Original Item: Only One Available. This is a great Vietnam War Era U.S. Signal Corps AN/PRC-10 Backpack Radio Rig with the rare Battery Adapter. This equipment has not been tested by IMA but we were told it is functional. However, we will not guarantee functionality and a battery is not included. It comes with the long antenna, riser, and part of the short flexible antenna in the correct carry case, along with the H-33F/PT handset and BA-279/U Battery Adapter.

The set is offered in very good condition, with the expected wear from use and age. It is missing its original data label, which is common among these. Both of the fold out legs on the bottom of the battery compartment are present and functional, and the harness is in good shape. The harness around the rig is stamped ST-120/PR PIONEER 1952. This dates at least this part of the rig to 1952, meaning it more likely saw use during Vietnam.

The BA-279/U Battery Adapter is branded Alcoa, and a label on the side shows a diagram for the voltage and reads

BATTERY ADAPTER UNIT
BA-279/U
TNM ENTERPRISES
P.O. BOX 2331F
ANAHEIM, CA 92804 

The handset H-33B/PT connects through a cable and ten contact plug that connects to the AUDIO jack on the control panel. The handset is labeled on the side

HANDSET H-33F/PT
ELECTROSPACE CORP.
FR-36-039-N-6-00484(E) U.S.

The AN/PRC-10 came into the Army inventory in March, 1951. It is a 16 tube FM radio which was used as a squad radio. It is part of a family of radios AN/PRC-8, AN/PRC-9, and AN/PRC-10 which differ only in the frequency of operation and the components that determine that frequency.

Each AN/PRC-10 radio set consists of a superheterodyne FM receiver and FM transmitter that share a common antenna. The Receiver-Transmitter consists of a single panel chassis assembly mounted in a magnesium case with a watertight seal. A short eight wire cable connects the chassis to the BA-279/U battery while two springs clamps hold the R-T case to the battery case. The PRC-8,9,10 radios can be adapted for vehicular use by means of the AM-598/U Amplifier Power Supply that converts 24 volts to the operating voltages of the radio (the battery cable plugs into the power supply), plus can drive an audio aux speaker.

The AT-271/PRC antenna (the long antenna) is used with the radio for maximum range. It is provided in seven sections connected by an internal stainless steel cable, a total of 10 feet long. When folded, the cable keeps the sections together as a group. This antenna screws into the LONG ANT jack on the top control panel. The AT-272/PRC antenna (the short antenna) consists of several lengths of flexible steel tape riveted together, making a tapered antenna 3 feet long that screws into the SHORT ANT jack. The short antenna is for general service and can be folded into the carrying bag that is part of the PRC-10 equipment list.

In the field, soldiers quickly found that the backpack antenna was a sniper target. The antenna was therefore removed, or sometimes the radio was carried upside down with the short antenna pointed to the ground, which did not seem to affect the range of 3 to 12 miles, depending on antenna used and siting conditions.

In July 1965, responding to General Westmoreland's complaints about the AN/PRC-10, the new, transistorized FM radios of the AN/VRC-12 and AN/PRC-25 families were shipped to Vietnam. Those radios, intended for deployment in Europe, soon became the mainstay of tactical communications in Southeast Asia. In three and a half years, 20,000 VRC-12 and 33,000 PRC-25 radios were delivered to Southeast Asia. The PRC-25, which fully replaced the PRC-10, was, according to General Creighton Abrams, "the single most important tactical item in Vietnam."