[ARC5] re RU/GF sets

[Clarke, Tom AIR4.0P NATOPS]

Purest of PFM for sure.  Somehow the slot excites the skin of the aircraft as the radiator.  Not sure what is used as a counterpoise.  I'll have to research this a little.  I had a friend who rigged up a slot antenna for 20M on his motor home (Greyhound bus sized thing).

If you ever see a Navy E-6B Mercury (B-707-320) you will see probes sticking out of the wingtip radomes and they are HF antennas.  The E-6s get into Hickam now and then and used to be stationed at BarPt.  The wingtip "tanks" aren't tanks at all, but house satcom antennas, etc. 

Tom


Tom Clarke
Wyle, Inc  Aeronautics
P3 Product Lead, PEO(A)
USN/USMC National Airworthiness Office
Naval Air Systems Command, AIR-4.0P
(301) 995-3793/DSN 995-3793
Fax: (301) 342-3776
Cell (301) 904-2053
frederic.clarke at navy.mil

"It does not take a majority to prevail...but rather an irate, timeless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men."

Samuel Adams (1722-1803)


-----Original Message-----
From: Kludge [mailto:wh7hg.hi at gmail.com] 
Sent: Thursday, September 02, 2010 6:32 PM
To: 'Discussion of AN/ARC-5 military radio equipment.'
Subject: Re: [ARC5] re RU/GF sets

-----Original Message-----
From: arc5-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:arc5-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On
Behalf Of Tom Clarke
> Funny you should mention carrying stuff back home in an airplane.  I 
> used to fly a KingAir 200 on a regular run to Bethpage, NY, the home of 
> LeRoy's big airplane company, i.e., Grumman Iron Works.

These were, of course, business trips.  :-)

>  I never missed 
> the chance to bring a couple of dozen fresh bagels back to MD. When I 
> blocked in at the end of the trip, the ground crew always knew where 
> Clarke had been with Dad's KingAir! Dad being the Admiral and the Beech 
> was his....he just let me play with it.

Official business at that.  And, of course, flight crews get hungry and
might tend to buy too much for the flight.  :-)

> That airplane had an ARC-199 HF that really made those long boring 
> flights a bit more enjoyable! No wire antenna, it had some kind of a 
> magic box that loaded up the skin of the airplane with a little slot in 
> the vertical stab. FM, as we called it (freakin' magic).

Hmmm ... Okay, I know slot antennas are used for VHF & UHF but this is the
first time I've heard of a relatively small slot used for HF.  Also ...
wasn't the airframe the ground which could cause real problems loading it as
an antenna.  Anyway, that goes past FM to PFM.  :-)

Best regards,
 
Michael, WH7HG BL01xh
http://www.nationalmssociety.org/chapters/NTH/index.aspx 
http://wh7hg.blogspot.com/ 
http://kludges-other-blog.blogspot.com 
Hiki Nô!