Prc 66b
 

Anybody know the history of a PRC 66B radio set? Who would have used it and what era? A quick online search shows it as a 1960’s radio?
Now I either have to find a collector who needs this pack or I have to find a radio to put on it! Dilemmas!
Derk

From my curious Goofle searching, the PRC 66b was an also ran made in Canada comparable to the PRC 25 and later the 77.

"This set was originally developed by Collins of Canada." http://www.milspec.ca/radspec/radspec.html#prc77

Prc=66b
 

It was intended for use by FAC's, paratroopers, and other combat communications teams in landing, parachute drop, & fighter strike control operations. Hence the UHF band being used. My set was rebuilt by Workshop 202 in 1994. Production started around 1967, although I don't know how long the production was, or how many were manufactured.
They are legal for use in Canada in the 220 Mhz band, although I don't think there is much traffic on this band.
Ian Cooper
VA6SSV

I had one issued to me as a Centurion troop leader in 4CMBG, 1970. It was intended for ground/air coms, but rode around on top of my 46 sets for 2 years without being turned on. It was issued without the harness.

It rode around unused for 2 yrs. Sound about right. Some genius staff officer, with the absolute best of intentions, issued something the troops decided was irrelevant to their daily lives.

What? Wait. Is that an echo? I think I'm hearing other people say the same thing.

I think the intent was to have tank troop leaders qualified as FACs. This would have been a good idea, however most of our FOOs and LOH pilots were qualified and Armoured officers were last on the list for the courses. This was just as 4CMBG went from being very important in BAOR to being of no consequence to NATO with Trudeau the First decisions.

PRC 66 radio
 

These were for air ground air communications. The US Military also purchased some.

My M38A1 which was assigned to 2 CBG HQ and Sigs, then SSF HQ & Sigs as the Brg. Generals vehicle had a manpack PRC 66 amongst other radios.

They can still be found.

An/prc-66b
 

This is what can be found in the AN/PRC-66B Data Summary.

Radio Set AN/PRC-66B is a small manpack radio designed for short range ground to-air or ground-to-ground communication. It is also capable of transmitting a tone modulated carrier for direction finding purposes. It is normally carried on the body but can also be used as a vehicular set with a suitable adapter kit.

The AN/PRC-668 is a compact, light weight, completely self-contained amplitude modulated UHF transceiver. The radio can be tuned in 50 kHz increments to any one of 3500 channels in the 225 to 399.95 MHz frequency range. The required operating channel can be quickly selected by setting knob operated digit dial numerals in three indicator windows. The frequency selector knob settings result in corresponding "step" changes or increments in the output frequency of a frequency synthesizer (which produces the rf input frequencies to the transmitter and receiver). The rf output frequencies of the frequency synthesizer are generated by a stabilized master oscillator (SMO), with tuning and frequency division provided by logic circuitry and referenced to a built-in frequency standard. The relatively light weight and small physical size of the transceiver is mainly due to the use of hybrid thin-film or monolithic integrated circuits and to miniature discrete parts contained in encapsulated circuit blocks.

My sources show that 218 were manufactured.

PRC 66 radio
 

Here are some more radio and pack photos.

Eric