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SCR 610/620 BC 659 radio


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Could some one clarify if the BC 659 radio that has the switch on the right, facing the front panel and the small window on the left showing the voltage 12 or 6 volts was used during WW2. or was this type of panel solely used on post war French BC 659s bearing in mind that the French refurbished quite a lot of WW2 sets in post wars, Even the Swiss used them and Named them "Rex" in Swiss the army. There was also a production run in France. If this type of front panel is a post war design does anyone know were i can get hold of the common WW2 style front panel, there was some on eBay a while back but have not seen the guy on for a while selling any.

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There is a company based out of Lima Ohio (http://www.fairradio.com/) that might be able to help you out. Walking in to their store is walking in to a time capsule of military radios and radio stuff in general. They're friendly to deal with and might have exactly what you need.

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  • 1 month later...

There were two very similar radio sets used in WWII, the BC-659 and the BC-620. The BC-620 covered the frequency range used by amour units and the BC-659 the sightly higher frequency range used by infantry. The BC-659 has an external speaker while the BC-620 does not. I presume that this reflects the fact that it would be too hard to hear the set via the internal speaker while inside or near to a tank. Both of these sets could be operated from batteries or from a power supply that would be fed by a vehicle's pwoer system, such as in a jeep. I will try an post a page from a WWII manual that shows the uses and frequency coverages of various sets.

 

I have a BC-620 in excellent shape, found by the side of the road less than a quarter mile from my house next to a "Free! Take it!" sign.

 

I have never seen either a US BC-620 or BC-659 with the switch or whatever it is that is just above the nameplate. I assume that was a postwar mod. I have a book that came out in the 50's that shows photos of equipment and provides schematics and it does not show the switch, either. I have the original manual for the BC-620 and I'll have to take a look, but I do not think it shows that switch, either. Not sure what the switch is for, although there is a mod for the US versions that adds an internal switch.

 

I would guess that the BC-620 was used for scouting for armor units by units in jeeps or on foot. I have a picture of some ROK soldiers in the Korean War on a hill above the location where major tank battle was taking place, and they have BC-620. I assume they were scouting for the tanks. In Europe at least BC-620 was converted into a backpack radio to support close cooperation between infantry and tanks, such as in the Normandy Hedgerow country.

 

Oh, I see that the thing above the nameplate is an indictor of supply voltage or something like that and there is a squelch control or something on the right side. No, neither of those appear to be on WWII units.

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