[Milsurplus] SAC SSB

[Scott Johnson]

The 618T first appeared in the 1959 Collins catalog, and I have seen 
mil;itary 618T's with 1961 contract dates.  Amazingly, the 618T was still 
being produced in 1984, and I have no idea, but it may have been even 
longer.  Pretty amazing for a piece of radio gear.   Most HF 's in the Air 
Force have been replaced by the ARC-190, another bulletproof  Collins rig, 
which now has Selcal, Secure speech, and ALE.

Scott
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Morrow" <kk5f at earthlink.net>
To: <mstangelo at comcast.net>; <milsurplus at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2005 1:00 PM
Subject: Re: [Milsurplus] SAC SSB


> Mike wrote:
>
>>Would anyone know the models of the SSB radios deployed by
>>SAC after their initial test in 1956 until the end of the cold war
>>in the 1980's?
>
> Most SAC aircraft from the late 1950s through the 1970s would have used 
> the RCA AN/ARC-65 (RT-400) or the Collins AN/ARC-58 (R-761 and T-605). 
> The AN/ARC-58 was the more modern design.  I know that the B-52s and 
> KC-135s at Blytheville AFB in the late 1960s and early 1970s carried the 
> AN/ARC-58.  The AN/ARC-65 system was good for 400 watts PEP, but weighed 
> considerably more and took up more space than the 1000 watt PEP AN/ARC-58. 
> I don't know if there's ever been, to this day, a commonly-used HF SSB 
> aircraft radio that matched or exceeded the AN/ARC-58's 1000 PEP output. 
> It was amazingly light and compact for its capabilities and its era.
>
> I suspect some SAC support aircraft may have used a military version 
> (AN/ARC-94, -102, -105) of the most popular HF SSB aircraft radio of all 
> time, the Collins 618T, and **perhaps** before that, a stock commercial 
> crystal-controlled Collins 618S.  The 618T first appeared in 1963, I 
> think.  Total system weight was about 70 lbs. not including coupler 
> system, but it was good for 400 watts PEP output.  Contrast that to about 
> 230 lbs. for the AN/ARC-65 system for the same power output.  I have most 
> of a 1971 USAF contract AN/ARC-102 set.  Like all 618Ts, it is a beautiful 
> unit.
>
> Mike / KK5F
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