VIC-3 Intercom Installation

[Feal318000]

and this is what is behind the passenger seat. there is also a large heavy gauge cord under the passenger seat coiled up with (i think a communications plug) that is plugged into nothing. thanks for all the info so far, and you are narrowing down all the small details of my truck that i havent figured out!

 

[juanprado]

The brackets on top of the table are for 2 of the ls671 speakers

 

[aleigh]

Oh wow, I've never seen one of those before. At a glance I can't tell if it was intended for storage or electronics. Very interesting! Is there a NSN on it?

Most of the trucks seem to have a 24+V feeder under the pax carpet. It comes out under the PDP and if you look on the PDP you'll see a relay and breaker for the a "radio". Mine was just cut off hastily but if yours terminates to a large circular plug with a center screw (as typified by the VIC-1) I wouldn't be surprised at all.

Since you have your pax-side NBC storage (I see it in the photo) I am all but certain you did not have a FBCS2.

 

[aleigh]

I am guessing from the pattern of holes in the top there may have been an intercom on it too

 

[Feal318000]

sooo, not one big wire, one big wire and 2 little wires, that's 3 wires, ha-ha-ha (the count, sorry for stale comedy) and 3 wires i have no use for..... as far as the passenger mystery storage, i cant see a nsn- it was self tapped in place, and without removing the tappers its tough to examine. the only steel is at the very top and the "bag" hangs from it. if anyone on here needs any of these parts,.....i need a center seat and will make a fair deal

 

[aleigh]

Yeah you have a pair of 24V+ feeders. The big thick assembly is one, and the pair is another.

 

[Feal318000]

cool, thanks again for the info!!

 

[mkcoen]

Oh wow, I've never seen one of those before. At a glance I can't tell if it was intended for storage or electronics. Very interesting! Is there a NSN on it?

That is storage for the co-driver in a truck with a radio mount. They remove the box (like behind the driver's seat) and install the radio racks. Now the co-driver needs a place for his stuff so they have the hanging box. You can try having both but it makes opening the metal box kind of tough.

 

[aleigh]

That is storage for the co-driver in a truck with a radio mount. They remove the box (like behind the driver's seat) and install the radio racks. Now the co-driver needs a place for his stuff so they have the hanging box. You can try having both but it makes opening the metal box kind of tough.

Except he still has the box on the pax side. You can see it in his pictures.

 

[mkcoen]

Except he still has the box on the pax side. You can see it in his pictures.

Could be for the 3rd seat soldier.

 

[mkcoen]

if anyone on here needs any of these parts,.....i need a center seat and will make a fair deal

I'd love the platform and radio rack but think shipping to TX would be cost prohibitive.

 

[aleigh]

Could be for the 3rd seat soldier.

Except his third seat was removed for the radios, as is typical. And the two original boxes hold NBC for all 3.

 

[mkcoen]

Except his third seat was removed for the radios, as is typical. And the two original boxes hold NBC for all 3.

It's not just for NBC gear it's also for the soldier's personal stuff. It could have been a platoon leader's vehicle and he wanted extra space for his delicates or who knows what. Since they didn't put the radio's behind the passenger seat then they didn't need the hanging bag. Unit level modifications are common in the military and every thing they do doesn't necessarily have to make sense.

 

[aleigh]

Oh that I totally believe, I am just saying I don't think it was a "authorized/standard" configuration. I agree it looks like it should have held the pax bin contents if the pax bin was removed and radios installed there instead - sideways facing to be used by the center seat. The digitization rack goes full to the roof and I don't remember what their solution to the NBC was - I think they shove it in the bottom of the rack but I am not certain.

 

[ScubaCat]

Had the Comtac 4. Was not impressed and sold it. Amplification was mediocre as well as noise suppression. It was fairly comfortable though. In short, I dont feel it is worth the cost.

Our comtacs all have PTT boxes to U-229, so they just hook right up. I make U-229 and Ampheno/etc milspec cables anyways. In the process of making the highway cables. Thanks though!

I do like the comtac 3s but some people tell me that is just because I have not tried the 4s yet, with the in-ears. The biggest gripe I have about the 3s is probably that if I wear them with sunglasses the frames need to be close to my skull or things go wrong, and wearing them all day in the heat gets kind of terrible. I shoot OK with them so there's that.

I have some old VIC-1 headsets I was just thinking about re-writing to work with the ViC-3 (from 2 plugs to 1). Because they are cheap, and I have them, and I could hand them out to guests.

 

[aleigh]

Had the Comtac 4. Was not impressed and sold it. Amplification was mediocre as well as noise suppression. It was fairly comfortable though. In short, I dont feel it is worth the cost.

Thanks for the review! I certainly won't buy a pair until I have an opportunity to try them out first-hand.

 

[Oxyacetylene]

I am slowly working on something similar, but using civilian stuff. In another thread a member said that he is using a Sigtronics intercom system and that is what I am going to put together. The Transcomm II is portable so I can use it when I ride in someone else's MV or whatever. I have a similar broadband antenna by Harris on the truck now. One of the local ham's has a very nice antenna analyzer I would like to hook up and see what the SWR looks like on the common frequencies. What radio will you be running? I would like one that is waterproof or water resistant at least...my thought being it would be less susceptible to corrosion from salty sea air at the beach.

 

[aleigh]

I am slowly working on something similar, but using civilian stuff. In another thread a member said that he is using a Sigtronics intercom system and that is what I am going to put together. The Transcomm II is portable so I can use it when I ride in someone else's MV or whatever. I have a similar broadband antenna by Harris on the truck now. One of the local ham's has a very nice antenna analyzer I would like to hook up and see what the SWR looks like on the common frequencies. What radio will you be running? I would like one that is waterproof or water resistant at least...my thought being it would be less susceptible to corrosion from salty sea air at the beach.

I wonder if I was that member. I used to use a sigtronics transcom system, the portable one. I have it still sitting here actually, I haven't used it in years. Used it with Jeeps, that kind of thing. I have an analyzer and the SWR on the Harris pretty much comes out to what they claimed in the specs, it's about 3.5 or better across the entire range. I work 100 miles on 2 meters without a tuner, 75 watts.

I plan to use a FT-857 with it, I have it mounted up already in the rack so you might see that in the pictures. I hear you on the corrosion thing but if the salt air in the cab is going to destroy a ham radio it's going to destroy just about everything else in the truck too, including a Sigtronics. Just a thought but I wouldn't worry about water-proof so much for the radios. The intercoms and military radios are that way because they are used out in the weather, and uncle sugar has all our money to play with so why not.

PS, that 857 banged around in a land rover for years, then a jeep, then rattled around in a go box, and it has been on the beach more than a few times. Just keeps going.