Voice of Victory

Let's enjoy a great bit of history. As WWII opened the US Army realized it needed to modernize and upgrade its communications equipment, and do it ASAP. The Army Signal Corps turned to private industry for help. The US was lucky - by the late 1930s the country was a leader in civilian radio technology thanks to companies like RCA and Westinghouse. The US also led in the area of Amateur Radio technology; there was a lot of technology overlap between commercial and Amateur radio at the time and many major commercial equipment manufacturers also dabbled in amateur radio hardware.

One leading Amateur radio manufacturer, Hallicrafters, turned a Signal Corps requirement for a self-contained mobile radio system into one of the most successful communications systems of WWII - the SCR-299. The SCR-299 was a truck or shelter mounted radio system that contained every component needed to provide long range AM and CW communications. It became the backbone of tactical communications for US armed forces on battlefields across the globe.

In 1944 the Hallicrafters company hired the famous industrial training film company, Jam Handy (yes, Jam Handy) to produce a comprehensive half-hour story on the SCR-299. Hallicrafters was rightly proud of their accomplishment and wanted to showcase it.

This movie is a minor classic in the Amateur radio world, and a must-see for anyone that ever owned, or lusted after, a Hallicrafters radio.

Enjoy!

W8BYH out