[Milsurplus] ARC-5: More on the RBD Nomenclature

Mon, 21 Apr 2003 10:02:07 EDT

Bill, Dave & Group,

In a message dated 4/21/2003 3:04:36 AM Central Daylight Time, 
[email protected] writes: 
>Were RAV and RBD radios reworked and 
>tagged "ARA?"  The practice of reworking older sets
>to fit newer standards was certainly practiced at the time.

Possibly, but it was far more common for reworks to get suffices. 
Rebuilts of RE became RE-a. TBF became TBF-a. Sometimes major reworks 
changed the number, as in TBA-6s turned TBA-10s (FSK box added). The only 
instance I know of where the Navy retagged something with a completely 
new nomenclature is QBF to QJA - this makes a lot of sense, as the second 
letter of underwater sound equipments designates the basic technology 
used (mostly in the projector). Anyway, the sonar guys play by their own 
set of rules.

You're forgetting that the early T-47/ART-13's and their associated 
components were ATC units (or maybe ATC-1) with new nameplates.  Except (that 
I can think of) the O-16/ART-13 and MX-128/ART-13 which did not originally 
have their own Navy Type Number (hence no nameplate) and the ATC mount which 
had no number and apparently got replaced by the MT-283/4 at the nomenclature 
changeout.  I have some of the triple shunt loading capacitor units here that 
actually have a small plate riveted to the front that says "SEE NAME PLATE ON 
REVERSE SIDE".  Flip it over and you may see "CZR-481628 OF ATC-1", 
"COL-481628", or "CU-24/ART-13".  Later CU-24's (some black, some plain 
aluminum) had "CU-24/ART-13" stamped on the front of the base plate.

>It could have been as simple as installing a new nomenclature tag
>to turn an RBD (or an RAV) into an ARA.

Simple, yes, but possibly a logistic nightmare. It would have made a 
whole bunch more sense for the Navy to revise the contract with GE, 
saying basically "you are not designing RBDs anymore, you are designing 
RYZs, because we already have a bunch of RBDs". Occam's razor in action.

73
Robert Downs
Houston
<[email protected]>

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