[Boatanchors] ARC-4

[Ian]

All the discussion of surplus VHF gear got me thinking about the ARC-4 that
I converted and used on 2 meter AM in the mid 1950s.  It sure was
insensitive without a preamp I built for it but I made a lot of 100 mile +
contacts with it along the California coastal area north of Los Angeles.
(Thank goodness for the duct over mostly ocean of 150 - 200 miles between
Santa Barbara and San Diego and once in a while into Mexico!)

It had an 832 in the final.  I remember I had to make the receiver tunable
and it actually seemed "stable" but remember those were the days of wide
bandwidth and little 2 meter activity and "the standard" for the run of the
mill amateur was the Gonset Communicator.

Did anybody else have experiences with this?  I see some mentions of it
doing a Google search and it looks as though perhaps one has appeared on
"that place" for auction in the past.

Are there any of them still around.  It would be fun to see one again if
they ever appear for sale at a reasonable price.  (I think I pad $15 for it
when I bought it unconverted.)  In retrospect I guess I shouldn't have
thrown it out when I moved on to a real 2 meter transceiver several years
after.  I remember that I had the power supply I built for it for quite a
few years until I had to clean house to get space and foolishly tossed that
also.

Ian, K6SDE