[ARC5] Surplus Radio Conversion Manuals

[Robert Nickels]

On 4/26/2018 6:57 PM, jeepp wrote:
> At the time, it was plentiful and the mind-set present today had not 
> remotely arrived

Of course that's exactly right, with WWII in the rear-view mirror and 
technology growing at a rapid rate, hams of the 50s and 60s viewed cheap 
surplus radios as a convenient source of parts or a basis for 
modification.   A perfect example and one of my favorite projects is the 
W2EWL "Cheap and Easy SSB" transmitter that appeared in March 1956 QST 
(and in several Mobile and SSB Handbooks).    Tony Vitale's approach to 
simplification started with a BC-458 or T21/ARC-5 transmitter which sold 
for "$3.95 to $7.95 on the surplus market" at the time.   Construction 
started by "the removal of all of the original wiring of the BC-458 
except the 1626 oscillator circuit" and a few other parts that were used 
where-is.  As he wrote "All the other components are removed from the 
chassis but retained; they may come in handy at some future date".

SSB was the newest thing in amateur radio and the W2EWL rig allowed many 
hams to get started with the new mode.  The command set transmitter was 
a means to an end for them, and since many of those hams had served in 
or certainly had been affected by WWII, no one felt this was in any way 
disrespectful.

73, Bob W9RAN