[Milsurplus] AN/ARC-8(?) (ART-13B + ARR-15)

[Kargokult@aol.com]

mmorrow@companet.net wirelessed:

 Kargokult@aol.com wrote:
 
 >>  Was this still being used, or just left in place? I cannot imagine
 >  the USAF using either HF AM or cw at that date.
 
> Nor could I at the time!  I was interested in WWII aircraft sets even
 back than, so I asked the pilots if they used it.  They said they didn't
 know anything about it.  They just used the AN/ARC-27.
 
 Actually, HF was tending to fade away in military use even in WW2.
Navy planes in combat operations used VHF. The HF, as far as i can
tell, was  only used for contact reports and progress reports from
far ranging patrol and  scout planes.
 

 >> Please consider the possiblity ... that the LF/MF  frequencies were
 > NOT used for 2-way communication.
 
 >No argument from me!  I don't know enough to start!

-You know, i thought about this afterward, and the possibility, at least in
the planners and designers' minds, that an  aircraft should have the
capability to communicate with ships on the 500 kHz calling and 
distress frequency. Either the  BC-348 or the RAX ( LF/ MF model )
would cover this frequency. On the other hand, i have NEVER  read
any account of such a communication, while i have seen  several
photos of A/C crewman using a light gun  to signal a ship. Maybe,
i dunno, this was easier than reeling out the trail antenna, and maybe
it was also so as not to radiate a signal? Just guessing.....
Regards, Hue Miller