[ARC5] PBY Radios

[zakariya.abu at yandex.com]

Hi Gang,

Enclosed please find how 'the radio room' looked like in the PBY-5 
according to the flight manual.

73,

Jan SP5XZG

W dniu 01.12.2025 o 00:44, MARK DORNEY via ARC5 pisze:
> The RCA manufactured ATB was not adopted by the USN, and photographic proof is scarce of the installation in the PBY Catalina. In all likelihood, the GF/RU sets handled inter-squadron communications ( served this function in early WW2 USN  fighter aircraft also, so the GF/RU sets  were common ). The Westinghouse GO-7 and GO-9 handled long range coms, teamed up with with the BC-348  ( USN AN/ARR-11 receiver). Later, the BC-348 was teamed up with with the ART-13 A in the USN AN/ARC-8 system. Manuals may have been written that showed the ATB, but the Collins ART-13 was selected by the USN, beating out the RCA built ATB and the Bendix manufactured ATD, and would have been the transmitter available. The GF/RU sets ( pilots radio and Navigators receiver ) served through the war years in the PBY 5 for the US Navy, and if replaced, that happened only after WW2 ended. Many surplus USN PBY aircraft were in fact sold with the GF/RU sets still installed in the aircraft, as the USN was modernizing their coms systems, and the GF/RU sets had been serving since the early 1930s. The RCA ARB/ unlike the ATB, was a common USN aircraft receiver, used in aircraft like the TBM/TBE Avenger ( originally slated to get the ATD, but got the ART-13 / ATB combo instead ) and other aircraft.
> 
> Most HF sets in use by the USN for inter-squadron coms were replaced by VHF sets in the 1950s/1960s.
> 
> Mark D.
> WW2RDO
> 
> “In matters of style, float with the current. In matters of Principle, stand like a rock. “.   -   Thomas Jefferson
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
> On Nov 30, 2025, at 4:22 PM, zakariya.abu at yandex.com wrote:
> 
> was used as an aux receiver. Many a/c were also fitted with the ART-13 (ATC).
> 
> 
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