[MRCA] Other little known facts/Jefferson-Travis 350

[WA5CAB at cs.com]

I have a manual (somewhere) on the (a) power supply Model 350PS-1 or maybe 
just PS-1.  Says it's for the 350A transmitter and is dated 15 December 
1943.  

In a message dated 1/21/2011 9:50:14 AM Central Standard Time, 
spike.dennis at yahoo.com writes: 
> The Jefferson-Travis 350 was purchased by the Army Air Corp for use as a 
> forward 
> ground-to-air station. This was done both out of defiance &impatience. The 
> AF 
> resented the Signal Corps having control over what they purchased &this 
> resentment manifest itself with some regularity. Some think this rivalry 
> extended back to when the Air Corps was separated from Signal Corps as an 
> organization(yes, the AF was originally part of the Sig Corps). 
> 
> 
> Regardless, the Jefferson-Travis was purchased. When the radio began to 
> fail in 
> North Africa the Air Corp approached the Signal Corps for help. At that 
> time the 
> Signal Corps informed them of their previous standing on the equipment, &
> pointed out that there was no logistic support in place for the 350. So 
> the 
> radio was literally scrapped.
> 
> Very few of these survive today. Only a few have surfaced. I have only 
> ever seen 
> one in the flesh &I still own it. If I can get someone to help me load it, 
> I 
> think it will be headed for Dayton this year. Pounds-to-inches it is the 
> heaviest radio I have ever seen!
> 
> KB0SFP
> Monitor(all USB): 
> 3996, 5403.5, 7296, 14342.5, 18157.5
> 
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----
> >From: D. Platt <jeepp at comcast.net>
> >To: Dennis <spike.dennis at yahoo.com>
> >Cc: mrca at mailman.qth.net
> >Sent: Fri, January 21, 2011 7:15:34 AM
> >Subject: Re: [MRCA] Other little known facts
> >
> >OK... I have a poser for all.  A couple of weeks ago, on the East Coast 
> OMRN, 
> >the Travis-Johnson (sic) radio was discussed.  I know the Forest  Service 
> used 
> >the set before the war and its a fairly large one.  Fair Radio  has one 
> for 
> >sale.  I seem to recall that, in the Signal Corps history book  set, the 
> AAF 
> >drafted some of them for airfield comms in N. Africa, bypassing  Signal 
> Corps 
> >procurement.  The AAF was known for not wanting to always go  along with 
> some 
> >regular Signal Corps procurement channels and this may be one  example.  
> I've 
> >been poring over the three volumes of the set of books but  have not 
> >re-discovered the entry.  Can any of you history buffs help  out?
> >

Robert & Susan Downs - Houston
wa5cab dot com (Web Store)
MVPA 9480