[ARC5] RU/RAT/RAV/RAX vs. GO, 1939 and Later

[Mike Morrow]

I wrote:

> I don't think the RAT/RAT-1 can be considered a "complete" system.

Michael wrote:

> Mike, Mike, Mike, what am I ever gonna do with you?  :-)

Of course you know that comment wasn't directed to you.  I try to take
opportunities to show the relationship of the RAT or RAT-1 to the RU-11
or RU-12 for anyone just getting interested in military aircraft radio
relationships.  While I'm at it today, I'll comment that the 1939 RU-12
was the first liaison RU set designed for 24-vdc aircraft.  The 1939
24-vdc RAT-1 finds the RU-12 as the only RU set that could be its companion.
That ignores the only other 24-vdc RU liaison receiver, the 1941 RU-19.
I suspect that by 1941 there weren't any RU-* plus RAT-* installations
being installed anywhere!  The 1939 12-vdc RU-11 with the 1939 12-vdc RAT
completes the lineup.

> However, we went into the war with a fair number of 12v aircraft and it
> wasn't until 1942 that they started being produced with 24v systems.

I know you mean "that they ALL started being produced with 24v systems."

I still wonder what motivated the development of the 12-vdc R-148/ARC-5X.
Perhaps it was for some stateside training command aircraft, back in the
era when a beacon band receiver was the radio carried if any radio was to
be carried.

> However, as I recall, British aircraft were 12v through the war...

The UK seem to have used aircraft with both 12- and 24-vdc "low tension".
For example, the most common HF liaison set was the T1154/R1155 which
could be configured for either voltage.  The same is true for the TR5043
(SCR-522-A) VHF command set.  These are just a couple of the most common
UK-used sets.  The AN/ARC-8 was also used by the UK, but there was no
12-vdc equivalent for them.

Mike / KK5F