[Milsurplus] LF in a B-17?

[Hue Miller]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <WA5CAB at cs.com>
Subject: Re: [Milsurplus] LF in a B-17?


> I can add a little more official info to this thread.  Quoting from the 
> Airborne Radio Equipment Handbook, dated April, 1943, 
> 
> "BC-348-H Receivers.  Receivers used in SCR-287, namely BC-348 prior to model 
> BC-348-H, are nor provided with coverage of the 200-to 500-kilocycle band.  
> Models BC-348-H and later have this band....
> 
> It is imperative that planes scheduled for overseas operations have coverage 
> of the 200-to 500-kilocycle band.  A directive was issued by this office on 
> August 7, 1942, regarding this installation of BC-348-H receivers."

Interesting. The Army came kinda late to LF in aircraft, didn't it? That would
seem to shoot down the JAN coordination theory.  Also, if LF was necessary
to coordinate with Mexico, etc., how did the US Army handle this before LF
onboard was mandated? The BC-224-A and BC-307 certainly didn't cover LF,
the HF combined range was something like 3 - 8 MHz, which of course is the
standard, most used aircraft band of the time. Nor did the SCR-183/ 283.

As for  other countries ( banana republic types, apparently ), if they used 
extensively LF for aircraft comms, where did they get their gear? Did they
build their own? The equipment Collins, Telefunken, and others exported
to the smaller less advanced countries wasn't designed to foreign levels
of progress, it was designed according to state of the art in the manufacturer's
country.

Here's something i think is interesting, altho i don't know what it means - if
anything. In the Navy's aircraft transmitter ATD, just about every one you see
has a combination of 550 - 1500, 1500 - 3000, and 3000 - 9000 kcs. tuning units.
You only rarely see the LF band tuning unit. 

> Some earlier sets, as we know, were modified to add the LF band.  And the el 
> cheapo sets (BC-348-J/N/Q) all had it.
> Robert Downs - Houston

"Cheapo sets" ?? Don't think i've ever heard 'em called that. Ha ha ha!!!
-Hue Miller