[Milsurplus] Re: gold-plated BC-1206's, and light aircraft se ts.

[Morrow, Michael A.]

N4TGC Eric wrote of the BC-1206:

> it's not a bad little set, just more of a "looky here what
> I got" than practical - pretty much like all the glide-slope, 
> ARN, ARB-type rigs...

The BC-1206-C and -CM are commercial models 524.  There was an
almost identical model 512 that had a 278 kc selector on it.  It
was adopted as the R-76/ARR-13.  I like the BC-1206-A and -B models
the best.  They're more compact than the -C and -CM models.
There's supposed to have been a -D model too, but I've never seen
one.

An unusual set is the Boonton Radio Corporation Type 185 beacon band
receiver, which is normally attached to a Type 186 battery box as a
completely portable unit.  The one I have was made in December 1944
for the USN, and the manual states that it was configured for use in
the N3N-3, a trainer biplane.

I've taken a liking to the post-war light aircraft sets, the ones with
a 200 - 400 and sometimes a 550 - 1500 kc receiver, and a transmitter
for 3105 (later 3023.5) and sometimes 6210 kc.

My favorite all-in-one unit is the GE AS-1B, followed by the Harvey-Wells
ATR-3, then the Hallicrafters CA-2.  There were also the separate light
aircraft HF transmitter and LF/MF receiver sets like the RCA
AVR-100/AVT-111 (great combo), RCA AVR-15/AVT-112, Bendix PAR-70A/PAT-40A,
Lear AMR-1/AMT-1, Airadio SU-52B/TRA-1B, etc.  I wish I'd been able to
listen to 3105/3023.5 and 278 kcs in the early 1950s.  It would be
interesting to know how well these sets work.  Most of the manuals claim
a 20 mile or more range for the radios when airborne, though most had
only a 10 watt 6V6 transmitter.

I have to doubt that the 2.3 to 6.5 mc RCA AVR-20 had much post-war appeal,
since light aircraft didn't need to receive shortwave.  Another RCA HF
transmitter, the AVT-15, had very little positive going for it other than
good quality construction and a built-in vibrator PS that could also power
an AVR-20 receiver.  The AVT-15 has only two tubes, both 6L6s.  One is the
modulator, the other is the transmitter.  You'd have thought they'd have
chosen a pentode that could be configured as an electron-coupled MOPA in one
tube.  Instead, it's simply a modulated oscillator.  That RF 6L6 must have
shown some FMing under modulation, even though it was crystal controlled.

73,
Mike / KK5F