The Angry 5

AN/GRR-5 THE ANGRY 5

This is a radio I picked up at an antique radio swap in 2018. Picked it up with a box of cables and mismatched misc parts, so I decided to revive it from the dead. This is an AN/GRR-5 or better known as an Angry 5. It tunes 1.5 to 18 Mhz, receives AM, CW and SSB. The neat thing about this radio is that it runs on 120 V AC or 6, 12, 0r 24 VDC. That’s what the bottom unit (the power supply, PP-308) is for. It contains two vibrators and four transformers, along with a relay and some tubes. The top unit (R-174) is the actual receiver, which is tuned by turning the large dial in the center. The little white dots visible around the left hand side of the dial are actually “presets”. They are small locking studs that work like the buttons on a car radio to physically detent the dial at 10 locations, allowing the operator to preset his favorite stations. The white rectangle is for recording band and station information for each preset.

My radio needed some capacitors replaced, power supply tweaked, and a good scrubbing. Mine is dated 1952 so most likely Korean War era. This set is very solidly built, and heavy! 70 lbs! This radio is an example of what happens when usability and ruggedness are given priority and production cost is forgotten. Pam found this one on a table at the antique radio swap meet in Madison and called me over, and I had to have it! I had found a lot of other military gear but the SOB either had his prices obscenely high or would not sell anything!

Receiver Tubes

TubeTypeFunction
V11L41st RF Amplifier
V21L42nd RF Amplifier
V31R5Converter
V41L41st IF Amplifier
V51R52nd IF amplifier/Cal.osc.
V61U5Detector/AVC/AF amplifier
V71R5Low AF amplifier/BFO
V83V4High AF amplfier

Power Supply Tubes

TubeTypeFunction
V1016AG7B+ voltage regulator
V102CK1007High voltage rectifier
V1030B2Reference voltage regulator
V1046AG7Filament voltage regulator