[Milsurplus] Fwd: Re: BC-348 Marine Radio

[Hubert Miller]

"Preliminary edition" :
Years back I bought an RCA AR-8501 ship's receiver. The seller told me that at the time of use, mid 1930s, the RCA receivers
were not owned by the ship, they were leased. RCA may have supplied the operator also, under some kind of contract.
Maybe I'll look into this further, try to straighten it out for my own clarity. I have an RCA ship radio operator manual which
talks mostly about message formats and rates and such. I know that Mackay also both manufactured ship radio and operated
shore stations to handle paid messages.
Docs I have from Alaska Steamship Company in the 1930s establish that their ships used IP-501s, later SW-3 and Sargent 10 or 11.
So owners had a lot of leeway in what they could use. The shoreside toll stations were open to any traffic who paid.

I recently found an 'International Marine Radio Company' (  ' IMRC ' ) ship's regen from around 1940. It has these 3 bands, LF
like 150-500 kHz, MW 0.5 - 1.5 MHz, and MW 1.5 - 3.5 MHz.  I thought it kind of odd that it didn't include any HF band, but I
suppose even ocean going ships could have only LF band operation.  ( The 1.5 - 3.5 range would not be used for CW long range. )

I think the photos we've seen show that after a few years, the ship owner, maybe even the radio op, could put whatever receiver
onboard that they wanted. I think sometimes the receiver, like a second receiver, belonged to the radio operator.

I have a real beat up SW-5 that inside the lid is written "Baranoff" with call letters. IIR, this ship was destroyed up in the Aleutians.

I have not forgotten the deal with the radiotelegraph forms I have; it's just a lower priority now than downsizing .
-Hue

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