[Milsurplus] ARN6 / R101 ADF receiver

Fri, 23 May 2003 21:46:23 -0400

I was in the USAF as an avionics tech in the late 1980's through the first
half of 1991.  I worked on C-130E aircraft at Pope AFB, NC.  We were still
using the AN/ARN-6 ADF system on those aircraft in 1991 when I left the
service!  It was the same as described earlier with the following additions:

Dual control boxes, one in the center console between the pilot and copilot,
and one at the nav station.  The receiver mount had a switch over relay
installed.  When the mode selector on the control was switched all the way
clockwise momentarily, control would switch to that control head.

AM-203 amplifier and PD-5 motor drive.  The receiver was located on the port
side of the aircraft just aft of the troop door near the rear of the
aircraft, making the use of the flex tuning drive cable quite impossible
over this distance.  The tuning signal was amplified in the AM-203, which
then drove the PD-5 tuning drive.  This was mounted to the front of the
receiver attached to the variable tuning capacitor.

The alignment of the loop antenna had to be accomplished on the specific
aircraft it was to be used on and in its mounted position.  The airframe
size and shape affected this alignment.  Our manual listed a couple of pages
of aircraft and its alignment sequence.  It included aircraft as far back as
WWII, such as the B-17G!!

That's quite a long history for one avionics system!

Cheers,

Paul DeFayette

----- Original Message -----
From: "Morrow, Michael A." <[email protected]>
To: "Dongen, Nico van" <[email protected]>; <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, May 23, 2003 4:51 PM
Subject: RE: [Milsurplus] ARN6 / R101 ADF receiver

From: Dongen, Nico van

> Now we are on the topic of ADF can someone tell me where the
> ARN6 / R101 ADF receiver fits in? I've always wondered if it
> is Wartime or did it came out just after the War?

I believe it appeared a couple of years after WWII, and then became the most
common ADF in the US military for the next 15 to 20 years.

For the JAN nomenclature system, it seems to be a lot more reliable to
sequence gear by the component number rather than the system number.  Thus,
the R-5/ARN-7 ADF is definitely an early JAN ADF of WWII vintage.  The
R-101/ARN-6 ADF came well afterwards, though the -6 would lead one to think
otherwise.

Even that's not foolproof, though.  For example, the RT-246/VRC came out in
the 1960-era, when other JAN RT- units were receiving numbers in the 500
range (like the similar RT-524/VRC).  Most RT- numbers in the 200 range had
been assigned about ten years earlier.  Also, it was assigned to the system
AN/VRC-12 (among others), even though systems AN/VRC-13 though -22 had been
assigned to completely different (and much earlier) gear by 1949.  Nothing
like making a logical system inconsistent!

> I have a complete installation (that is available should anybody
> interested)

You have a great-sounding installation there.  Too bad you're not stateside!

73,
Mike M. / KK5F

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