[Milsurplus] Re: TA2J High Power Tx in Catalina

[Mike Hanz]

>From: "Andr� Guibert" <aguibert@sympatico.ca>
>
>A friend of mine asked for any informations and pictures on the TA2J(Bendix) I guess as installed in
>the Catalina.
>I have the manual for the AT12 (RCA, Canada) dated 1943, showing it installed in the Canadian built
>amphibious version called "Canso".
>Any help would be appreciated.
>
>Hue Miller wrote:
>I have the AT-12 and the AR-2 and the manual, so i agree that this pair does not seem to be
>used at all in the Catalina. Consider also that the TA2J was crystal controlled only.  Somewhere
>i have documentation about where ( in the USNAF) the TA2J was used, with the RA-10
>receiver. It was used, if i recall, in the military equivalent of the Beech-18 type aircraft ( for
>one, anyway. )   I have somewhere a nice photo of a TA2J installed in a post war civilian
>aircraft, with RA-10 i think.
>
I have no clue as to what Commonwealth aircraft used them, but they were 
listed as standard equipment is several US Navy transport aircraft as of 
about 1940: PBO-1 Hudson, R3D Skytrain, R4D Skytrooper, and R50 
Lodestar.  I think the commercial lineage of the aircraft carried 
through to the Navy usage in those airframes.  The Navy didn't bother to 
give the transmitter a military designation, but that was common back 
then.  The receiver shown as the mate for all these is the RA-1B, not 
the RA-10, though.  The TA-2J had an interesting design, which depended 
on the capacitance of the antenna for the bulk of the tank capacitance.  
All aircraft transmitter designs do this to some degree, but the TA-2 
took the approach to an extreme - the only capacitive element in it was 
a strappable mica cap for low frequencies.  About 150w input power all 
tuned up.

>I had a TA2J some years back and scrapped it out, a crime that yielded practically no
>parts and i mightily regret today. At the time i didn't like the crystal control-only and was
>very unhappy with the extremely thin metal cover - the thinnest sheet metal on any comm
>radio i have ever seen.
>
Well, the 801A was worth something...heh, heh...  The cover *was* a bit 
thin....032" aluminum.  Made it easier to straighten out when dented.  
:-)  I put several photos of mine and a schematic on the web page - 
http://members.cox.net/aaf-radio-3/TA-2J.htm.

Best 73,
Mike