[ARC5] AN/ARC-3

[Bob Macklin]

USAF fighters like the F-84 and F-86 only had enough room for a single 
command set. When I was in Korea in 53/54 it was the ARC-3 although we did 
have utility aircraft with ARC-5 VHF sets.

I was in SAC from 54 to 59. Until 56 we had ARC-27s in the F-84G models. 
When we got the F-48F models they had the ARC-33. The F-101 also had the 
ARC-33.

In the KB-29s we had ARC-5 VHF sets in addition to the UHF sets.

Bob Macklin
K5MYJ
Seattle, Wa.
"Real Radios Glow In The Dark"
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Morrow" <kk5f at earthlink.net>
To: <arc5 at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Thursday, September 23, 2010 3:14 PM
Subject: Re: [ARC5] AN/ARC-3


> Ken wrote:
>
>>I have essentially two each ARC-3 TX and RX, but nothing else. I 
>>understand
>>the ARC-3 was used in a number of late WWII fighters. Is this true? Which?
>>Someone once mentioned the P-38 and F6F....
>
> The AN/ARC-3 was a USAAF set that replaced the SCR-522-A.  Beginning late
> in WWII, continuing well into the 1950s, the AN/ARC-3 was the main VHF
> command set used by the USAAF/USAF.  It would have been found on *every*
> type of USAF aircraft of that vintage (bombers, fighters, transport, 
> etc.).
> The pilot's manuals for most USAAF aircraft of the late WWII era will
> provide details depending on if the SCR-522-A is installed, or the 
> AN/ARC-3.
> For example, a manual for the P-61 Black Widow says there will be either
> one AN/ARC-3 8-channel set or two SCR-522-A 4-channel sets on board.
>
> At the USAF Museum in Dayton, OH, there's a B-50 (IIRC) fuselage that
> you can walk through.  The remnants of an AN/ARC-3 will be seen there
> too.
>
> The F6F, or any other type of Navy aircraft (unless the USN had taken over
> some former USAF aircraft), would NOT have used the AN/ARC-3.  If a VHF
> set was used at all, it would have been one of the USN VHF sets (AN/ARC-4,
> VHF AN/ARC-5, or AN/ARC-1.  The USN did borrow a few SCR-522-A VHF sets
> from the USAAF.)
>
>>What amazes me about them is their later models (ARC-36 and 49) with
>>many more channels. Apparently it wasn't all that hard to add them.
>
> The AN/ARC-36 used an add-on structure at the front of the radios to
> double the channels to 16.  The normal 8-channel AN/ARC-3 control was
> used, with an external switch to select the desired bank of eight.
> The frequencies in the second bank had to be selected such that they
> used the same receiver local oscillator harmonic that was dialed
> into the receiver for that channel for the other bank's frequency.
> The 48-channel AN/ARC-49 was considerably more complex, and used the
> C-1400/ARC-49 control box that selected the desired channel.  The
> AN/ARC-49 normally came out of the box with 48 standard channels
> already filled and aligned with the appropriate crystals.
>
> The USAF seems to have wanted to keep most of its aircraft in possession
> of VHF-AM capability, even after UHF-AM took over military command
> comms.  The most common replacement for the AN/ARC-3/36/49 in the
> early 1960s was the VHF Collins AN/ARC-73.  The most common UHF-AM
> command set of the 1950s on into the 1970s was the famous Collins
> AN/ARC-27 that was used by all services almost everywhere, but USAF
> aircraft often kept VHF-AM capability along side it.
>
> A good representation of an early 1950s USAF aircraft radio installation
> would include the AN/ARC-3 VHF-AM, AN/ARC-8 MF/HF, and the AN/ARC-27
> UHF-AM sets.
>
> The USN usually replaced VHF-AM with UHF-AM and discarded along-side
> VHF-AM command capability.  The first somewhat common UHF-AM set was
> the USN's RT-58/ARC-12.  Its claim to fame was that any AN/ARC-1 VHF
> installation could be converted to UHF simply by pulling the RT-18/ARC-1
> VHF unit out of the mounting rack, sliding the RT-58/ARC-12 UHF unit
> into the AN/ARC-1 rack, and possibly changing the VHF antenna with one
> designed for UHF.  Nothing else needed to be altered.
>
> Mike / KK5F
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