[ARC5] Pre-WWII USN Equipment Acquisition

[Mike Morrow]

Dave wrote:

> I'm building the GF-10 / RU-15, which has green nomenclature plates
> and was built for use by Naval Reserve aircraft.   

Where did you find any surviving GF-10/RU-15 components?  Those
1939 items must be very scarce, and I suspect there weren't all that
many made in 1939.  What's the serial number range on the items you've
found?  That sounds like a great project, coming up with the last
A.R.C.-made RU/GF set.

I'm convinced that the pre-WWII military equipment acquisition process
must have typically dealt with very small quantities on most contracts.
In the case of the RU/GF gear, apparently it was not unusual to order
a new set, issue only selected coil sets, assign it a new series number
and name plate color, and produce documentation that is custom to that
specific new set, all while there having existed another set *identical*
except for a complete set of coils being provided.

Or...as in the case of liaison RU versus command RU receivers where the
only difference is the AGC bias resistor location, it would have seemed
better as Robert suggests to have produced only one design suitable for
use in both configurations.

But most ridiculous is the difference between 12 vdc and 24 vdc RU and
GF sets...where the units are electrically and mechanically identical,
except for a different name plate (and plate color) engraved for the
system to which the component "officially" belongs.

I suspect that such practices were only possible for pre-war small scale
equipment acquisition, with the RU-16 to -19 and GF-11 to -12 being
notable exceptions.

The RAT/RAT-1 and RAV systems were acquired small-scale (about 50 each
type), but how many associated pre-war GO-4 through GO-8 transmitters were
acquired?  I wouldn't be surprised if the rare GOs were acquired in even
smaller numbers on each pre-war contract.  That may be why every GO
previous to the GO-9 is rarer than a RAT or RAV.  Even the documentation
for things like a 1939 GO-6 (the last GO made by G.E.) seems to be
non-existent today. 

Mike / KK5F