[ARC5] [Milsurplus] Type-K based equipment dials

[jcoward5452 at aol.com]

Folks,
  I have here a CBY-23251 three receiver box,p/o ARA.It is NOS but the 
three dials are not NOS, but one may be (as it has no evidense of paint 
fading) and that is the .52-1.5 dial.These three dials are "AN/ARC-5" 
type as described by Mike.The fudiciary marks on the control box are 
small triangles of luminescent paint that match the paint on the dials 
and I believe the AN/ARC-5 boxes are the same.
  Were ARA receivers supplied with a dial for the control box like the 
AN/ARC-5?If so wouldn't the dials then be installed per the receivers 
installed?
 Jay KE6PPF


-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Morrow <kk5f at earthlink.net>
To: arc5 at mailman.qth.net; milsurplus at mailman.qth.net
Sent: Sun, Aug 2, 2009 7:56 am
Subject: Re: [Milsurplus] [ARC5] Type-K based equipment dials



Michael wrote:

>Thus far, I know of phenolic receiver dials (as opposed to control box
>dials) on receivers made in 1943 by Colonial.  Were there others?

I don't know the answer to that.  All the receivers I've ever come 
across
use metalic dials, including the Colonial BC-946-B that's sitting here 
next
to me.  I've seen phenolic dials only on transmitters made by Colonial.

>Also, on the control box dials, some are luminous and some aren't.
>Who used what when?

That's an interesting question that touches on one that I've asked 
before.

The only luminous control box dials that I've seen are those for the 
AN/ARC-5,
known officially (but unmarked) as ID-24 through -28/ARC-5 for the R-23 
though
-27/ARC-5.

Compared to the SCR-274-N control box dials (MC-212, -213, -214, -415 
for
the BC-453, -454, -455, -946), the angled surface upon which the 
frequency
is painted has about three times the surface area.  This allows these 
luminous
dials to have numerals that are more than twice as large and bold as 
those on
the SCR-274-N versions, and presents those numerals more directly to 
the view
of the operator.  (One wonders why all such dials weren't made in such 
a manner
from the beginning.)

I have a question about the ARA control box dials, upon which the 
SCR-274-N
dials
were modeled.  I have never personally seen an actual ARA control box 
dial,
except
in ebay auction pictures on the associated control boxes.  ALL pictures 
of an
ARA control box with dials had the AN/ARC-5 type of dial 
installed...NOT the
expected ARA/SCR-274-N type of dial.

So, has anyone on the list seen ARA control boxes with the early type 
dials?
It would almost seem from the photgraphic evidence that once the 
improved
AN/ARC-5 dials were available, they were installed on the in-service or
replacement
ARA boxes.

I am also interested in seeing a picture of a .52 to 1.5 MC receiver 
control box
dial
*other than* the ID-25/ARC-5, which I have.  I have for years sought a 
MC-415
dial for my SCR-274-N with AN/ARR-1 set.  I've been told by some that 
they have
seen them.  But I'm left wondering if perhaps the dial they saw was 
actually the
more common ID-25 instead of the MC-415.

I've owned two NIB BC-946-B receivers.  They came from the box (almost) 
ready
for use with the AN/ARR-1, with the FT-310-A power adapter and the 
manual
supplement (but no DM-32-A dynamotor, of course).  The unique MC-415 
control box
dial was NOT included.  That makes me wonder if the MC-415 exists.  It 
would
have been logical to have included it with the receiver, at least in 
the packing
box
if not affixed to the receiver tube cover like on the AN/ARC-5.

My dash-1 manual for the B-29A says that its AN/ARR-1 worked through 
the
AN/ARN-7
ADF, so maybe the classic expected combo of the BC-946-B and R-1/ARR-1 
was
seldom
(or never) utilized.  Still, one would think that all those many 
BC-946-B units
out there
should have had at least one MC-415 made for them.

Mike / KK5F
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