[Milsurplus] Fw: MAB

[Ray Fantini]

Would speculate that your MAB may have had issues. I have wasted much time on the DAV and have used them a number of times at Dayton and other events with the DAV using an almost identical R/T unit as the MAB. I know you’re going to say that the DAV has a different set of electronics but its only one additional wire used in the Sens circuit and other then that it’s the same electronics. The outside of the radio is different being the DAV is larger and has the additional direction finder installed along with the switch for that. I have found the DAV set that I have done to have good receivers and often find that when the antenna is set up correctly and everything is working have had issues with using the radio at events like Gilbert where the regular Gas Bag stations that always are on 3885 are noticeable and in the background during a field event. As far as working with or restoring think its way easy to pop the electronics from a DAV/MAB then trying to work in the confined space of a BC-611 and the transmit receive switching is also much easier to deal with then the mess in the 611, and last but not least fitting batteries or an inverter into the MAB/DAV is less demanding then the 611. The only thing the 611 beats the DAV/MAB on is the “coolness” factor.
As far as real military operational use that’s a different thing but it did appear that for a period of decades Fair Radio had them for sale. So there must have been a ton of them built.  I bought my first DAV from them back in the seventies for around $20 with all the accessories.

Ray F

-----Original Message-----
From: Milsurplus [mailto:milsurplus-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Hue Miller
Sent: Sunday, April 19, 2015 2:39 PM
To: armyradios at yahoogroups.com; milsurplus at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [Milsurplus] Fw: MAB

A friend sent this, which pretty well sums it up, I think, and may suggest why the MAB was shelved, and the SCR-536 used in that role:

“I did restore one to working condition many moons ago, using nothing but the included manual and put new crystals in for 3885.  It worked, except the toggle switches were intermittent - a real problem.  Also the rubber cords begin to crack upon use.

Here's my take after using the MAB and a 611.  The 611 is superior in performance and sensitive on RX.  The MAB lacks in that area, but would have been fine for close in coms, maybe better because the
611 overloads easy with nearby sigs. "