Military Radio Specifications

Radio Set AN/PRC-138

The AN/PRC-138 is a self-contained, manpack or vehicular mounted, HF and VHF radio set.  The heart of the HF radio communication system is founded on the Harris FALCON™ series of tactical communication products.

Capabilities include frequency coverage of 1.6 to 60 MHz in SSB/CW/AME and FM in the VHF band with 100 preset channels.  Tuning is in 10 Hz increments.  DC power to the radio set is either from the rechargeable 24 VDC batteries (BB-590/U) or from the equivalent Lithium batteries BB-5590/U.  Charging of the BB-590/U batteries is supplied from an internal battery charger.  In the manpack configuration, RF power output from the AN/PRC-138 is selectable from 1, 5 or 20 Watts in SSB mode or 1, 5 and 10 Watts in FM mode.  The AN/PRC-138 is a manpack companion to the RF-5000 series (HFQRT) of equipment and offers interoperability features such as ECCM, ALE, plain or cipher voice and data.

In the data mode, the AN/PRC-138 offers a variety of compatible modem waveforms which allows it to be integrated in existing system architectures.  The built-in modem allows for MIL-STD-188-110A Serial Tone mode of operation from 75 to 2400 bps, the Robust Serial mode at 75 bps, a 39-Tone modem and the standard FSK mode of operation for bit rates up to 600 bps.

Major components of the system include the Harris RT-1694(P)/PRC-138 manpack transceiver, and for the  vehicular version (RF-5200V-150A) the RF-5033PA-150 150 Watt RF linear power amplifier, the RF-382A-02 (CU-2397A/G) fast tune antenna coupler, the RF-5055-PS AC/DC power supply and the RF-5211-VSM Vehicular Shock Mount.

PUBLICATIONS

Harris P/N CF Publication No. Description

    AN/PRC-138

    AM-####/U Power Amplifier

    Power Supply

10208-5003   CU-2397A/G Antenna Coupler

10515-0008-4300  RF-382, CU-2397 Antenna CouplerIntermediate Maintenance

    PRC-138 Operation and Programming 'sheet card'

    ALE Operation and Programming 'sheet cards'

    Installation/System Configuration 'sheet card'

Harris AN/PRC-138 with Amplifier (Shelter Mounted)

AT-1011/U Shelter Mounted Antenna System

Valcom VBA-9638 Antenna BaseValcom NVIS Whip Tilt

Adapter