[Milsurplus] R-388/51J use

[Ray Fantini]

The question would be why after 55 would any purchasing agent spec a R-388 when the R-390 was available? Other then purchasing request that were in the pipeline and delayed or specification for a project that was written before the introduction of the R-390?
The other question is what was the intended role of the 51J and later the 51S receivers? Being at the time of their production the R-390 were available, where the J and S receivers intended as lower cost alternatives? Or because of their more friendly operator interface and incorporation of SSB on the 51S1 intended as a intelligence gathering receiver? The 51S1 and later 651S1 were used a lot at NSA
RF



Original Message-----
From: Nick England [mailto:navy.radio at gmail.com] 
Sent: Friday, May 25, 2012 11:35 AM
To: Ray Fantini
Cc: Military Surplus Mail List
Subject: Re: [Milsurplus] R-388/51J use

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