[Boatanchors] Receiver Antenna Input Question

[WA5CAB at cs.com]

No.  Technically it was a US military system.  Practically, most contracts 
for components were from the Navy.  But in any case, AN/ARC-5 first appeared 
about four years before USAF even existed.

AN/ARC-5 (the nomenclature) is from the Joint Army-Navy Nomenclature System 
(AKA the AN system or JAN system) for Communication and Associated Equipment.  
The earliest  document I have listing the specifications of the system is 
dated June, 1943 (six months older than I am) but I've seen indications it was 
coming into use semi-officially as early as October or November 1942.  There are 
a few low-number sets whose official nomenclature is preceded by an asterisk 
and one of the associated manuals explained that the asterisk means that the 
nomenclature was assigned before the system was officially approved.  I can't 
turn up the reference quickly tonight but the official nomenclatures of AN/ARN-1 
which was changed to AN/APN-1 are *AN/ARN-1 and *AN/APN-1.

USAF didn't exist until 1948.

I don't have documents to prove it but I'm sure that the reason that a lot of 
Navy nomenclatured equipment was re-nomenclatured under the JAN system (with 
no changes other than the nameplates) was that there were a lot of conflicts 
or potential future conflicts between the two systems.  ARC versus AN/ARC is an 
excellent bad example.  For the most part, this was not true of the Signal 
Corps nomenclature system and many items first procurred under that nomenclature 
system in the 30's or 40's continued to be procurred without change in 
nomenclature into the early 80's at least.  I've had GC-7's made in the 70's and 
BA-38's and BA-48's made in the 80's.  Which isn't to say that no Signal Corps 
equipment was re-nomenclatured.  Quite a bit was.  But it didn't have to be, it 
just was.

In the Navy system, ARA was the first aircraft radio receiver system 
procurred after the change from two-letter to three-letter nomenclature.  ARB was the 
second.  ARC the third and ARD the fourth.  Suffix numbers (as in ARC-1 or 
ARD-2) indicated modifications.  Under this system, the first two letters meant 
Aircraft and Receiver.  The third was just the next unused letter in the 
alphabet.  Suffix numbers (as in ARC-1 or ARD-2) indicated modifications.  AFAIK, 
the three-letter system went up to ARK, a glide bomb receiver.  Under the AN or 
JAN system, the three letters indicated where used (aircraft), type of 
emission (radio) and function (communication).  The suffix number was assigned 
sequentially for differing equipment types (AN/ARC-1, AN/ARC-2, ...AN/ARC-58, etc.). 
 Modifications were indicated by a suffix letter following the number.  Such 
as AN/ARC-5X or AN/ART-13B.  Use or not use of hyphens was also generally 
specifically specified in the controlling documents for the nomenclature systems.  
The JAN system has no hyphen in front of the mod letter.  The Signal Corps 
system does.  The Navy system, which used suffix letters to indicate 
modifications to components (not systems) is indeterminent.  Sometimes the hyphen is 
there and sometimes it isn't.  Even in the same document.

Anyway, probably more than you ever wanted to know about US Military radio 
system nomenclature.  But as I said at the beginning and can support with 
(literally) tons of documentation, there was never any US Military radio set or 
receiver nomenclatured "ARC-5".  ARC-1 is as far as that set ever got.  What 
millions of lazy or simply misinformed people call "ARC-5" is actually AN/ARC-5, 
SCR-274-N, ATA or ARA, RAV, RAT or RAT-1.


In a message dated 3/2/2009 12:03:20 AM Central Standard Time, grimm at sbc.edu 
writes: 
> WA5CAB at cs.com wrote:
> >It was never anyone's designation.  Never existed.  But ARC is from the 
> Navy 
> >system for aircraft electronics, not the later JAN, etc.
> >
> >In a message dated 3/1/2009 10:52:57 PM Central Standard Time, 
> >km1h at jeremy.mv.com writes: 
> >   
> >>ARC-5 was not a Navy designation.
> >>     
> >
> >Robert &Susan Downs - Houston
> >wa5cab dot com (Web Store)
> >MVPA 9480
> >   
> 
> 
> I thought AN/ARC-5 was an Air Force designation.
> 
> 73,
> 

Robert & Susan Downs - Houston
wa5cab dot com (Web Store)
MVPA 9480