[ARC5] AN/ARC-5 support for CW

[K5MYJ]

FWIW:

WWII fighters only had Command sets. Bombers and cargo aircraft had Command 
and Liaison sets. The pilot/co-pilot operated the Command sets. The Liaison 
sets were operated (mostly CW) by a Radio Operator. (Radio Operators were 
also gunners).

Pilots were not generally skilled in CW. In fighters I think the PTT button 
was on the throttle (LEFT HAND). In bombers the PTT button was on the left 
side of the YOKE.

Bob Macklin
K5MYJ
Seattle, Wa.
"Real Radios Glow In The Dark"
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Morrow" <kk5f at earthlink.net>
Cc: <Arc5 at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2016 11:09 AM
Subject: Re: [ARC5] AN/ARC-5 support for CW


> Neil wrote:
>
>> The source?
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AN/ARC-5
>
> In 2007 the existing ARC-5 article was only a couple of paragraphs long, 
> and featured only a couple of photos of ham-hacked receivers.  I then 
> replaced all but a few lines of the original article with what today 
> remains more than 90 percent of the text and 100 percent of the photos.  I 
> wrote all of the passage that you quote below. :-)  I have largely 
> abandoned the article for the past few years.
>
>> Now admittedly, I rewrote some of the lead (intro) of that
>> article to make clear that the AN/ARC-5 could not do CW.
>
> Unfortunately, the last of that statement is wholly incorrect, as I went 
> to some length to explain in my first post in this thread.
>
>> I did that on the basis of longstanding content elsewhere
>> in the article that said:
>>
>> "The most common AN/ARC-5 receiver remote control box is the
>>  C-38/ARC-5, which allows control only of audio volume of the
>>  VHF and MF/HF receivers. No power, mode, or frequency controls
>>  are present. The C-38 also has controls for the R-4A homing
>>  receiver. A common AN/ARC-5 transmitter control box C-30A/ARC-5
>>  has controls for selecting the MF/HF transmitter or the VHF
>>  transmitter, and a switch to select the channel for both the
>>  VHF transmitter and receiver. Mode controls are normally set
>>  for voice and covered."
>>
>> It's obvious from that content that there was no intention to provide
>> CW capability, unless for some kind of dire emergency where the plane
>> was probably not in the air, because the pilot would need to access
>> the MD-7 modulator to plug in a key, if he even carried one.
>
> FWIW, he could key the mic even with the inaccessible control box emission 
> switch still in VOICE position.  A situation requiring that is rather 
> incredible.
>
> The only thing that is obvious is that the **control boxes** were designed 
> to minimize what was presented to the pilot.  Beyond that, the R-25 
> through R-27 communications receivers were frequency-stabilized so that 
> they could be pre-set and locked before flight, needing no remote 
> in-flight tuning capability.  That allowed elinination of tuning dials, 
> cranks, and cables from installations using the C-38 control mentioned 
> above, or the C-27 individual receiver simplified  control box which 
> consists of audio output controls only.
>
>> The above implies that the C-38 control box does not even allow
>> switching-on of the receiver's BFO.
>
> True, it does not, nor does it allow remote tuning, all to the end of 
> reducing controls on the command set radio.  Yet one would be very 
> incorrect to assert that the AN/ARC-5 does not use tunable receivers, nor 
> receivers that may copy CW.  Likewise, the transmitting system fully 
> supports CW transmission...it just reduces access to it at the control box 
> in the cause of control simplification.
>
> That's a long long long way from "AN/ARC-5 can not do CW" being true.
>
> The article quoted above does not say anywhere that the AN/ARC-5 does not 
> do CW.  In addition, there are many possible configurations of military 
> AN/ARC-5 installations.   Nine are shown in AN 16-30ARC5-2 (see wiki 
> article for download link) alone...and there are more.
>
> The last two sentences in the first paragraph of the wiki article should 
> be removed.
>
> Mike / KK5F
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