[ARC5] Original SCR-274-N spec

[David Stinson]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Michael Tauson" <kongomt at gmail.com>
Subject: [ARC5] Original SCR-274-N spec


> HI, Folks,
> 
> I've been sitting reading contract reference 1470-NY-41 with some
> interest.....
Me, too.
I hope everyone on this lists knows what a treasure and 
asset it is to have Gordon White here, and how 
very kind he has been to help with these many projects,
given his busy life.  My humble thanks, Gordon.
It would be an impossible task without you.

> This suggests that the Navy was the first to order - or at least spec
> out - a system from A.R.C.,....
Yes; the Navy was first to buy the set (as GT/RBD) after
being impressed with the RAT and RAV sets.
The Army agreed that it was a great set, 
but only bought it when the brass forced their hand.
They were playing the sophomoric "not invented here"
game, wasting money and time they didn't have
trying to roll their own (and that kiddie game still 
infects industry today, though defense has gotten 
a little better about it).
The pols in Washington who made budgets did what
pols always do- plan for the last war- and gave the 
loin's share of the money to the Navy.  They had
"battleships on the brain" and the idea that the next
war was going to be one big "Battle of Jutland."
The Army between the World Wars got the scraps
and crumbs that fell from the table until MacArthur
(then Roosevelt's Chief of Staff) threatened to resign
unless he got some funding (got the date here somewhere,
but not handy at the moment).  The Signal Corps was
low on the funding Totum Pole, so they really didn't 
have money to throw away on junk,
 nor time to let Bendix or GE "get it right."

A side note on the Navy nomenclature shuffling:
According  to other sources, the Navy kept changing
it's nomencalture system because of another sophomoric
game: turf wars.  Between 1919 ane 1945, they must have
shuffled Aircraft Radio around a dozen times, each bunch
deciding to implement "their" nomenclature system.
It's a wonder we can even come close to figuring it out.
If documents like SHIPS 242A had not surfaced,
the task would be darn near hopeless.

Gotta go,
73 DE Dave AB5S