[Milsurplus] Service life (was Collins Book)

[WA5CAB at cs.com]

Mike,

For quantities greater than a handful where original quantities ran into 
the hundreds or thousands you could be right.  However, I think the first 
batch of RT-524's to reach Vietnam may have been around Febrouary 1967.  Could 
have been a year earlier but the batch I know of were still in what was known 
as Fleet Rotating status in November 1967.  Meaning that the ship they were 
installed on handed them off to their relief and didn't haul them back to 
the States.  That situation changed shortly afterwards as Valley Forge hauled 
them back to the States in July/August 1968.  Valley Forge's 1966 WestPac 
cruise was made with RT-68's which were still aboard when we installed the 
AN/VRC-46's.

For one-off's, Nick mentioned seeing an R-390A aboard a new DD in 1988.  
Which would be 36 or 37 years.  But probably a paperwork mixup.  But some of 
the shore station /FRT's probably got past 35 honest years.

In a message dated 11/27/2011 13:49:22 PM Central Standard Time, 
kk5f at earthlink.net writes: 
> Robert wrote:
> 
> >What early set (...1970 or earlier) enjoyed the longest actually 
> installed
> >and lit off service life in US service...?
> 
> I think there's very good argument for *only one* serious candidate...the
> AN/VRC-12 series (including AN/VRC-43 through -49) consisting of various
> configurations of the RT-246*/VRC, RT-524*/VRC, and R-442*/VRC.  These
> first appeared in the early 1960s, and were still in US service in the
> early 1990s (the early years of the SINCGARS radios did not see popular
> success).  That's around thirty years!  No doubt many still serve in
> those third-world countries.  The only reason the 1968 AN/PRC-77 doesn't
> similarly qualify is that the first few years were lost to the AN/PRC-25
> (similar but different radios).
> 
> The R-23*/ARC-5 from 1943 was still flying in older USN aircraft in 1973.
> That's thirty years too.
> 
> A runner-up candidate is the AN/ARC-94 HF SSB aircraft radio (Collins 
> 618T-2)
> from the early 1960s.  I suspect some were still flying in the late 1980s.
> The AN/ARC-102 (Collins 618T-3) would likewise qualify.
> 
> So...a set with a mere 25-year service life doesn't seem close to making
> the final pick.
> 
> Mike / KK5F

Robert & Susan Downs - Houston
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