[ARC5] PBY Radios

[MARK DORNEY]

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 

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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).