[Milsurplus] [ARC5] RAL, RBA, RBC Manuals and info needed

Wed May 25 20:05:13 EDT 2016

Excellent info, Robert, many thanks.

Just to add to RBB/RBC lore -

NAVSHIPS 900,109 says:
----------------------------------------
RBB-1a with 46147-A adds tube/filter/connector for the RBU panadapter.
RBC-1a with 46148-A adds tube/filter/connector for the RBV panadapter

RBB-1 with 46147-B includes NT-35047 crystal controlled oscillator
RBC-1 with 46148-B includes NT-35048 crystal controlled oscillator
[choice of 2 crystals or variable tuning]

NAVSHIPS 94200.1 says:
--------------------------------------
RBA-5a, RBB-2a and RBB-3a are modified for 400cps power.
[Robert says 25 Hz but I don't have a copy of 91319 to check]

NAVSHIPS 900,473 covers RBA, RBA-1, RBA-2, and RBA-3
No manual number listed for RBA-4

RBA Contracts
Federal Telephone and Radio Corp., Newark, N. J.
Contract NOs-73055, dated 13 April 1940 (RBA)
Contract NOs-91165, dated 2 September 1941 (RBA-1)
Contract NXss-11780, dated 5 October 1942 (RBA-2)
Contract NXss-16498, dated 3 October 1942 (RBA-3)
Contract number not given for the RBA-4
Contract N5sr-17829, dated 22 February 1946 (RBA-5)
Contract NObsr-39341, dated 30 June 1947 (RBA-6).
Contract NObsr 52110, dated 26 May 1952 (RBA-7)
Radio Corporation of America, Camden, N.J.
Contract NObsr-43335, dated 15 June 1949 (RBA-5a).
Approximate Cost: $3000.00 with equipment spares.

RBB/RBC Contracts
RCA Victor Div, Radio Corp of America, Camden, N.J.
Contract NOs-73056, dated 12 April 1940 (RBB, RBC).
Contract NOs-91265, dated 2 September 1941 (RBB-1, RBC-1).
Contract NXss-17001, dated 17 June 1943 (RBB-2, RBC-2).
Contract NXsr-39262, dated 3 November 1943 (RBB-2, RBC-2).
Contract NObsr-39151, dated 28 April 1947 (RBC-3) - [what about RBB-3?]
Contract NObsr-43335, dated 15 June 1949 (RBB-2a, RBC-3a).
Contract NObsr-39340, dated 30 June 1947 (RBB-4, RBC-4).
Contract NObsr-52028, dated 25 September 1950 (RBB-5, RBB-6, RBC-5 , RBC-6).
RBB Approximate Cost $2700 including equipment spares
RBC Approximate Cost $2400 including equipment spares

Nick England K4NYW
www.navy-radio.com

On Wed, May 25, 2016 at 5:36 PM, WA5CAB--- via ARC5 <arc5 at mailman.qth.net>
wrote:

>
>
> You are correct about mention of rack mounting for RBB/RBC, RBB-1/RBC-1
> and RBB-2/RBC-2.  All three were originally supplied in a cabinet for bench
> or shelf mounting.  RBB-3/RBC-3  and RBB-5/RBC-5 are supplied in the same
> type cabinet.  RBB-4/RBC-4 and RBB-6/RBC-6 receivers are supplied in a rack
> mount cabinet NT-10350-A.  The two associated power supplies are provided
> with a rack mount panel and shelf NT-10348-A.  The presence of the "-A"
> suffix implies that the cabinets and shelves were built earlier in a
> slightly different version.  As they are not mentioned in NAVSHIPS 900,477,
> they must have been procured on a separate contract, probably later than
> the equipment was.  Which would explain the rack mount RBC-2 receiver that
> I once had through here.
>
> The two receiver versions (NT-46147 and 46148) were made from the base
> model up through NT-46147-D and 46148-D.  The power supply (NT-20130) was
> made up through 20130-B.  Unlike the practice in most NAVSHIPS (and
> virtually all Signal Corps) manuals, the various RCA manuals on the RBB/RBC
> in both text and captions refer to the receivers as "Model RBB/RBC
> Receivers", "Power Unit", etc. instead of as 46147-D receiver, 20130-B
> power unit, etc.  They don't even use the set model number (i.e., RBB-4).
> None of the manuals include a section called something like "Differences
> Between Models".  Aside from the change at RBB-1/RBC-1 S/N 1001 to the
> location of the BFO trimmer, I haven't found any explanation of what else
> changed between CRV-46147 and CRV-46147-D other than the paint color.
> Change 1 to NAVSHIPS 91469 runs to 88 pages plus two of the four foldouts.
> The only obvious change is that as some of you know, the original
> RBB/RBC-5/6 manual was missing the majority of the photographs, which are
> all included in Change 1.  But about 46 of the 88 pages don't have a photo
> on either side.
>
> Anyway, the final NAVSHIPS manuals on each of the RBB/RBC models are as
> follows:
>
> NAVSHIPS 900,477 dated 7 May 1945                 RBB/RBC, RBB-1/RBC-1,
> RBB-2/RBC-2
> NAVSHIPS 91101  dated 1 June 1948                  RBB-3/RBC-3, RBB-4/RBC-4
> NAVSHIPS 91469  dated 2 July 1951                   RBB-5/RBC-5,
> RBB-6/RBC-6
> *** and Change 1    dated 16 July 1952                 ***missing photos +
> parts list (available as a reprint)
> NAVSHIPS 900,747 dated 18 August 1945           CN-10563 Coupling Adapter
> (IF Output Unit)
> NAVSHIPS 91449   dated 28 April 1951                CQS-10563 Coupling
> Adapter (IF Output Unit)
>
> Some of the above comments also apply to the RBA, particularly RCA's lack
> of identification of changes.  I don't have many of the RBA manuals but
> here is a list of what I have:  If anyone has any other NAVSHIPS, please
> send me the numbers and dates.
>
> NAVSHIPS 900,708 dated 10 July 1946               RBA-5, RBA-6
> *** and Change 1 dated 22 December 1947           ***added RBA-6
> *** and Temp Change 1 dated 10 May 1952          ***F.C. 3 extended
> frequency coverage down to 14.5 KC
> NAVSHIPS 91319 dated 15 May 1950                  RBA-5a, RBB-2a, RBC-3a
> (25 cps power conversion)
> NAVSHIPS 91559 dated 21 November 1951          RBA-7
>
> Robert Downs - Houston
> wa5cab dot com (Web Store)
> MVPA 9480
>
> In a message dated 05/24/2016 19:44:55 PM Central Daylight Time,
> kd5byb at gmail.com writes:
>
> So...I'm a bit of an RBA, RBB, and RBC nut.  I've got a bunch of manuals
> in my collection past the ones I've scanned and posted.  I see very few
> technical changes between the dash number revisions.
>
> >One rule of thumb that does apply to the RBA, RBB and RBC is that the
> >odd suffix number models are bench mount and the even ones rack mount
> >(<BLANK> being an even number). Which is why each of the NAVSHIPS
> >manuals except for the first one covers two model numbers, one bench
> >and one rack.
>
> I'm not sure this is always the case...
>
> <http://www.qsl.net/donate.html>
>
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