Clansman Radios

chris snell

Adventurer
Anybody ever used a Clansman radio? I don't want to give away too much yet but the VRC-321 looks like it would be a nice match for my new truck.

They're readily available in the UK and the price is reasonable for a quality radio...if they are indeed quality...

I love the way that these radios mount and that you can get remote handset connection kits for them. You could have a standard military handset somewhere up front with the radio tucked neatly away. Also really liking their mil-spec construction. Desert dust is hell on civilian equipment and these guys look like they could take the abuse.

It's too bad that the VRC-353 VHF unit doesn't cover 2m and 70cm.

LR-RadDemo.jpg
 

gary in ohio

Explorer
Like many military radio's They might look nice but are not very usable and are generally very expensive fro a complete setup.
 

Rando

Explorer
I would say not very usable as in having a terrible user interface and lacking in most of the convenience (or even necessary) features of a modern amateur radio. Correct me if I am wrong, but I doubt these have CTCSS tones or DTCS, scanning, alphanumeric memory tags etc, etc. Great collector pieces, but I can't really see any advantage over an Icom or Yaesu.
 

gary in ohio

Explorer
Not very usable as in how? Poor xmit/recv performance?
Dont cover bands where you can legally operate. Only allow LSB, often dont cover above 12mhz. VHF units dont offer splits for repeaters, CTCSS. HF is often low power and take an amp and control panel to make it usable. Most available units are 30+ years old, many with micro tubes.
 

Juddy

Adventurer
I have a clamsman set up, but its not for Expedition use, no way, far too old, the system is however fine for ex military vehciles etc, and you can have sets configured to talk to each other, very easily, but theres a ton of stuff with these vehicle sets, stick to the modern day stuff.

Or if you really want UK army stuff, get hold of a Bowman set...:hehe:
 

Tennmogger

Explorer
Have you guys ever seen or used British Clansman radios? These are marvelously designed and built radio systems. There are no tubes in them. It is true that a military radio is not for everyone but if you are a ham and want point to point communications, the Clansman series will work just fine. If you are not a ham then you are stuck with CB and FRS (cell phone, etc) anyway, and those don't have CTCSS, repeater offset, and all the other bells and whistles either. Any service through a repeater, including cell phones, is not a good back country/expedition choice.

I personally have Clansman PRC-320 HF sets available for 3 vehicles, plus a portable '320 setup, and several VHF PRC-351/352 (with 20W amps) vehicular and portable. Portable to me is luggable to a tailgate, flat rock, or camp table. No way you'd want to carry one of these far.

The '320 covers continuously from 2 MHz to 30 MHz, USB (not LSB as stated above), AM (as in CB), covers all the HF bands including the Alaska bush emergency frequency, the new 60 meter band no problem, wide and narrow CW, built in antenna tuner, stable as a rock, waterproof, shock resistant, all functions settable by feel even if you have to reach behind the seat. You could drive tent pegs with one and not hurt it. BTW, there are nets every night on 75 and 40 meters where USB is the standard.

The PRC-351 is my favorite VHF set for point to point comms. Leave them out in the rain ans dust no problem. It's small-ish, 4 W out, has a clip-on 20W amp available, and is narrow FM compatible with ham transceivers. These VHF sets do cover 6 meters and IMHO that's better than 2m or 70cm for coverage on simplex. No repeater use, that's correct, but my use is for convoy and camping where simplex is the way to go anyway. Even here in the East there are never repeaters when we need them. If I need long distance coverage I go HF.

As for age, the Clansman series just came out of service. It's the latest readily available military equipment. Can't buy US stuff anymore. Much of it was made in the 80's and 90's. If you troubleshoot and work on your own radios then you will appreciate the lack of computers. As for accessories, there are heavy and light weight headsets, handsets, speaker-mikes, and remote handsets available. Lots of antenna options from short whips to long whips to wire antennas for camp. 24vdc power is required but there is a 14v DCCU that takes your vehicles 12 to 14 or so voltage and converts it to 24-28 v to charge the battery on the Clansman. I use that setup in my Dodge 2500. There's even a hand-cranked generator if you like torture.

As I said in the beginning, these are not for everyone. If you buy your ham radios based on number of knobs and layers of menu items, you'll probably not like military radios. Personally I'd rather lug around a mil packset with complete PRC-320 (battery to antenna) than to fool with all the parts and pieces to use my FT-857D.

Bob WB4ETT
 

chris snell

Adventurer
Thanks, Bob. That was the educated answer that I was looking for. The 321 would be a fine emergency radio. The 14.300 net is USB and would be one of the first places I'd go if I needed emergency assistance over amateur radio.

I'm in the military and well familiar with the sometimes awkward (but always practical) interfaces of military radios. I'll take a mil radio UI over the Yaesu UI any day.

I love all of the mil-grade accessories that are available. Those little external speakers and PTT switches are really cool.
 

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