[ARC5] AN/CRC-7

Thu May 30 21:26:10 EDT 2013

The book I referenced last night is:

"How to Fly the B-29 Superfortress: The Official Manual for the Plane that Bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki."  This is a hard-cover commercial "facsimile" publication circa 1995, of a combat crew training manual for the B-29 -- not the pilot's handbook, nor the ROIF, etc.  It was prefaced/introduced by Jeffrey L. Ethell, a prominent aviation historian and warbird restorer/pilot who died not long after this book was published.

The book is divided into sections which cover each crew position in detail.  It has lots of info about the radio operator and his role, including some regarding the operational codes used.  The navigator's section deals with the radio compass, and LORAN.

As soon as I can actually put my hands on my copy of this book, I'll come up with the page references.

For those who may be interested, the book is available used through amazon dot com for around $12, and is well worth that price.  I acquired mine through the military Book Club when it first came out, and even with the club discount it was still close to $30 if I remember correctly.

73

Mike
W4DSE

Jay Coward <jcoward5452 at aol.com> wrote:

> From: Jay Coward <jcoward5452 at aol.com>
> Subject: Re: [ARC5] AN/CRC-7
> To: kk5f at arrl.net, arc5 at mailman.qth.net
> Date: Thursday, May 30, 2013, 8:23 PM
> 
> Wouldn't 140.58 MHz have to be an implemented guard
> frequency before the AN/CRC-7 could be deployed? When did
> that take place?
>  The crystals I have for the AN/ARC-4 include 140.58 MC,
> Western Electric,  703A Crystal unit. I think 703A was
> the original model # of the civillian pre-war AN/ARC-4 so
> that may date the use of this frequency for guard use.In
> that light was there any pre-WWII manufacture of distress
> radios for 140.58 that may have developed into the AN/CRC-7?
> When did civil aviation begin useing VHF as standard along
> with LF/HF? When did this frequency  become a military
> use frequency?
>  
>  Questions beg more questions!
> 
> Jay KE6PPF
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mike Morrow <kk5f at earthlink.net>
> To: arc5 <arc5 at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Thu, May 30, 2013 4:17 pm
> Subject: Re: [ARC5] AN/CRC-7
> 
> 
> > The AN/CRC-7 was carried in Army Air Forces B-29s in
> the Pacific.
> > It is described in an operational crew training manual
> which was
> > reprinted in hardback form some years ago (early
> 1990s): I own a
> > copy of this but can't put my hands on it at the
> moment.  When I
> > find it, I'll post the information.
> 
> I'd like to see that, because I have never seen any *real*
> documentation
> of its use by anyone **before** WWII ended.  It's easy
> to find (for US
> Navy sources only) reference to its use in the Korean War
> era.
> 
> > If anyone has a copy of the ROIF (Radio Operator's
> Information File),
> > it might even be described in that manual.  I
> haven't seen the ROIF,
> > but I clearly remember the CRC-7 being referred to in
> the B-29 training
> > manual.  I can't say whether it may have been
> carried in other aircraft.
> 
> There is no mention of the AN/CRC-7 in either of the USAAF
> ROIF manuals
> I own.
> 
> There is no mention of the AN/CRC-7 in either of the Flight
> Operating
> Instructions Handbook (dash one) manuals I own (AN 01-20EJ-1
> 1945, and
> AN 01-20EJA-1 15 April 1947) for the B-29, 29A, 29B, 29
> Receiver.  However,
> the AN/CRT-3 Gibson-Girl *is* mentioned.
> 
> There is no mention of the AN/CRC-7 in the late-WWII "B-29
> Airplane Commander
> Training Manual" that I own.
> 
> There's no similar item listed in my radio electronics
> manual for the
> Soviet Tu-4, clone of the B-29s that were interred in the
> USSR.  Most
> of the items aboard the B-29s were closely duplicated.
> 
> Hard original documentation in my possession shows no sign
> of the AN/CRC-7.
> I'd be very happy to learn of USAAF use that is documented
> in original USAAF
> publications of the era.
> 
> There also seems to be a lot of questionable information
> about when the AN/CRC-7
> was introduced into active service.  One can even find
> web references that
> allege 1943 or even 1942.  That's a pretty good trick,
> having a JAN nomenclature
> item (already up to number 7 in the CRC category!) on the
> street, even before
> the JAN system got adopted on 16 February 1943. :-)
> 
> Has anyone come across **any** official reference to the
> AN/CRC-7, even in
> USN service, prior to the end of WWII?  I've not found
> even one instance.
> I've also read many US submarine patrol reports from late in
> the war, and
> never come across reference to attempting comms with a
> downed aviator on his
> 140.58 MHz AN/CRC-7.  That example would be the
> textbook case for which the
> AN/CRC-7 was designed.  But that doesn't mean that it
> didn't happen...tell me
> about the items you've seen.
> 
> Mike / KK5F
> ______________________________________________________________
> ARC5 mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/arc5
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:ARC5 at mailman.qth.net
> 
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> 
>  
> ______________________________________________________________
> ARC5 mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/arc5
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:ARC5 at mailman.qth.net
> 
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> 