[ARC5] AN/ARC-3

[Kenneth G. Gordon]

Mike: I didn't see your reply before I sent mine.

On 28 Mar 2013 at 0:00, Mike Morrow wrote:

> > Has anyone ever seen an ARC-3 on eBay?
> 
> They show up rather frequently, at least the R-77* and T-67*/ARC-3
> portion.

Yes. I see them regularly there.

>  And going prices are typically very low...a few months
> ago I bought an almost NOS R-77B/ARC-3 with eight crystals for
> $30 plus shipping...typical prices for a set not highly sought.

Gee. Nice find. I already had two receivers, and a friend sent me one transmitter, so I have 
those, at least.

> I admire the AN/ARC-3 design...it must have been a wonder for the
> radio techs, since it self-tunes with minimum tech intervention.
> In fact, it does that every time the channel is changed.

Yes. I always thought the ARC-3s were darned good rigs, and were never properly utilized by 
hams. Many hams in my area tried to use the ARC-4, which was a total POS in my 
estimation.

> If it had the guard channel and ten channels of the AN/ARC-1, it
> would have been almost perfect for the era, and much easier to
> re-crystal than the AN/ARC-1.

Well, I had an ARC-1 once, and really liked it. I liked its autotune too.

> There was an external guard receiver that was developed for the
> AN/ARC-3, and many R-77, all R-77A, and all R-77B/ARC-3 units
> had the RF connector for it.  But I've never seen any technical
> details, and it appears that it was dropped as a project.

Innersting. I had wondered what that extra RF connector was for.

>  Without
> doubt the shift to UHF-AM for military comms reduced the value
> of a guard channel for the AN/ARC-3, -36, and -49, even though
> some of those units stayed in USAF service at least into the
> late 1960s.

Yes. I cannot now remember where, but I saw a complete setup in some ex-military aircraft 
many years ago. I was impressed.

Ken W7EKB