UK/PRC-316 was a transistorised lightweight
HF Special Forces patrol radio, developed in the
mid-1960s by the Signals Research & Development Establishment (SRDE) in
Christchurch (UK), and built by Rank Bush Murphy 1
in Welwyn Garden City (UK). The radio has 45 crystal-operated channels and
operates in the 2-7 MHz frequency band in CW
(morse code).
As the device was designed for anti-terrorist operations in the Far East,
it also also known as the Jungle Set[1].
...
During its development — which started in 1963 — the PRC-316
was known as X3145. Twelve months later, in 1964, the radio was
ready for deployment and tests were carried out in the UK and in Borneo.
The set was offered to export customers for GBP 600. The last operational
use of the PRC-316 was during the Falklands campaign. It was decommissioned
in the early 1990s [1].
There are five known versions of the UK/PRC-316, marked as Type A — E,
that differ only in the crystal-defined channels. The device has 9 different
base channels, each of which can be given 5 different offsets
(-2.5 kHz, -1.25 kHz, 0, +1.25 kHz, +2.5 kHz), producing 9 × 5 = 45
channels.
The 45 channels are choosen in such a way, that none of their frequencies
have a round number, thereby avoiding the spurious signals emanated by
(domestic) equipment, such as synthesizers, televison sets, switched mode
power supply units, etc. Although each variant has a different set of
frequencies, there are some overlaps, as indicated by the colours in the
table below. Especially
3710 kHz
seems to have been a popular operating
frequency, as it appears in four of the sets.
Type
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
A
2215
2520
3170
3710
4590
4875
5130
5270
5895
B
2280
2700
3280
3710
4510
4875
5305
6350
6940
C
3710
4040
4490
4574
4950
5090
5905
6770
6955
D
3205
3710
3970
4040
4595
5090
5925
6776
6955
E
2133
3170
3901
4659
4870
5202
6608
6770
6955
Amateurs radio operators
who want to use a PRC-316 have to be careful, as most
channels fall outside the allowed bands. Versions A, B, C and
D are suitable for amateurs.
The radio in our
collection is of type E, which means that none of its frequencies fall inside
the amateur bands:
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Crypto Museum. Last changed: Monday, 17 August 2026 - 14:31 CET.
