[Milsurplus] "Rare" Gear

[Mike Morrow]

Hue wrote:

> The AN/TRC-2, i think i saw the production numbers at 124. Who would have
> thought it would be so low?

The RT-12/TRC-2 that I have is serial 91.  It's the only RT-12 that I've ever come across.  I too would not have considered the AN/TRC-2 to be "rare".  But if, in fact, only 124 units were made, it would definitely deserve that description...maybe even "very rare".  I suspect some of the the legendary "spy" sets like the AN/PRC-1, AN/PRC-5, and AN/TRC-10 would likely have been made in numbers similar, or even greater.

The greatest of rarities, IMHO, are things for which not even manuals or instruction books seem to have survived...like the GE-made GO-4, -5, and -6 (1937 to 1938) transmitters.

Not only the component designation, but in particular the system assignments make a huge difference.

The 1938 RAT-1 (50 production units made) used receivers:
CBY-46108 (13.5 to 20.0 MHz)
CBY-46109 (20.0 to 27.0 MHz)

The 1940 RAV (46 production units made) also used those two and other receivers:
CBY-46108 (13.5 to 20.0 MHz)
CBY-46109 (20.0 to 27.0 MHz)

I believe that either of the two receivers above with RAV on the nomenclature plate would be considered far far far rarer than one with RAT-1 marking, itself a very rare unit.

In fact, everything RAV-marked is very rare to non-existent:
CBY-46102 (.19 to .55 MHz)
CBY-46103 (.52 to 1.5 MHz)
CBY-46104 (1.5 to 3.0 MHz)
CBY-46105 (3.0 to 6.0 MHz)
CBY-46106 (6.0 to 9.1 MHz)
CBY-46107 (9.0 to 13.5 MHz)
CBY-46108 (13.5 to 20.0 MHz)
CBY-46109 (20.0 to 27.0 MHz)

The CBY-46107 (9.0 to 13.5 MHz) is the greatest rarity in all "command set" history of production equipment.  There is no other similar receiver covering that range, and none are known to exist intact, post-WWII.

OTOH, three of the above super-rare RAV receivers were also used as 1940 ARA-marked command set receivers:
CBY-46104 (1.5 to 3.0 MHz)
CBY-46105 (3.0 to 6.0 MHz)
CBY-46106 (6.0 to 9.1 MHz)

As such, these receivers, otherwise identical to the RAV-marked units, are extremely common.

At least the RAT/RAT-1 and RAV manuals have survived.  Robert/WA5CAB has provided a great service to those interested in the technical details of these systems by publishing excellent reproductions of the full instruction manuals for these systems.

Personally, I'd love to obtain even a modern copy of the instruction manual for the GO-6 or AN/ARN-9.

For a more modern set of some rarity, look at the 1970-era solid-state U.S. TAR-224A portable HF set:
  http://www.cryptomuseum.com/spy/tar224
For some reason, it appears that the only ones that have made it to the collectors' market were released by governments in Europe.  I bought one off ebay a few years ago from the Netherlands for more money than I have ever spent for radio gear, new or old.  Three more were put on ebay in the following couple of months, all going for up to twice what I paid.

Mike / KK5F