[ARC5] RU, GF, and What Else?

[Mike Morrow]

> Thanks to the excellent photos in a reference work on the F4F Wildcat we
> know that those airplanes came off the production line in late 1941 equipped
> with a GF transmitter, an RU receiver and a ZB homing adapter.
>
> Unfortunately the references on the SBD and TBD are less informative in
> respect to the radios.  Anyone know what those airplanes would have been
> equipped with in that timeframe?

Those aircraft, with a gunner/radio operator position, typically would have a Westinghouse GP-6a, GP-6, or GP-7 liaison transmitter at the radio operator position, along with a liaison version (CBY-46048C or D) of the RU receiver (RU-11 or RU-12).

The GP-series, about the size and weight of an ATC if you ignore five of the GP's six tuning units, has RF specs that compare very favorably to the huge GO-series below 9050 kHz...like 125 watts A1/A2 output.  Plus it offers A3 VOICE with its 843 PA grid modulator that is missing from the GO-series.  Both have an equal love for 800 Hz ac power.

Mike / KK5F