[Milsurplus] Info on BC-1206C usage?

[Bruce Gentry]

Marc Ellis wrote:
> To the group:
>
> Needed for a magazine article: information on how the military used the BC-1206 beacon receiver. 
>
> With its light weight, compact design, and ability to run directly off the plane's  28-volt system  without a dynamotor, it's obviously intended for light aircraft. And the manual advises on retrofitting it (mount it in a standard instrument opening using the screws supplied or fabricate a metal strap and attach to the plane at any convenient spot)..
>
> Which planes were these sets typically used on? Were they  ever supplied on certain planes as original equipment? Does someone have a picture of a 1206 as installed in a plane.
>
> Any info or assistance much appreciated!
>
> Marc Ellis, N9EWJ
>
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>   
The BC-1206 was used in the P-51 and some early P-80 fighters, among 
many others. It was used for radio range beacons as well as listening to 
air traffic control and control towers. They had great popularity with 
private pilots after the war because they were plentiful and not 
terribly expensive.  A private plane did not need a transmitter to fly 
from many controlled airports, taxiing to a certain spot or arriving 
over a certain point and rocking your wings would elicit instructions 
from the control tower.  The airplane transmitted to the tower on HF and 
listened on LF . The LF transmitter usually stayed on all the time and 
transmitted an MCW morse ID when there were no air traffic instructions. 
This allowed it to be used as a beacon for direction finding 
non-directional beacon to navigate to the airfield.  All of this was 
quickly supplanted by VHF beacons and communications by the mid 1950s,  
the last radio ranges and HF/LF control tower links were gone by 1962.  
Today, there are still non-directional beacons but they are probably in 
danger of de-commissioning. GPS is great, but it is subject to 
interference and betting everything on one resource is foolish. LORAN 
was eliminated over a year ago as a cost cutting move, and mariners 
think it was the stupidest move the government ever made. 


    Bruce Gentry, KA2IVY