OE-292/OE-254 guide wires and coax cable

Radio Telephone and Telegraph Transmitting and Receiving Equipment
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KSDUSTOFF34
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OE-292/OE-254 guide wires and coax cable

Post by KSDUSTOFF34 » Thu Sep 27, 2007 1:34 pm

i was wondering if anyone know of anyone that has seen or know of anyone that has the guide ropes for either antanna it take 4 ropes per and the coax antenna cable? any info will be helpful. Thank You


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willy
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rope

Post by willy » Thu Sep 27, 2007 2:36 pm

Are you talking about a RC-292 or similar
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Post by KSDUSTOFF34 » Sat Sep 29, 2007 9:21 am

Yeah Willy i think so if its the one that was replaces by the OE-254? The head if it have 4 elements to it one pointing up anf the other three point down.

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RC-292

Post by willy » Sat Sep 29, 2007 1:10 pm

Ok if it is the RC-292
What is it you want to know
I believe the head you are talking about is MP-68
That sit on top of the 40 foot mast one up 3 down
The Marine core had one with 2 up and 2 down
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Seabee Navy 1982-1988
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Sold M35A2, M38, M38A1, M880 M37B1 all restored by me

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Post by KSDUSTOFF34 » Sat Sep 29, 2007 9:11 pm

well im looking for the guide ropes for it and i was wrong it has 8 per set not 4 and the main coax cable for it both can be used for either one and cant not find the ropes or the coax cable little own the stakes that go with them that have the cable hook on them. been seeing people selling fiberglass camo poles as poles for the antenna set? dont know if they will work but i know the true pole are notched on the insert und to lock together.

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poles

Post by willy » Sat Sep 29, 2007 9:25 pm

The camo poles will not work at 40 feet as the pole has to bend as it is going up.
They are to brittle and have no strenght.
Also they bigger in diameter so some radio equipment doe not work.
They say it will but they are camo poles and should used as that
20 foot poles will work fine.
And yes you need 8 ropes 4 per 20 foot
I have a complete set with ropes and pins $150.00 (Alumium poles)
Can not send to IRAC the military would have a fit.
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1943 GPW 98356, 1964 M151, and trailers, plus many Radio's 916-761-5293
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Post by wa5cab » Sun Sep 30, 2007 10:38 am

If the parts you have are a re-nomenclatured RC-292, the RC-292 uses 12 each of Antenna Mast AB-35/TRC-7. The AB-35 is 1-1/8" diameter stackable aluminum tubing, 30 inches long. So the total mast height is 30 feet. The set takes 6 guy ropes, 3 in the middle and 3 at the top. At the base is a stake with a swivel socket on the top. And a triangular plate with a hole in the middle and hooks on the three corners. You hammer the stake into the ground through the hole in the center of the plate and then stick the bottom AB-35 into the socket and walk the mast up to vertical. The three stakes for the guys do not have hooks. There is a canvas strap with a D-ring one end and a sewn loop at the other. You put the loop end through the D-ring and cinch the strap around the stake just below the hammer head. Then you pull the loose ends of 2 guy ropes through the sewn loop and walk the ends over to the captive plate and tie the guys around the hooks. When not in use, the guys are stored on Reel RL-28, 2 to a reel.

The coaxial cable, CG-107/U, is 68'-3" of RG-8/U (or later) terminated both ends with a PL-259 (UHF male). The Antenna Mast Base used on top of the mast is MP-68. Depending upon operating frequency, from 1 to 4 of the Mast Section set AB-21/GR through AB-24/GR are attached, 3 sets drooping down and 1 set up.

The whole set is carried in Roll CW-50/TRC-7 and the later TM is TM 11-5820-348-15.

If that sounds like the antenna set that you have, or if it's the same but uses 4 guys at each level, if Willy doesn't have all of the parts you need, I can probably supply the rest. Except that I don't recall having any square (4-guy) guy and ground plates.

