[ARC5] AN/ARR-69 inquiry

[zakariya.abu at yandex.com]

I'd like to inquire about the AN/ARR-69 emergency UHF receiver (20 
presets + 243 MHz guard) mostly used on naval jets as a go-between the 
AN/ARA-25 or AN/ARA-50 UHF DF "adapters" and an indicator (eg. the 
ID-250 RMI) that provided course to a UHF transmitter, whose signal was 
being picked up. I have a Collins brochure on the AN/ARR-40, but nothing 
on the AN/ARR-69. Hence, my questions are:

(1) Was the AN/ARR-69 an updated (perhaps solid-state) version of the 
Collins AN/ARR-40 since both used the same C-1457/ARR-40 console control 
unit? If yes, in what dimension? Did both use crystal-controlled presets 
with the CR-23/U crystals? Were sensitivity and selectivity improved in 
the AN/ARR-69 compared to the AN/ARR-40?

(2) Was the AN/ARR-69 indeed frequently used when TACAN or other navaids 
were available? Was it used in the air-to-ground mode only, or the 
air-to-air, as well, to home on other aircraft flying at altitude?

(3) Could the AN/ARR-69 both in theory and practice pick up a signal 
from a low-power ELT, eg. an AN/PRC-90 or AN/URT-33, and effectively 
home on it via the AN/ARA-50 UHF DF?

(4) Considering the existence of the UHF DF equipment on military jets, 
did the military use a kind range beacons on UHF, which principle of 
operation resembled the old LF A-N range beacon system or the YE-ZB 
system, or the MF ADF?

73

Jan
SP5XZG