GPS Help

[WillWagner]

Hey all,
I ran across a GPS unit this past weekend at the SCMVCC meet. Stupid me, no pic, I only got a model #.

R 2401 D/U

I didn't get an NSN

It is a bit bigger than a .50 cal can. Has a black strap, takes 3 AA batteries mounted to the battery compartment lid as well as a lithium battery in the compartment that measures apx 4"w, 2"t and 5"h and has a 4 or 5 pin twist lock connector on the battery, the battery is 2, 12vdc circuits. The GPS antenna is fastened to the top of the unit with 2 canvas, well nylon, pouches at the ends and it is pulled out of the pouches and attached to a black flexible antenna. There is a hand held keypad/display unit in another pouch on the end.

The guy had some lithium batteries on the table that he said were dead. I put one in it and it did fire up and went through it's start up sequence, then flashed a low bat and wouldn't go any farther. I searched on the net and here and came up with nada. From my poor description, can anyone help me out on an ID? I'd like to pick it up, but first want to see if a battery can be found.

 

[Chief_919]

Characteristics Data Response for NSN 5825-01-321-1584
Item Name: RECEIVER,RADIO NAVIGATION
MRC Requirement Statement Clear Text Reply
NAME ITEM NAME RECEIVER,RADIO NAVIGATION
ABHP OVERALL LENGTH 5.000 INCHES NOMINAL
ABKW OVERALL HEIGHT 9.000 INCHES NOMINAL
ABMK OVERALL WIDTH 14.000 INCHES NOMINAL
ACYR DC VOLTAGE RATING 21.0 VOLTS MINIMUM AND 33.0
VOLTS MAXIMUM
AGAV END ITEM IDENTIFICATION GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEMS
AKWA JOINT ELECTRONICS TYPE RECEIVER,RADIO
DESIGNATION SYSTEM ITEM
NAME
AKWC ELECTRICAL POWER SOURCE SELF-CONTAINED
RELATIONSHIP
ALSF INTERNAL BATTERY INCLUDED
ACCOMMODATION
AMQY INSTALLATION DESIGN PORTABLE
APTQ INPUT FREQUENCY RATING 1515.420 MEGAHERTZ NOMINAL
AND 1227.600 MEGAHERTZ
NOMINAL
BCXP RECEIVER EMISSION TYPE P3F
BCXS GUARD CHANNEL NOT INCLUDED
BCXT AUXILIARY BANDSPREAD TUNING NOT INCLUDED
FEATURE
BCXW PLUG-IN TUNING UNIT NOT INCLUDED
CRTL CRITICALITY CODE FEAT
JUSTIFICATION
FEAT SPECIAL FEATURES RECEIVES NAVIGATION SIGNALS
VIA AN ANTENNA FROM NAVSTAR
SATELLITES AT 1575.42 AND
1227.6 MHZ;THESE SIGNALS
SHALL BE PROCESSED TO
DETERMINE THE USER'S 3
DIMENSIONAL POSITION,
VELOCITY AND TIME;UNIT WILL
PERFORM NAVIGATION
FUNCTIONS AND COORDINATE
TRANSFORMATIONS;PROVIDES
DATA TO AND RECEIVE CONTROL
INPUTS FROM AN EXTERNAL
CONTROL AND DISPLAY
DEVICE;INPUT POWER WILL BE
RECEIVED FROM A 28VDC
BATTERY OR AN EXTERNAL
VEHICULAR POWER
ADAPTER;ELECTROSTATIC
SENSITIVE DISCHARGE
SUPP SUPPLEMENTARY FEATURES INSTALLS ON GROUND TROOPS
PACK FRAME FSN
8465-001-6475;HOLD HOOK
PROVIDED FOR VEHICLE
INSTALLATION;MATL: ALUMINUM

 

[Gottlos]

Playing around with the information you posted I found this.

Manufacturing Part Numbers under this NSN: 622-8074-020, R-2401D/U

5820-01-321-1584, 622-8074-020, R-2401D/U

 

[WillWagner]

Man, you guys are good! I looked for an hour and came up emptyhanded. Next Q, How does one get replacement batteries, and, can I own it?

 

[jvrotter]

Is this a military unit?

 

[WillWagner]

Yup.

 

[Jones]

Will,
Based on the size description alone, it sounds like an older unit. Probably obsolete and so OK(?) to own.
Some of this stuff does make it to the civilian market intact; although I'd give the current-issue stuff like PLGRs a wide berth. Nobody needs the headaches "liberated" brings along.
Also good to avoid comm gear that works on current use mil. freqs. Folks get a little testy when you start putting out over their airwaves.

The biggest problems with the older units are; short battery life, and heavy.

 

[WillWagner]

Thanks Jones. I want to get it, but the battery issue might be an issue. I have searched the net for a battery to replace the currnt one he has, a non rechargable lithium, but no luck. Maybe I should try searching for a TM, that might do me better

Don't care about the wt, I just want to use it to mark the cool spots we find and go to in the desert.

 

[natemccabe]

You might try theses guys for getting your batteries re-celled, its where we send our survey instrument batteries, Coastal Instruments Might be cheaper just to go buy a hand held garmin from Wally world though.

 

[Welder Sam]

But not as cool.

 

[flyxpl]

I know little about the unit you want , but I think unless it is almost free and you want it to add as a item to a military vehicle for static display . GPS's are like computers . The old exspensive gps units are not very user friendly and you can buy a new very user friendly with many more options for cheap .

 

[Nonotagain]

Thanks Jones. I want to get it, but the battery issue might be an issue. I have searched the net for a battery to replace the currnt one he has, a non rechargable lithium, but no luck. Maybe I should try searching for a TM, that might do me better

Don't care about the wt, I just want to use it to mark the cool spots we find and go to in the desert.

