[Milsurplus] ZB-2 connection to the ARB

[jcoward5452 at aol.com]

This may be why NOS ZB's and ARR-1's have closed connector shells in 
the relay and control box sockets.
 Jay

-----Original Message-----
From: kk5f at earthlink.net
To: milsurplus at mailman.qth.net
Sent: Sun, 25 Mar 2007 8:58 AM
Subject: [Milsurplus] ZB-2 connection to the ARB

The ZB homing system, when used with the RU or ARA series of receivers, 
requires
the ZB homing adapter, the ZB antenna relay switching unit, the small 
ZB control
box, and a mildly cumbersome set of plugs and cables to put it all 
together.

I just read on Mike Hanz's excellent (http://aafradio.org), under the 
DOCS
section, some interesting ARB and ZB info.  The US Navy "Radio & Sound 
Bulletin
No. 8" dated 1 October 1942, describes the ARB/ATB sets.  The article 
says that
when the ARB is used with the ZB homing adapter, no ZB antenna relay or 
control
box is required.  This is because the ARB has a relay to select the 
loop antenna
input automatically when HOMING BAND A or HOMING BAND B is selected on 
the ARB
control box.  Thus, it appears that the only connections between the 
ARB and ZB
would be a three-wire filament/HV power cable, plus a simple RF 
connection from
the ZB PL-259 output to the ARB loop terminals.  I've always considered 
the ARB
loop terminals as intended to support use of a DU LF/MF loop.  But such 
a loop
would never be utilized when a ZB homing system was available.  The ARB 
was
always mechanically adapted to support a ZB with those ZB mounting clip 
posts on
the top of the cabinet, but I never realized that the ARB was also 
designed to
*electrically* accomodate a ZB with minimum additional fuss.

The ARB manual does *not* point out this feature.  Has anyone come 
across a USN
diagram documenting the details of the ZB connection to the ARB?  Is 
such
official documentation unlikely, perhaps because the ZB was replaced by 
the
AN/ARR-2 not too long after the ARB was deployed in quantity?

Mike / KK5F






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