North Korean and Chinese Radios during the Korean War

I'm trying to find out what type of backpack radios the Chinese and North Koreans could have had during the Chosin Reservoir, if any (Specifically the Chinese but info on the North Koreans would be helpful as well). I'm looking for something that was similar to the US SCR-300. I read an account that said they had some old unreliable Soviet Radios but it didn't have any more info and I'm not an expert on Soviet Radios.

I have a feeling the North Koreans would have had better radios if any as it seems they were better equipped by the Soviet Union.

Any info would be much appreciated!

 

The Chinese and North Koreans were handed down WW2 Soviet radios, and actually the Chinese were better equipped, not just with communications equipment, but almost everything else. The North Koreans had the same basic equipment, but just not the same amount the Chinese had, and I'm not sure about quality either.

 

Any ideas on what models of Soviet Radios they would have had?

My understanding of the equipment side was that the Soviets had supported the North Koreans more with higher quality equipment compared to the Chinese, at least early on. I could be wrong but I've read it in multiple articles.

 

You are correct the Chinese used SCR-300 radios captured from the Nationalist Chinese. They were less well equipped than the North Koreans.

"But the Chinese army, at least in this stage of the war, was never equipped as uniformly or as well as the North
Korean army had been. For the most part, the Chinese soldier wore a two-piece padded uniform with a cap to match, fairly adequate of themselves against the cold, but paired off with canvas "sneakers." They seldom had gloves or mittens and depended upon tucking their hands into the sleeves of their coats to keep them warm.
Signal communications were primitive in the extreme. Commonly the Chinese used the SCR-300, captured from the
Chinese Nationalists, as their backpacked radio, the same radio used by the Marine infantry. Radio nets almost never went below the regimental level. Telephone wire was seldom strung beneath the battalion level. Below the battalion, communications was by runner supplemented with bugles, whistles, flares, and flashlights."

Frozen Chosin US Marines at the Changjin Reservoir PCN 19000410000_3.pdf pg. 48

 

Ah thanks! This is really helpful. I didn't know that the Chinese had used the SCR-300 but that makes a lot of sense.

 

One thing about captured radios is often your supply of spares isn't that great. Not sure how much efforts the Chinese were making after they took over as far as getting a stockpile but I suspect not very intensive. Thus one would expect their reliability to be significantly worse than that of the ones being used by the Marines. If the North Koreans were using ex Soviet radios even if supplied recently they may have had some similar issues.