[ARC5] AN/ARR-69 inquiry

[zakariya.abu at yandex.com]

Right, the KC-97E had a nice set of classic avionics as listed in the 
attachment. The setup originates from 1956, but was obviously amended 
later as you pointed out (eg. the ARC-49 replaced the ARC-3).

73

Jan
SP5XZG


W dniu 24.03.2024 o 23:56, scottjohnson1 at cox.net pisze:
> I would beg to differ, the KC-97E/L had the ARC-27 and ARA-25.  It's in my dash-1
> (It also had ARC-49 VHF comm, which was a modified ARC-3)
> 
> Scott W7SVJ
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: arc5-bounces at mailman.qth.net <arc5-bounces at mailman.qth.net> On Behalf Of zakariya.abu at yandex.com
> Sent: Sunday, March 24, 2024 13:05
> To: arc5 at mailman.qth.net
> Subject: Re: [ARC5] AN/ARR-69 inquiry
> 
> Jack,
> 
> I've just consulted with a 1956 SAC document on the KC-97E. This tanker only used an AN/APN-69 X-Band rendezvous beacon, an AN/APN-72 rendezvous radar, and an AN/APN-11 another radar beacon working in X-Band to facilitate the rendezvous. No transmitter which an ARA-25 could home in on was present.
> 
> An earlier manual for the KC-97E listed even an APN-2B Rebecca beacon and an APN-68 IFF beacon for the same purpose.
> 
> The KC-97F and KC-97G used an AN/APN-69 beacon, AN/APN-12 rendezvous radar and eventually an AN/APN-76.
> 
> The AN/APN-69 beacon saw use on the KC-97L in the 1960s/1970s.
> 
> So, it seems that rendezvous with a tanker was done through radar signals, not via the AN/ARA-25 or AN/ARA-50.
> 
> 73
> 
> Jan
> 
> W dniu 24.03.2024 o 20:32, zakariya.abu at yandex.com pisze:
>> Jack,
>>
>> I think that TACAN has a dedicated A-to-A mode for finding air tankers.
>> It was implemented starting from the AN/ARN-52 in ca. 1963.
>>
>> Methinks that homing on a tanker using eg. an ARA-25 UHF DF would
>> require constant transmission from the tanker to facilitate finding it.
>> What kind of transmitter other than UHF COM radio would be used then
>> unless there was an extra system using CW or MCW for identification?
>> Maybe our experts and practitioners could share how this was done in
>> the 1960s and 1970s?
>>
>> 73,
>>
>> Jan
>>
>> W dniu 24.03.2024 o 20:12, Jack Antonio pisze:
>>> Maybe also used to home in on a tanker?
>>>
>>> Jack Antonio
>>> WA7DIA
>>>
>>> On 3/24/2024 1:55 PM, scottjohnson1 at cox.net wrote:
>>>> Since Francesco is busy yacking to me on the phone, I will answer.
>>>> The ARA-25/50 are very effective, and are typically used LOS, and in
>>>> the 225-400 MHz they are quite accurate.
>>>> Many downed pilots and aircraft (as well as ELTs going off on the
>>>> ramp) have bee located with these adapters.
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