[ARC5] CBY-46104 Receiver

[David Stinson]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dennis Monticelli" <dennis.monticelli at gmail.com>
Subject: [ARC5] CBY-46104 Receiver


> Perhaps you guys could help me learn more about this Navy receiver.
> I recently picked up a CBY-46104 1.5 to 3.0 receiver at a local swap...

The ATA/ARA set was a primary communication and navigation set
in a wide variety of Navy combat aircraft during the WWII period.
Notwithstanding what "The Book" says,
one cannot make a blanket statement that the set was used 
in just these aircraft over just this period of time.
ATA/ARA was one set in an evolutionary continuum 
of Navy short-range, or "Command" sets that began in 1932 
with the Aircraft Radio Corporation "GF" set 
(which had its roots in the 1928 A.R.C. types "B" and "D"), 
continued through the ATA/ARA (available Feb. 1942), 
onto the AN/ARC-5 (some available Feb. 1943, more Jan. 1944)
and then transitioning to the VHF sets 
after the Battle of Leyte Gulf 
(contrary to the "No HF" myth, by the Navy's own records, 
  although some aircraft had VHF early,
  Navy aircraft VHF was not generally available
   until the last months of the war).
There were interesting "offshoot" and "footnote"
HF Command Sets- the ATB/ARB comes to mind-
but the three above were the "work horse" sets.
Once each of these sets became available, they were installed
in various aircraft, usually on a "this is what's available
to you right now" basis and all of them saw service at some time
in every theater in which the Navy operated.

Even into the late 1950s and early 1960s,
long after VHF had become the "standard" for aviation radio, 
you could still find HF Command Sets 
(including your ATA/ARA set)
installed and used regularly in many aircraft, 
particularly those that operated outside 
the "Japan-US-Europe" fraction of the world.

I hope this helps.
73 Dave S.