[Milsurplus] WTB ARR-41 / ARC-38

[Mike Morrow]

Ray wrote:

>Have decided that the next area I wanted to expand into is the 
>cold war era aircraft radios.

That's good to hear...so few collectors care much about post-WWII gear.  These cold warriors (including even the AN/GRC-7 type of army gear) deserve our respect too.

I've assembled all of a AN/ARC-38A and most of an AN/ARC-38, including the AN/ARR-41 and the CU-351/AR.  The R-648/ARR-41 was intended as an auxilary receiver to match the RT-311/ARC-38 in frequency (plus LF/MF beacon band) and modes of operation, and should be considered as a de facto part of the AN/ARC-38.  Also, the CU-351/AR auto antenna coupler is an integral part of the AN/ARC-38 set.

>Items I am looking for are the ARR-41 aircraft receiver...

The R-648/ARR-41 is seen fairly frequently on ebay and larger hamfest flea markets.  Only the mount and power plug are needed to complete the set.

>ARC-38 or 38A

The USB/AMe/CW RT-594/ARC-38A can be obtained anytime from Fair Radio for a nominal sum, and when it show up on ebay it usually goes for next to nothing.  The earlier AM RT-311/ARC-38 is a little harder to find.  Many/most were converted by RCA in the early 1960s to the RT-594/ARC-38A.  Currently the control boxes are hard to find, with the C-1398/ARC-38 for the RT-311 being the hardest to get.  The control box for the USB RT-594/ARC-38A is not too hard to find.  The frequency can not be directly dialed in...so a code book is intended to be stored in these control boxes.  It is usually missing.   Dynamotor/power supply DY-118 and the mounting racks are few and far between.  You'll need some 400 Hz AC power for the DY-118 to change to receiver high voltage (the dyno only runs for transmit).

>or maybe a RT-618, 

The RT-618/URC is a navy shipboard radio the size of an R-1051 that is part of the AN/URC-35.  As far as the Collins commercial model 618T goes, the military name for the mainly 400 Hz powered version (618T-2) is the AN/ARC-94.  The mainly 28 vdc powered version (618T-3) is the AN/ARC-102.  I've seen several RT-698/ARC-102 units on ebay in the past few years for anywhere from $50 to $250.  In my opinion, it would be far easier to assemble and put on the air than the AN/ARC-38 or 38A.  The 618T is a beautiful set...but beware...it has a lot of transistors in its design.

>The ARR-41 is the key to the whole project ...

Not all AN/ARC-38s had the AN/ARR-41 alongside...so you'd be correct even minus the AN/ARR-41.  It's a heck of a lot easier to find all the parts for an AN/ARR-41 than it is for an AN/ARC-38 or 38A.

What about all those neat USAF SAC aircraft cold war sets of the same vintage, the gear found on B-52s and KC-135s?  The most important in my mind is the Collins AN/ARC-58, with the odd barrel-shaped 140 pound RCA RT-400/ARC-65 (USB) and its AM predecessor RT-128A/ARC-21 following next.  They are much harder to find.

Good luck.  In time all this stuff shows up.

73,
Mike / KK5F