[Milsurplus] RAX

[Kludge]

-----Original Message-----
From: milsurplus-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:milsurplus-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Hue Miller
> German comms in the 25-44 MHz range were tactical and not large power, so
I 
> doubt the U.K. would find it worthwhile to spend a lot of time listening
for skip propagation 
> signals there. For example, the strongest tank radios were 20 watts, and
pack radios 
> commonly a couple watts.

On the ground, 'tis likely true.  But the advantage of altitude changes the
rules somewhat.  We had receivers (The AN/ARR-5 and AN/ARR-7 come to mind at
the moment.) that could manage that trick rather nicely and were part of
on-board surveillance/countermeasures suites.  Again, though, this falls
pretty much in the range of the Admiralty converted BC-455s.

> I think the HF RAXs and GOs were kind of an alternating mistake. Using a
GO for position 
> reports on the squirrely 20-26 MHz freqs strikes me as ludicrous. Not to
mention, I 
> wonder how stable the PA stage in the GO would be at such frequencies.
When the RAX 
> appeared, it seems the mistake had already been rectified by limiting the
high freq end on 
> the new GO-9. It does seem there are quite a few RAXs around tho, which I
cannot explain; 
> tho not nearly as many as BC-348s, which the Navy to some extent used to
replace the 
> RAX, and which wrote off any freqs above 18 MHz.

Taking things out of order, the Navy didn't replace the RAX with the BC-348
but rather got them as part of AN/ARC-8 installations aboard aircraft
acquired from the AAF.  At the same time, the GO-7, -8 and -9 also stopped
at 18 MC which indicates to me that the Navy found the higher frequencies
inadequate to their needs or stopping at 18 MC adequate to their needs, one
way or the other.  On the other claw, they must have had some reason to at
least attempt using the 18-26.5 MC range or they likely wouldn't have tried.


I can't speak to the stability of the transmitters.  Someone else will have
to take care of that detail.  However, I would suspect they were as stable
as the rest of the GO line since they would have to meet the same specs
aside from frequency range.

> One thing that amazes me, is how thoroughly and quickly technologies and 
> specialized knowledge could disappear from the face of the earth, in
pre-internet times.

While as an historian it is utterly frustrating to say the least, if I drop
back and look at things from a more practical viewpoint, it's perfectly
reasonable.  Documentation and equipment have shelf lives that expire the
moment they're not needed anymore.  Thankfully bureaucracy moves slowly or
we wouldn't have some of what we do today.  Also, the supplying of surplus
to the various surplus postwar shops (that were, as I recall, opened by
returning vets as part of a rehabilitation program) played a large part in
preserving at least some of the equipment.  

Best regards,
 
Michael, WH7HG ex-K3MXO, ex-KN3MXO, WPE3ARS, BL01xh ex-Mensa A&P PP BGI 
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