[Milsurplus] BC-348Q, R

[Mike Morrow]

Mike Hanz wrote of the use of the ARR-15 with the ART-13:

>No question about the outstanding military utility either, but it was a
>receiver at the right place at the wrong time.  The tidal shift to
>transceivers already had a head of steam and the future was bleak for
>separate combinations like the ART-13 and ARR-15 that made up the
>AN/ARC-25.

That's interesting Mike.  I never knew until now that the combo was assigned
the AN/ARC-25 nomenclature, similar to the USAAF AN/ARC-8 (T-47A/ART-13 and
BC-348 -*) combo.  Thanks!  The future was bright for one more generation of
HF transceivers to have an auxiliary receiver as part of the installation,
such as the USAF AN/ARR-36 and USN AN/ARR-41.

The receivers that some of the WWII USAAF vets make be confusing with the
AN/ARR-15 for use in WWII ELINT B-29s are with little uncertainty the
similarly sized AN/ARR-5 and AN/ARR-7 VHF and HF receivers that were
definitely part of WWII USAF B-29 gear.

I don't believe that the USAAF ever used an AN/ARR-15 anywhere in regular
service.  Also, I have owned four AN/ARR-15s over the years and I have never
seen any contract numbers on the name plates indicating WWII-era contracts,
so  I seriously doubt that any were even around to be deployed for any
regular service during WWII.  I think the AN/ARR-15 is somewhat akin to the
AN/ARC-2 as a late WWII USN design that just didn't make it in any numbers
to have actually been used in WWII.

The AN/ARC-8 was in use as a primary HF link in large USAF aircraft well
into the 1950s.  I think early B-36s even had two complete AN/ARC-8s.
Though the AN/ARC-8 was often replaced by the drum-shaped AN/ARC-21 in the
early 1950s and that unit's USB modification (AN/ARC-65) or the AN/ARC-58 in
the late 1950s, I flew in a USAF C-131 in 1970 that still had the AN/ARC-8
installed.  Talk about long service use!  That rivals the AN/VRC-12 series.

I used the AN/ARR-15 as a ham, MARS, and shortwave receiver for several
years in the late 1960s.  It was very easy to set precisely to some
frequency, yet as Mike says, its selectivity left much to be desired.
Remote channel selection is its one big improvement over the BC-348, yet one
can not remotely change the mode of reception (CW or MCW) from whatever the
local mode selection switch has been left in.  Its biggest failing in its
naval service role, IMO, is that it does not cover any part of the 200 to
1500 kc range of the O-16/ART-13 in the T-47 with which it was paired.

Were I an interested aircraft radio operator of any era, I still can't
imagine a better combo for the era than the AN/ARC-8.  The AN/ARC-21
replacement, and that unit's auxiliary receiver, the AN/ARR-36, and the USB
upgrade AN/ARC-65, were essentially *not* usable in any sort of
"scan-the-band"  mode since one has to encode the desired frequency by
setting pins on an encoder drum, then select that channel, just to make any
change in frequency.  There are no manual frequency selection dials.  Thus,
nothing after the AN/ARC-8 in the USAF was designed for any sort of local
radio operator control.  That era was gone!

The USN's AN/ART-13 and AN/ARR-15 were replaced by the AN/ARC-38.  That unit
was also aggravating to use in any sort of "tune-around" mode, since the
desired frequency had to be looked up in a code book, then the code entered
on thumb wheels on the main control box.  The AN/ARR-41 (sometimes
inaccurately called the airborne R-390) was the auxiliary receiver to the
AN/ARC-38, and covered the exact same modes and frequency of the AN/ARC-38,
plus the LF/MF beacon band.  At least it could be continuously tuned with
direct frequency readout.  The radio operator still could have some fun!
BTW, another misconception heard often from hams is that the AN/ARR-41 was a
replacement for the BC-348.  The USAF didn't use the AN/ARR-41.  It's a USN
set.  The only place the AN/ARR-41 ever replaced a BC-348 was in a ham
shack.

Now, I have an oddball question for which someone may information.  An
authentic re-creation of a late WWII-era USN liason set using the AN/ART-13
should not use the USAAF T-47A/ART-13, but rather USN T-47/ART-13 or ATC
marked units.  Originally, these mounted using MT-161/ART-13 mounting rails
similar to those used on the old GP-7 and ATD sets, but by the late 1940s it
appears that this mounting system was replaced by the MT-263/ART-13
permanently mounted on the transmitter and the MT-264/ART-13 permanently
attached to the aircraft.  Has anyone run across surviving examples of the
earlier MT-161 system?  Would the USAAF's WWII-era T-47A set have used the
MT-161, or had the USAAF in late WWII gone to the MT-263/264 system as part
of its "A" version modifications?

Thanks,
Mike / KK5F