Purchase the unit and then carefully cut the battery case open to see what cells are inside.

Once you know what cell is used, eBay has tons of US dealers selling tabbed NiMh, and Lithium Ion batteries.

I purchased a Snap-On MTG2500 red brick that needed a battery which no one I could find sells. $24.00 later I have new cells inside the shrink wrap case and the meter works great.

 

[Wile E. Coyote]

It's probably the AN/PSN-8 GPS, pic (hopefully) att'd, as the part no. is a Rockwell-Collins format part number, and the only other early ground-based pack GPS unit was really the AN/PSN-9, but that was made by Texas Instruments and wouldn't have the Rockwell p/n.

Basically the AN/PSN-8 and AN/PSN-9 were the in-service GPS units at the time of Desert Storm, but were brutally expensive and weren't fielded in large numbers. Then came the AN/PSN-10 Trimble 'Trimpack' family which were an awful lot cheaper (only about $3000 each or so!!) and able to be turned out fairly quickly as they were already sold on the civvy side for surveying etc. (black Trimpacks were civvy or civvy procured for the military; green ones were military contract "SLGR' or 'Sluggers' right up through the Trimble Centurion AN/ASN-169 SAGR for aircraft use.) Uncle purchased the Trimpack in large quantities along with some other civvy things like the Magellan NAV1000s, Trimble Scouts and I think Rockwell Troopers to get us up to speed to augment the AN/PSN-8s and 9s for Desert Shield/Desert Storm.

One guy I talked to in WARNG said he sent the last ones of that type in stores out to DRMO in the early 1990s as PLGR was being fielded. Pretty sure they used the same BA-590/ BA-5590 family batteries used in SINCGARS and a few other things. Owning it shouldn't be any problem as I don't think they handled Y2K all that well and may never resolve a position because of it.

If whoever had it wants to part with it (and the original poster doesn't grab it), I'm interested in one for my own display.

*First three pics below are the AN/PSN-8 built by Rockwell Collins. Last pic shows the evolution of the military ground-based GPS, from left-to right: the Rockwell AN/PSN-8; the AN/PSN-10 'SLGR'; the Texas Instruments AN/PSN-9; the Rockwell Collins AN/PSN-11 'PLGR', and the current AN/PSN-13 'DAGR'.)

 

[WillWagner]

That's it! If it is at the meet this weekend, i'll ask again about a price.

 

[BLK HMMWV]

Well I was standing next to Will when he saw the GPS unit and it was / is the bigger of the units shown in your pictures (AN/PSN-. I'm not sure if the guy still has it. I'm sure Will will pipe in shortly.
I have the Trimble unit shown below it in the last picture mounted in my HMMWV.
The local MV swap meet that we saw it at is coming up again this Sunday.
We can check for you.
BH

 

[BLK HMMWV]

Man your faster than my fingers

 

[B3.3T]

FWIW, PLGRs are no longer controlled and are showing up a lot of places, but without COMSEC programing of course. It is after all 18 year old technology.

 

[Wile E. Coyote]

PLGRs are indeed all over, despite their official classification, as many were given to aid groups for Hurricane Katrina - many were sold to USFS/ BLM/ DOI through GSA - our allies sold a bunch through surplus sales - dumpsters full of them went to China as electronic scrap - and DRMO itself sold several lots (a bunch were also sold after being lost by USPS on their way back to RWC for repair/ trade-in!) DoD will still hassle the odd vendor (usually through Ebay) but for the most part I think they've been told there are more productive places they can be using their skills/ authority.

There was a rule on the books that said all PLGRs had to be returned to PM GPS (and later Rockwell Collins) for disposal and that none were to be sent through DRMS. They later reclassified that so early tan PLGR could go through DRMS but the others had to go to RWC for reassignment or destruction.

PLGR would be good for most collectors' CUCV/ HMMWV restorations as there's a ton of antennas and mounting brackets and what-not for them out there, and they'll interface to your laptop if you have a mapping program like Microsoft Streets and Trips or Mappoint or Google Earth. Unkeyed, the PLGR will operate like any standard early GPS and look cool in your vehicle, but for practical purposes...yeah...Garmin 60CSX I've used PLGR/DAGR/SLGR/SAGR and my Garmin kills them all dead, though I still like PLGR/Laptop combination for fun (and I have a soft spot for the SLGR/SAGR too...well built piece of kit.)

Unless someone knows different, I'm pretty sure the books all still say that PLGR is controlled blah-blah so you *could* run across one of those sorts of LEOs who figure even speed limits are the 11th Commandment - so buyer beware. Lots of good deals on Ebay regularly. Tan PLGR can be had for $300-$350 quite often. Mounts $15-$35, antennas $45 or so...CUCV cool factor...priceless!

 

[Wile E. Coyote]

So I guess the seller or the GPS thing weren't there?

 

[Wile E. Coyote]

So I guess the seller or the GPS thing weren't there?

Haha. Nope. You should've told me who the seller was and I could've saved us all some time and trouble. Love the reply I just got from the fellow:

"WHY WOULD I PUT A BUY IT NOW FOR LESS MONEY THAN THE STARTING BID? I CAT BETTER OFFERS A T THE SWAP MEST THAN THAT. MAYBE IT'S TIME TO SCRAP IT LIKE I HAVE OTHER COMO EQUIPMENT."

Been in the hobby now for...well...lessee...since '86 anyway...and met lots of cool people, but for every 20 of them...there's one like this dude. I guess it is what it is, but part of the reason a lot of this stuff isn't on display at airshows and events etc. is because people like the above have attitudes like the above. It used to get my blood pressure up but I've since learned life's too short, so...<shrug>...it's a hobby - not a mission from God.

Yours etc.

Wile E. Coyote esq.