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poles

Post by willy » Sun Sep 30, 2007 10:51 am

Robert,
The AN/GRC 4 poles are 5 feet long and stand 40 feet above ground 8 poles at 5 feet
Willy
I have Military and Radio Surplus.
MVPA Life Member 683
1943 GPW 98356, 1964 M151, and trailers, plus many Radio's 916-761-5293
Seabee Navy 1982-1988
NRA life Member, KE6EMX
Sold M35A2, M38, M38A1, M880 M37B1 all restored by me

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Post by KSDUSTOFF34 » Sun Sep 30, 2007 1:36 pm

well im going off of memory of when i last worked with the RC-254 when i was at Fort Campbell from 95-98 and now working with the OE-292. i know i was at Camp Gruber OK and hook a 254 to a PRC-77 and was getting radio stations from down in Mexico! LOL can you see Joes doing Salsa at JRTC. Yeah it was funny then and still is thinking about it. But like I said can find every thing but the ropes and the coax cable and thinking about it the carry bags i havent seen either. if you could PM me with what you have and how much you want for it. Thanks again

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Post by wa5cab » Sun Sep 30, 2007 4:52 pm

Willy,

If you mean AN/GRA-4, it includes 2 AB-86/GRA-4 masts. Each AB-86 consists of 16 AB-85/GRA-4 plus other components. The AB-85 is physically 36" long and 1-5/8" diameter. But when stacked, the effective length or each section is 30". So the nominal height of each mast is 40'. It uses 4 each (instead of 3 as with the RC-292) of three guys (50', 40' and 31') and the guy plates are round disks. The related AN/GRA-12 uses 3 of the AB-86's.

If the OE-254 or OE-292 is used with the AN/PRC-77, either or both might be renomenclatured RC-292's. But I can't prove it either way. RC-nnn is WW-II Signal Corps nomenclature. RC-292 was originally produced for use with the SCR-508 and SCR-608. If it stayed in service past 1978 (last updates to the RC-292 manuals were in that year), someone might have insisted in "modernizing" the nomenclature.

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Post by A-510 » Mon Oct 01, 2007 9:38 am

This may help..

Image

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Post by wa5cab » Mon Oct 01, 2007 11:22 pm

A-510,

If you scanned the photo out of an 80's or later dated manual on the OE-254 or OE-294, it would cinch the question of parentage. The photo you posted was in the original RC-292 TM dated 05 May 1950. The photo number that ties it to the TM number is in the lower right hand corner (Figure 2 of TM 11-5020) Note the M-442 coax adaptor. That was made for use with the SCR-508 and SCR-608. The Vietnam War vintage TM's, TM 11-5820-348-nn from Change 2, show a UG-255/U UHF to BNC adaptor in place of the M-442 (the Army having long since quit using UHF connectors on low power radios).
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Post by KSDUSTOFF34 » Wed Oct 03, 2007 12:42 am

well that is pretty much the stuff im looking for for the 292 now if someone has a pic of the 254 layout would work! any takers out there?

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Post by A-510 » Wed Oct 03, 2007 9:34 am

There is a OE-254 manual for $3 Buy It Now at that place.

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Post by wa5cab » Wed Oct 03, 2007 10:31 am

OK. With that tip, I now know what kind of antenna the OE-254 is. The RC-292 is a ground plane antenna with one radiator element up and three drooping radials. The OE-254 is a bi-conical antenna with three antenna elements up and three down. It apparently requires a non-metalic (fiberglass) mast section at the top to isolate the antenna from the metal mast.

There is a seller in NC with a bunch of the antenna heads for sale. But I have no idea what his broken magnet comment in several ads means. One of his photos shows the fiberglass isolator. I bought one of the -23P parts manuals from a different vendor. When it arrives, I'll see what it lists and whether I can ID any of the parts as carried over from the RC-292. I did note in the NC sellers's photos that the coaxial chassis connector appears to be a Type N instead of a UHF.

LOGSA shows both the -23P and a -13 but neither are Code A so we can't look at them.
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