[MRCA] ARC-2

[Mike Morrow]

John wrote:

>I've rarely seen references to the ARC-2. At a quick look it seems to
>be a really interesting set.

I got my first one more than 33 years ago from Fair Radio.

IMHO, it's the most interesting airborne HF set of the mid-1940s era.
It's Collins-made, 2.0 to 9.1 MC, two 1625 PA and two 1625 modulator tubes,
completely self-contained in a 1-1/2 ATR case (including dynamotor DY-31/ARC-2).
All required controls are on the front panel.  Here's a Collins ad for the
AN/ARC-2 in the March 1946 issue of QST:

http://www.wa3key.com/qst/qst4603.jpg

The MT-421/ARC-2 mounting rack is hard to find, and the C-244A/ARC-2 control
boxes (or later panels) aren't much easier.  The only controls on the C-244A
is a power switch and a channel selector, so it's not needed for local control.

The original version is the RT-91/ARC-2, and it is supposedly tail-end WWII
era and later.  By the early 1950s, the later RT-298/ARC-2A was out.  I saw
the AN/ARC-2 still in service in TS-2A training aircraft at NAS Corpus Christi
in 1972!

I have an RT-91 and an RT-298, each with rack and control boxes.  I like the
RT-91 better of the two.  It appears to me that construction quality dropped
and mechanical components were simplified for the RT-298.  Many RT-91 units
were later modified to have some of the same electrical characteristics as
the RT-298.  Two front panel fuses were installed on the right side of the
front panel, and a holder for spare fuses was installed in the center section
of the front panel.  Some RT-91 units will have been modified to disable the
RF amp indication, which the RT-298 lacks.

It's a neat design, but the receiver is very broad. 

Mike / KK5F