[Boatanchors] RCA Marine Receivers

[Richard Dillman]

On Tue, May 31, 2022 at 10:50 PM Richard Knoppow <1oldlens1 at ix.netcom.com>
wrote:

    Thank you very much. I wonder if the designer left any notes
> behind, they would certainly be of historical interest.
>     I wonder about the dates of manufacture, perhaps KPH chose
> the AR-8516 because it was available first. one difference is the
> AR-8516 has an LC filter to provide the narrow bandwidth for CW.
> The R6A has a mechanical filter for that and is simpler because
> it does not need a 45Khz IF.
>     Do you know if the operators at KPH had any preferences for
> receivers? From the photos you show they had many different ones.
>      I listen to KPH every Saturday its on. Brings back memories.
>

I'm glad to hear you're enjoying the KPH transmissions.  Which frequencies
work best for you.

KPH was always the "poor cousin" in the RCA corporate structure and often
had to do with hand-me-down equipment.  So while I have no way of knowing
for sure my guess is that the AR-8516 at Position 1 somehow became
available and KPH management grabbed it.

Each operator had his own preferences, as we do today.  For example I much
prefer the Collins 51S-1 over the Watkins Johnson WJ-8718.  The photo I
attached is interesting in many ways, not the least of which is the
transition from tube to solid state receivers, this represented by the
HRO-500 receiver, the first solid state receiver at KPH, along with its
LF-10 low frequency converter.  We have several HRO-500s indigenous to KPH,
one of which has been restored.  But we had to purchase a LF-10 since the
one in the photo is missing.

The other receiver shown is a Marconi Atalanta.  Like the AR-8516, it was
missing when we began our restoration project.  So I purchased an Atalanta
to stand in for the missing receiver.  Some years later I was stumbling
around in a dimly basement at an undisclosed location when I noted a box
shaped silhouette on the floor.  For some reason I knew what it was.  A
flash photo proved my suspicions correct: it was the original KPH Atalanta
(note the sticker to the left of the slide rule dial).  It is now part of
our collection.

RD


Richard Dillman
Maritime Radio Historical Society
https://www.radiomarine.org