[Milsurplus] The AN/ARC-65

[D C *Mac* Macdonald]

As the B-52 crewmember (EW) who had to
change the frequency settings of that radio
in the air, I only remember that it was a ROYAL
PIA!!

Mac - K2GKK/5
Oklahoma City
Crew E-55, Carswell AFB



----Original Message Follows----
From: BSugarberg <bsugarberg at core.com>
To: Mike Morrow <kk5f at arrl.net>, Milsurplus at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [Milsurplus] The AN/ARC-65
Date: Sat, 13 May 2006 20:21:26 -0400

Hello,

The ARC-65 is an interesting radio that you never
seem to hear about.  Does any one operate one?
I owned an ARC-65 briefly about 20 years ago.
I'll tell you what I remember about it:

The ARC-65 was intended to mount inside the bomb
bay of a B-52 bomber.  Accordingly, the ARC-65 was
enclosed in a large sealed drum.  The drum was
pressurized with 5 pounds of "dry air" (nitrogen),
and fitted with special heaters, so that the inside
of the drum was at a constant temperature and
pressure.

The (remote) control box was mechanical digital.
Frequencies could be set down to .1 kc.  The control
box was 1/2 of a wheatstone bridge.  The other 1/2
of the bridge was inside the drum, connected to a set
of motors.  Entering a frequency on the control box
unbalanced the bridge.  That turned on the motors in
the drum, and they then proceeded to rebalance the
bridge, thus auto-tuning the ARC-65 to the desired
frequency.

73, Bruce Sugarberg WA8TNC
==================
Mike Morrow wrote:

>I wonder how RCA won the contract to convert the Collins RT-311/ARC-38
 > to the Collins/RCA RT-594/ARC-38A.
 >
 > RCA must have gained the necessary expertise when it came up with the
 > design converting the 145-pound barrel-shaped AM RT-128A/ARC-21 to the
 > USB RT-400/ARC-65.
>
>Mike / KK5F