[Milsurplus] Navy Badged Collins Receivers

[Glen Zook]

There are several variants of the 75A-4 that definitely do not have amateur bands for at least part of the frequency ranges.  These were manufactured for SAC (Strategic Air Command) use as well as other United States military including the Army and Navy.

Remember that Curtis LeMay, the "father" of SAC, was a friend of Art Collins and LeMay was instrumental in the purchase by the Air Force of a lot of Collins manufactured SSB equipment including the 75A-4 and KWS-1, both of which were supplied in frequency ranges outside of the "normal" amateur radio bands.

The 75A-4 / KWS-1 were the backbone of United States Air Force HF communications systems during the latter half of the 1950s well into the 1960s.  These were eventually replaced by Collins KWM-2A and, in some cases, Collins S-Line equipment.

Also, the United States Army purchased thousands of Collins KWM-2A transceivers for field operations starting in the late 1950s.  These units were used in all theaters of operation including Viet Nam.  In fact, due to problems with the Harris SSB units failing due to Van der Graff voltage generation "frying" their "front end" from sand blowing across the antenna, many of the SSB radios used during the 1991 "Gulf War" ended up being Collins KWM-2A units.  The Harris units had to be modified to protect the "front end" from the voltage generated by the sand blowing across the antenna whereas the tube type "front end" of the KWM-2A was not affected.

Glen, K9STH
Technical Adviser CCA

Website:  http://k9sth.com


--- On Fri, 2/13/09, Mike Morrow <kk5f at earthlink.net> wrote:

Navy use of 75A-4 receivers???  I'd like to see official documentation.  It is a 100-percent ham-band only rig.
 
Miltary purchase of ham rigs would likely have been only for use in military ham and/or MARS stations.