[Milsurplus] SCR-522 ? Addendum

[Mike Hanz]

Bob Wilder wrote:

>Meir:  I know that the BC639/BC640 were designed by an American who tried to sell the idea of
>VHF to the US Army but was refused so he went to the UK where the idea sold.  Is the SCR-522
>also an American design which we did not want and thus sold to the Brits?
>

Not according to the official history of the Signal Corps.  In "The 
Test", the AAC was pushing the Signal Corps hard for the British VHF set 
because of quality control problems with the Western Electric VHF ARC-5, 
which was the Signal Corps' first choice because of parts 
interchangeability with the SCR-274N set.  The Brits wanted a second 
stable source if and when their factories got bombed out.  The Signal 
Corps finally produced a version of the British set (which came in two 
boxes) to use in American planes in the European theater for flexibility 
and interoperability.  (The Brits bought a bunch for their own use as 
well.)  The Signal Corps repackaged the two British sets into a single 
package the same size as the TR 1143, but General Olmstead, the Chief 
Signal Officer , went on record to the Under Secretary of War to say it 
was "of strictly British origin..."   There is a lot more sprinkled 
through the three volumes of the history...

73,
Mike