[Milsurplus] Service life (was Collins Book

[C.Whitaker]

de WB2CPN
The BC-639 and BC-640 were great teaching machines.
Simple ham-radio type design, nothing hidden, simple to
tune, a nice set of equipment.  RC-81 was a good dipole.
Me, I first encountered electronics via that set.  USAF, but
never went to radio school.  Say 1946 in Berlin Templehof.
I have in my basement a "Variac" from a BC-640.
No doubt the Brits were way ahead of us at VHF.
On the ARC-27, The method of generating frequencies
was unique, but I don't know about reliability of the gears
and all.  I used the ARC-27 in Control Towers and GCA.
They spent a lot of time in the Base Radio Repair Shop.
Try to avoid anything with an Oldham Coupler.
73  Clete




On 11/27/2011 2:20 AM, Mike Feher wrote:
> While nomenclature has changed, as well as the design, the name has not -
> SINCGARS has been around since the late 60 and still is very much in use.
> Or, are you just asking about Collins equipment?  73 - Mike
>
> Mike B. Feher, N4FS
> 89 Arnold Blvd.
> Howell, NJ, 07731
> 732-886-5960
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: milsurplus-bounces at mailman.qth.net
> [mailto:milsurplus-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of WA5CAB at cs.com
> Sent: Sunday, November 27, 2011 2:08 AM
> To: milsurplus at mailman.qth.net
> Subject: Re: [Milsurplus] Service life (was Collins Book
>
> That brings to mind a worthy thread subject.  What early set (for the sake
> of argument I'll define early as introduced 1970 or earlier) enjoyed the
> longest actually installed and lit off service life in US service (third
> world service not counted)?  Based on TM dates (date of introduction
> probably
> earlier) and personal experience (I actually did performance tests on a pair
> in November, 1968) the TDQ/RCK made at least 25.5 years.  But I have a
> feeling that the winner might be the much maligned BC-640 as two were
> surplussed out of Barksdale AFB between 1969 and 1971 (I bought them but
> can't for sure recall what year).  Note that the TDQ/RCK pair were the Navy
> counterparts to the BC-639/640.  And that the Navy and Blue Suiters had a
> mandate to be able to talk to civilian aircraft.  Which in my experience
> neither were ever very serious about.  Hence the old equipment on old ships
> or bases.
>
> In a message dated 11/27/2011 00:21:52 AM Central Standard Time,
> kk5f at earthlink.net writes:
>> The AN/ARC-27/55 gets my vote for the most significant, most
>> important, and most technologically innovative command set of all
>> time, even in comparison to the A.R.C. MF/HF command sets that we all
>> love.  It's absolutely amazing technology for a design that's more
>> than 60 years old, and that enjoyed a 25-year service life.
> Robert Downs - Houston
> wa5cab dot com (Web Store)
> MVPA 9480
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