[ARC5] Scarce C-29 Offered

[Mike Morrow]

Dave wrote:

>These AN/ARC-5 transmitter control boxes are quit scarce:  260385253551

Art (the seller) has been coming up with some really unusual items recently.
I just got from one of his auctions a control box for the MO-1/MAK system,
the only one I've ever even heard about.  The MO-1 and MAK aren't all that
common, AFAIK.

The only C-29 that I've ever seen before this auction item is the one on
Mike Hanz's web site that he restored.  They're rare for good reason...they
didn't have any feature that the same-sized but more versatile C-30A couldn't
provide. 

Clearly there was little reason for the C-29 MF/HF transmitter control to be
issued after the C-30A MF/HF/VHF version became available.  I doubt that there
were many AN/ARC-5 multiple transmitter installations that did not use a
VHF T-23 or T-126.  The only non-VHF system that I've ever seen had just one
HF transmitter, so it required no transmitter control at all except the mic
PTT switch.  For those few multi-transmitter MF/HF-only installations, the C-30A
could serve as well as the C-29, even as a direct plug-in replacement in an
existing system.

The unit in the auction appears to have seen a fair amount of wear, as did the
one that Mike restored.  Strange.

Mike / KK5F