[MRCA] A.R.C. Type 21 (AN/ARN-59)

[D. Platt]

Mike,

Good observations!  Both the 21-A ADF and the ARC-210 VHF comm sets were 
top dog for the corporate size aircraft in the 60's and for a number of 
years later.  I still have one '210 system with a Gables head for it.   
I also have a bin with a number of the sub-min tubes for spares.  I 
haven't ever had to replace one but they're there in case.  The ARN-59 
was in most, if not all Cessna Bird-Dogs, the L-19 (O-1), and a lot of 
other Army aircraft like the L-23 and the Caribou.  I can't speak for 
the UH-1( ) as I'm not a rotary wing person.  I will always have a fond 
place for A.R.C. and their stuff.  Its a shame Cessna turned them into 
an el-cheapo company.  I'm sure that hastened their demise.

On 4/25/2012 4:20 PM, Mike Morrow wrote:
> Gordon wrote:
>
>> What was really amazing was the later ARN-30 receiver, 180 channels,
>> crystal controlled, in the same form as the AN/ARC-5 receivers, though
>> internally they were not alike. A.R.C. put a great deal in a small
>> package - before transistors.
> Another amazingly compact vacuum-tube A.R.C. set (rather smaller than the
> R-1021/ARN-30D mentioned above) is the Type 21 ADF set (R-30A), which
> under the JAN system is the R-836/ARN, part of AN/ARN-59.
>
> This small ADF set uses wire-in sub-miniature tubes, except (IIRC) one
> transistor for the BFO.  It was adopted by the U.S. Army in 1957, but
> components were still being made for it on contracts in the 1970s, such
> as the PP-4328/ARN-59 transistor HV supply that replaced the DY-150/ARN
> dynamotor.
>
> BTW, there's a mildly interesting U.S. Army report of 1964 ADF testing at:
>      http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a030812.pdf  .
>
> The A.R.C. Type 210 VHF com set (360-channel) is also a pretty interesting
> late 1950s design, especially the RT-11A transceiver unit.  Its design relies
> heavily on vacuum tubes.
>
> Mike / KK5F
>