[Milsurplus] My new RU-16/GF-11 set

[Mike Morrow]

Clare wrote:

>I won what I think must be a very unusual GF-11/RU-16
>setup...Only the receiver coil has a different S/N but the contract date is
>the same as everything else and the receiver coil set covers the same
>range as the transmitter coil set.

Sounds like a real nice find.  

There would originally been several coil sets for the RU-16, and likewise several for the GF-11, normally all bearing the same serial number.  But it seems often in the sets that I've seen that a component bearing an odd SN somehow gets in.

>I remember someone posting that the junction boxes
>were supplied by the aircraft manufacturers... or was that for the
>SCR-183/283 sets?

That would have applied to the later SCR-*-183/283 sets, but for the 12 vdc -183 sets a TM-*-172 junction box was available where needed.  The USN sets seem to have always come with a junction box.

One common misconception is that the USN RU/GF series are similar to the SCR-*-183/283. That's only true visually.  The sets are very different electrically, especially the transmitters.  The Army receiver never had a BFO, while the USN version at least as early as the RU-3 did (and maybe earlier, but my earliest manual is for a RU-3).  I've always liked the GF-11, and I consider the USN sets to be superior to their USAAF counterparts.  However, a Army transmitter with tubes is usually more valuable, since it contains a couple of rare VT-25 tubes in it.

>Now I just have to clear a space for it in my radio room.

What ranges do your coil sets cover?

Mike / KK5F