[Milsurplus] Re: [ARC5] Re: History of ham mods; opinions?

[Michael Tauson]

It's no secret I'm working on a book about Aircraft Radio Corporation
and the company's equipment.  The company's history is a no-brainer
since no one seems to actually care about that according to the
discussions so far.  I think it has an important albeit small place in
the Known History of the Western World and in this case only one
opinion counts.  Mine.

On the other appendage to be determined at a later date, the equipment
is subject to intense debate.  Yes, the original use is important.
That's why it was designed and built in the first place.  Not the
military use or the civilian use but the original use in general.  But
it's about the EQUIPMENT and that includes what happened after the
original users didn't need them anymore.  That part includes
conversions, modifications and repurposing in a variety of forms.

Discussion of the post-original service fate is NOT promotion of that
activity.  It isn't promotion of landfill or smelting or being thrown
en masse into the ocean ... or being converted to satisfy some other
need.  It IS discussion of what was and is the current state of
A.R.C.'s equipment, both civilian and military, and possibly an answer
to why it's not so common anymore.

The tables & lists in my original book (Thanks for the plug, Mike! :-)
) were informational and quite useful for the preservation aspect as
well as for conversion.  They're neutral.  The (vastly expanded)
tables & lists in the new one are there for the same purpose -
information.  They also are neutral.

"Neutral" also describes my stance on the information being included.
If I wanted "pretty" I wouldn't include the post-Cessna parts or the
company's attempts at branching out (APR-9, sonar, coffee makers, etc)
or any of those other non-pretty parts.  As I've said before, not all
of it's pretty but it is part of the equipment's history.  Not its
useful history as originally designed and utilized but the whole
story, end to end.

So, as far as the book is concerned, only one opinion counts as to
what goes in it (which is pretty much everything I can find).  Mine.

Oh, as originally built, the 03A3 barrel had a nasty habit of walking
after a few rounds were fired through it.  Sporterizing included
bedding in the barrel much better which made a significant improvement
in its accuracy.  I got all mine via the NRA and not a one of them
could fire a decent group until they were hacked up ... er,modified.

Bring on the flames!

BEst regards,

Michael, WH7HG