[Milsurplus] Older USAF airborne receivers?

[Mike Morrow]

Mac wrote:

>I don't recall that our B-52Fs had any LORAN, and
>I am sure we didn't have the ARR-36.

That doesn't surprise me.   The R-224/ARR-36 is an odd duck, tuned with the same control box as the AN/ARC-21 or -65 uses, so you know that it is impossible to do any kind of tuning around with it.  You can only set the appropriate pins on the control box memory drum and then select that channel.  The USN, in their equivalent system (AN/ARC-38), selected an auxilliary receiver (AN/ARR-41) that is easy to tune around.

I'd be interested in knowing how many of the AM AN/ARC-21 installations that were converted to USB AN/ARC-65 installations even kept the R-224/ARR-36 auxillary receiver after conversion.  The AN/ARR-36 was never issued in a USB-capable version.  It would be a white elephant, and it weighs about 50 lbs.  Even though the USN had RCA to upgrade most of the Collins AM AN/ARC-38 sets to USB AN/ARC-38A sets, the AN/ARR-41 was retained.  In fact, even after the AN/ARC-38A sets were replaced by that most excellent AN/ARC-94 (Collins 618T-2), often the AN/ARR-41 remained along side.

The only R-224/ARR-36 that I've ever seen is the one I have.  I'd bet that most of them vanished when their AM RT-128A/ARC-21 companion was replaced with the USB RT-400/ARC-65.

Mike / KK5F