PRC-104 "Stump the chump" question

Folks, I can't seem to find out why the 19 pin connector on the RT-1209A model (the later type with the LCD display) face plate is for? On the older style PRC-104 it has only 2 hand mic connectors and the newer type has only one mic connector and in the place where the 2nd mic connector would be is this small 19 pin connector for some type of cable. The TM doesn't specify what goes there or how that would be used. Thanks for your advice in advance.

PRC-104 19 pin connector

I believe the 19 pin connector is used when connecting to a C-11525/G
Freguency Hopping Controller.

Thanks Bender, I'll research that and check it out. I'm also looking for the 100 watt amplifiers that the 104 mounts in to make the GRC-206 so if you stumble onto one of those, I'd be grateful.

The first RT-1209s without the 19 pin connector needed an additional interface box called an RT-1444 installed before they could be used in the GRC-206 setup and controlled via the GRC-206 remote. This box installs between the front panel of the RT-1209 and the rest of the chassis, and then the modified RT-1209 is then installed in the amp. Later models of the RT-1209 deleted the second AUDIO connector and incorporated the remote features and connector of the RT-1444. Or so I understand. I'd love one of those radios for my own GRC-206 setup but I can't pay Murphy's prices.

Brooke Clarke has a great page on all the ins and outs of the GRC-206 and the PRC-104s at:

PRC-104

Wile E. Coyote said:

Later models of the RT-1209 deleted the second AUDIO connector and incorporated the remote features and connector of the RT-1444. Or so I understand.

Click to expand...

Hmm. Just went through Brooke's material again and I think the person who said it's for hooking up to the C-11525/G Controller is right, because the C-11525/G seems to have the same 19 pin connector as the RT-1209A, whereas the GRC-206 cabling wants to hook up to the type of connector found on the RT-1444. I guess there could be an adapter cable out there for when these were incorporated into GRC-206 setups, but without the applicable docs it's all basically guesswork.

(Also, labelling it CONT would seem to indicate it's meant to hook up to a CONTroller -- otherwise you'd figure it would say REM for REMote.)

I would have to concur with you. The connector on the RT-1209A has 19 pins so it's only logical to conclude it's the new and improved connector for the GRC-206 applications but, I've never seen the adapted connector to verify this idea. I have a manual for the 1209A and it doesn't give any other info to answer this. Maybe it can be found in the manual for the GRC-206?

Problem is that there are a billion manuals for the GRC-206 thanks to there being something like seven different variants since the 1980's. Most of ours seem to be the V(2) and V(3) types, but to my knowledge those manuals only show the plain model RT-1209 as part of the URC-113 setup. It would help if LOGSA would actually A-code some of the manuals for radios which are now nearly 30 years old and let Joe Taxpayer download them as historical curiousities - but that doesn't seem likely to happen anytime soon, damnit. If the Hajis are going to use some HF radios for nefarioius purposes you can bet it won't be 30 yr old Hughes stuff.

I think the problem that we are facing is 1) budget (someone has to be paid to take the time to determine that it is okay to change the distribution restrictions on EACH manual. Then go through the process of getting it done) and 2) motivation (why should the military waste lots of dollars - that it really could use elsewhere - to change the restrictions on some manuals so that civilian collectors can get copies of them?) I just don't see that as being a high-priority item on their To-Do list.

Sure, I'd love to get copies of a number of various manuals that I no longer have access to. Being retired I can no longer go to a clerk and ask them to order me a copy. So we do the best we can, we pool information, and once in awhile we get lucky and find a nugget.

The government, military, etc. find it easier (and truthfully cheaper and safer) to withhold information, even though it is a civil war manual on the making of musket balls, than to 1) spend money and manhours they don't have for no real gain and 2) stick their neck out.

So, support the troops and enjoy the hobby.