[Milsurplus] R-388/51J use

[Nick England]

Well, the Signal Corps evidently acquired over 12,000 R-388's in a
dozen contracts (most in 1950-54 contracts with some as late as 1962).
It is common to see them with field changes and MWO markings. So it
seems somebody must have been using them somewhere - maybe they gave
them all to the Air Force?
http://forum.valka.cz/attachments/3136/Rd_AN_GRC-26A__interi_r_-_2x_p_ij_ma__R-388_.JPG

The GRC-26A, -26B, and -26C models used R-388's (and BC-610) beginning
in 1953. The D model used the R-390 (and T-368) with production
beginning in 1961 according to this interesting page:
http://www.rattrig.com/AN-GRC-26/26.htm

FWIW,
Nick K4NYW
www.navy-radio.com


On Fri, May 25, 2012 at 9:18 AM, Ray Fantini <RAFANTINI at salisbury.edu> wrote:
> The AN/GRC-26 A and B model were supposed to have R-388 receivers installed, don't know about the C but the D version had R-390A receivers installed. I remember seeing this in the manual for the 26 and although I have seen many AN/GRC-26 systems I have never seen one with anything other than the 26D configuration.  Almost wonder if any of the A, B or C variants were ever fielded? Always thought of the R-388 and 51J receivers as the intermediate stage between the WW2 junk and the R-390. With the R-390 being produced in the early fifties and the R-390A coming on line 54/55 cannot imagine any agency purchasing the R-388/51J stuff after that time period except maybe just a cost concern or possibly as a ELINT receiver until the 51S1 came on line in the early sixties but in almost every ELINT operation I know of in the seventies they used R-390A receivers. So I will propose that the R-388/51J stuff was only fielded for a short period of time and was displaced in any mission critica
>  l role with an R-390/A as soon as possible. Cannot account for the large number that have been showing up at Dayton the last couple years unless we are seeing the end results of the receivers that were distributed thru surplus and given out thru MARS and are now surfacing?
> RF
>
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