[ARC5] [Milsurplus] SCR-183 and -283 junction boxes

[Mike Hanz]

On 8/25/2011 5:48 AM, Kludge wrote:
>> It's a fair question.  There is an awful lot of aluminum in a B-29, and
>> in fact the front flight deck has an aluminum floor while the
>> radar/countermeasures deck has a plywood floor - go figure....
> Ummm ... they ran out of aluminum while they were building the prototype?

Perhaps. :-) They all appear to be made that way.  Of course, there are 
other inexplicable anomalies as well, including still using 1936 Ford 
ash trays nine years later.

> Taking this a step further, though, how many wooden radio shelves have 
> you encountered? I know they were used in some civilian aircraft and 
> encountered a few while I was still active as an A&P. It would seem to 
> me that the equipment would have to be bonded fairly well for that to 
> work, something like it would normally be on an aluminum shelf. 

Well, off the top of my head, a lot of them, if you include "operating 
desk" in the definition of "radio shelf".  Transmitters don't like being 
on wood from a bonding and ground plane standpoint, but receivers don't 
seem to mind nearly as much, and it makes a nice writing surface.  B-29, 
B-17, B-25, B-26 (ask Breck K4CHE about his beautiful "Flak Bait" 
replica position if you get a chance), PBY4Y-2...well, you get the 
idea.  Wood is an amazing material.  It's one of the reasons that I used 
it in the "flight deck" bays here at AAFRadio.

>> A few strategically placed decals
>> from your laser printer and a few truss head screws and it will look
>> very retro.
> Decals?  What sort of decals?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8XuJ0Z3bbQ

Google "decalcomania water transfer slide paper" and you will get a lot 
of hits.

As to what to put on them, anything you like - they usually identify 
what the junction box is connected to, and/or what station in the 
aircraft it is installed in, as well as other pertinent information that 
would be useful for maintenance.  I'm sure a creative person like 
yourself can create some interesting labels...heh, heh...

> I looked at the your site and have in mind
> something that says "SCR-AN-183" (or whatever I wind up with) in the center
> with tags for the various cables as to where they go.  Originally I thought
> that making them on a white background and then varnishing over them would
> work but the more I think about it the more I believe that using paper
> instead of decals would do better due to issues with the ink staying in
> place.  (I'm poor and only have an inkjet.  On the other hand, I have access
> to a copier although not a color one.)

Sounds good to me.  I mentioned decals more as a knee jerk reaction 
since that's what they used back in the day, but whatever looks halfway 
authentic... that junction box in the Enola Gay that I linked also has 
some sheet metal add-ons that might be interesting to adopt in some way 
where useful, and that small panel on the right is clearly a part of the 
junction box.  It's all about where your imagination leads you.

> Hmmm ... has real spar varnish gone over to the urethane side too?  If not,
> there are several marine supply houses here that still sell it.  It ain't
> cheap but it's good.

That's a good idea...some industry suppliers don't change products as 
fast as Home Depot... :-)

>> On the other hand, there are a lot of junction boxes available
>> at the electrical stores, or even Lowes or HD, that would look good with
>> a coat of aluminum paint.
> Somewhere I saw some cast aluminum boxes that would be the right size for
> this and weren't a whole lot of costly.  Coolness now would involve
> remembering where.  :-/

It occurs to me that I have seen very likely candidates at junk dealers 
and industrial surplus dealers.  Dunno how many of those are in Hawaii, 
but a little looking around might be useful...

73,
Mike