[ARC5] C-48/ARC-5

[Michael Tauson]

On Sat, May 30, 2009 at 5:49 AM, Mike Morrow <kk5f at earthlink.net> wrote:
> There was never an AN/ARC-5 equivalent to the BC-496-A (two-receiver) or
> BC-450-A (three-receiver) control boxes.

Actually, this isn't quite accurate.  The AN/ARC-5 came into being via
the redesignated ARA-2 (-3?)/ATA-3 and the original receivers included
the R-20, R-21, and R-22.  Like their ARA predecessors, these were not
stabilized receivers and were never intended to be lock tuned.
Instead, there were BC-496 and BC-450 equivalent control boxes that
carried forward from previous ARA systems only redesignated as
AN/ARC-5 equipment.

It wasn't until after the NRL had created the crystal controlled
versions of the ARA receivers in an effort to stabilize them that
A.R.C. redesigned the R-20 through R-22 to create the R-25 through
R-27.  In the meantime, the Navy required A.R.C. to build 600
receivers and 300 transmitters using the NRL design although how many
were actually made or what their fate was I hope to learn on a road
trip I hope to make.  (More on this is another post.)

As a side note, the NRL design included two separate crystal channels
plus retained the ability to be tuned which the A.R.C. redesign did
not.  It was the latter version that reduced the cockpit controls, not
the Navy's which, instead, only complicated them more.

So, long story short, they existed but their life was terminated early on.

Wasn't that fun?

Best regards,

Michael, WH7HG
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