[ARC5] Vibrator Power Supplies

[Mike Morrow]

Scott wrote:

> My own suspicion--unsupported by any specific evidence--is that 
> vibrators were thought to be unreliable. The fact that you can change 
> one out in about 15 seconds seems not to have mattered.

I'd agree that reliability/component life issues mitigated against much vibrator use.

In the immediate post-WWII era we find:

The long-serving ADF receiver R-101/ARN-6 used a vibrator power supply.  A spare vibrator is held in a bracket under the top cover.

There is a military configuration of the A.R.C. Type 12 that incorporated a SCR-619 (BC-1335) FM set, all controlled through an A.R.C. C-37 control box.  The BC-1335 uses a vibrator power supply.

The pre-WWII RCA AVT-15 transmitter had an integral vibrator power supply that also served the AVR-15 or AVR-20 receiver.  Another similar system is the AVT-112 transmitter with AVR-20-A1 HF receiver and R-76/ARR-13 beacon band receiver...all three powered from the same pre-WWII AVA-126 vibrator power supply.

I'm sure that several other vibrator-powered sets could be identified.  The characteristic they all have in common is low HV power requirements.

If I leave the world of aircraft sets, I associate the term "vibrator" most strongly with the AN/GRC-3 series of tactical FM radios.  There's not a dynamotor anywhere in the system.

Mike / KK5F