KY-57s plumbed in there! I want to do an FBCB2 (SINCGARS, AN/UYK-128 computer) setup in one of the Humvees that go out for film work, but getting a display screen is proving to be a bit difficult. I see they faked one up for "Generation Kill" that didn't look too bad, so maybe I'll be forced to go that route.

Wish I had deep enough pockets for working SINCGARS, but...maybe I'll ask Santa.

emmado22 · 10-24-2009, 13:05

Here are some pics of the common SINCGARS setups from a few years ago that I found online.

The most common SINCGARS variant my guys had was the Long Range/Long Range version, that had the 2nd external power amp that would go right where the red Gatorade bottle is. I never quite understood the Short range/Long Range version (which are pictured in the 1st and 2nd pics). I'd rather have the capability to go the distance on both nets instead of just one. The 3rd pic shows the ASIPS SINCGARS, which are 1/2 the weight of the full size, and do about 10 times as much as the full size.

Wile E. Coyote · 10-24-2009, 13:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by emmado22

Here are some pics of the common SINCGARS setups from a few years ago that I found online.

The 3rd pic shows the ASIPS SINCGARS, which are 1/2 the weight of the full size, and do about 10 times as much as the full size.

Cool. That last pic shows most of the FBCB2 Blue Force Tracker type setup with the computer (you can just catch a piece of the monitor at the rightmost frame of the pic) and the VIC-3 intercom. By the driver's right arm (the thing that looks like an armrest) is actually put there to stop the driver resting his arm against the AM-7238 amp attached to the SINCGARS VAA, which, at 50 watts output, can get mighty hot if the radio's transmitting a fair bit.

SINCGARS went through a few improvements. The ASIP radio is the RT-1523E transceiver, which, as you say, does a lot more than the earlier models (situational awareness - tactical internet) though the last models of the full-size RT-1523 (the C and D models) were SIP radios and do some of it, though I think at slower data rates. Easiest way to tell a SIP radio from the other full-size transceivers is to look on the keypad for the 'GPS' key.

In the first pics that VAA is either an A or a B model (two standard U-228 type connections on the uppermost part of the right side of the vehicle adapter) where the last pic shows what's probably an E model (computer/data connections in place of the U-228s) with some built-in data functions ('INC' I think - 'Integrated Network Controller' or something similar.) Oddly, a bunch of these newer VAAs are showing up all over despite the fact they're still current, and I've even seen some of the AM-7238 amps for sale brand-spanking new. Go figure.

I have some good pics of the FBCB2 setup with the computer and PLGR or DAGR if anyone's interested. All the installation manuals on LOGSA are 'A' coded too, so anyone can download them if they want to see how it all goes together in a HMMWV.

emmado22 · 10-24-2009, 14:48

Somewhere I have tons of pics of my trucks with the predecessor to the current FBCB2, then called the POSNAV, then V1, V2, V3 and the like. It has come a long way since then. Post up the pics of the DAGR stuff... That came out after I got out.

Wile E. Coyote · 10-24-2009, 16:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by emmado22

Somewhere I have tons of pics of my trucks with the predecessor to the current FBCB2, then called the POSNAV, then V1, V2, V3 and the like. It has come a long way since then. Post up the pics of the DAGR stuff... That came out after I got out.

Hmm. POSNAV appears to have been Motorola based, but...wow...I'd like to see those pics as I didn't know we played with that system at all.

Here are a few pics of FBCB2 with both DAGR and PLGR. Still quite a few PLGRs out there though I *think* most should be gone by the end of next year. There were various schemes for mounting the FBCB2 display and at least two different RAM mounts for them, so the pics show them mounted alternately high and low.