[Milsurplus] ARC-3

[Mike Morrow]

>In the 1960 time frame the military was prohibited from buying any
>new VHF air-band gear, as part of the move to the military UHF
>(225-400 MHz) band.  Or so I was told.

I'm sure there were a few AN/ARC-3/36/49 sets still in military service into the early 1970s, but there wasn't much improvement in US military VHF-AM gear from WWII AN/ARC-3 technology until the Collins digitally-tuned AN/ARC-73 started appearing around 1960, followed by the all solid-state AN/ARC-134 and AN/ARC-115 VHF-AM sets by the end of the 1960s.  The AN/ARC-73 was one of the most commonly used sets of its day, a standard much like the earlier AN/ARC-27 and -55 UHF-AM sets were, though by the time the AN/ARC-73 was in common use, the Collins AN/ARC-51(*) and similar UHF-AM sets were displacing the AN/ARC-27 stuff.

The AN/ARC-115 (116-150MHz AM) is interesting in that the complete radio was in a panel-mounted unit the size of an older-style control box alone.  It was usually installed along with the similarly sized AN/ARC-114 (30-76MHz FM) and AN/ARC-116 (225-400MHz AM) units to provide coverage of everything except HF that a military aircraft could ever need, no remote units, all three bands in less than 25 pounds total weight.  But many pilots thought these small radios did not work as well as the larger units they replaced.

Anyone interested in trying two-meter VHF-AM operations with an easily obtained military set should consider getting an AN/ARC-73 or -73A.  It's a Collins design that also was sold commercially.  It is yet almost all vacuum tube technology, it uses separate transmitter and receiver units in one rack, operates on 28 vdc using integral solid-state power supplies for the HV, and is controlled with a small remote panel.  The receiver will tune 108 to 152 MHz, and the transmitter (20 watts) will function from 116 to 150 MHz, in 50 kHz increments (all of the 2 meter band!).  Components of these sets are frequently found on ebay and other places for very little.  It's fun to watch the gears and motors work as a new frequency is selected.  IMO, it's almost modern, but not too modern.  It's a lot easier to put in service than an AN/ARC-3, and there are plenty of surplus units out there for parts.

We old radio collectors tend not to pay much attention to post-WWII gear, but anyone taking an interest in post WWII aircraft command sets should look at the AN/ARC-73 (Vietnam era) for VHF-AM, and more importantly the AN/ARC-27 (Korean era and later) and the AN/ARC-51BX (Vietnam era) for UHF-AM.  These are historic and classic US aircraft commands sets in every sense of the definition!

Mike / KK5F