[ARC5] Replacement ATAs

[Mike Morrow]

I wrote:

>> I believe there was only one reason for continued production of 
>> ARA/ATA equipment long after the AN/ARC-5 began shipping in 
>> 1943...replacement service to the many existing ARA/ATA 
>> installations.

Dave wrote:

>You know I respect your opinions, Mike, and I've
>put-forward this theory myself.  I do, however, have
>some concerns about it.   First- while many WWII
>Navy Tactical frequencies were between 2 and 3 MC,
>there were also a great many between 3 and 4.5 MC.
>And any Navy aircraft flying within and/or across CONUS
>would absolutely need a 3-4 MC transmitter.
>If these scarce late-production ATA transmitters, built
>on the ARC-5 chassis, were for replacements, why
>do we see only 2.1-3.0 MC examples?  One would think
>they would made at least as many 3-4 MC replacements.

Dave,

This is one of the many areas where you have the sophisticated knowledge that results from your research.  I was blissfully unaware that the CBY-52232 is the **only** reported example of an ATA transmitter made in the AN/ARC-5 chassis pattern.  It's a good day when new interesting facts are learned.

I would be tempted, with absolutely no evidence to support it, to hypothesize that other ATA transmitters were manufactured in the late pattern but survived in numbers so few as to make them appear non-existent today.  Similar to the T-18/ARC-5 compared to other AN/ARC-5 transmitters, other late pattern ATA transmitters would likely have seen much more service use than the CBY-52232.  If it had been made in numbers similar to the other late models, the late CBY-52232 would be more likely to survive to be sold in surplus.  That's all pure baseless conjecture on my part that I don't really believe.  I have none of these late units in my collection.  Max Cotton had an impressive collection of like-new ARA/ATA units in a complete system.  I wonder if he had any transmitters in the late pattern.

So...I agree with your better-informed observations.  There's mystery here!

Thanks for the new (to me) info!

Mike / KK5F