[Milsurplus] Re:surplus gear in airline service

[Mike Morrow]

Mark wrote:

>Boeing 377 manual shows ART 13 and BC 348 installed, but with different
>nomenclature. The ART 13 is channelized with xtals. Surprising that the
>ARR 15 didnt make it into airliners. More suited than the BC 348.
>Was it available in surplus back then, 50s and early 60s?


My PanAm radio manuals show that at some point, their AN/ART-13 transmitters
were paired up with commercial crystal-controlled ACR-24 (72 channels) or
AR-144 (144 channels) HF (2.1 to 18.5 mc) receivers.  I don't know who made
these receivers, but they were actually designed to be paired up with a
commercial AT-144 transmitter and AAT-144 antenna tuner.

I think the first R-105/ARR-15 I ever saw in a surplus ad was probably in
the mid-1960s.  The AN/ARC-25, which consisted of the T-47/ART-13 and the
R-105/ARR-15, was being replaced in naval service by the AN/ARC-38 beginning
in the mid-1950s, so it's surprising that ARR-15s weren't showing up in
surplus before then.  I'll bet some were flying with the USN for much
longer, just like the similar AN/ARC-2 that I saw still in service in 1972.
The ARR-15 had a Collins commercial designation of 51H-3.  I wonder if many
of these commercial models were ever placed in commercial service.  I got my
first ARR-15 as Navy MARS issue in 1968.  It was a pretty good radio for the
era.  The racks and control boxes are pretty rare, and the mode of reception
(MCW vs. CW) can not be changed from the control box.

Mike / KK5F