[MRCA] Best thing about Ham Radio

[Ray Fantini]

Only larger vintage aircraft can really easily accommodate the new equipment the FAA requires in addition to the older stuff.  This new equipment can be hidden in plain sight and be made to look like it belongs there. Even a simple metal box will do the trick in many cases. The small space needed for modern electronics makes this possible.

73
Mark D.
WW2RDO

“In matters of style, float with the current. In matters of Principle, stand like a rock. “.   -   Thomas Jefferson

At times like this I realize what a benefit we have with Ham radio, just about everything else in electronics, web and aviation has evolved into a world of you have to dump that old technology and go with the latest version of what ever. Hear at the university we have dumped tons of hardware that still functions due to not accommodating the latest operating system, software patches or security audits. If we can get six or seven years out of a platform we are doing exceptionally well.  Years ago I played around with aviation and back then it was  $47.50  per hour for a little Cessna 152 and today cannot see it being less then $175 per hour and the rules and regulations make me think it's almost impossible for a individual to get into aviation today.
But in Ham radio you don’t have to comply with type acceptance, you can still build your own or operate vintage equipment that’s easily eighty years old on the bands. Still may have to deal with people who will complain about you running transmitters that may chirp, or using obsolete modes like AM or my favorite all the people who will bitch both on and off air about me using USB on forty meters but its still legal to do it. Just look at what the FCC did with the LMRS service, it killed off analog radio and forced the remaining radio users to just forget all the handheld and vehicle radios and move to cell phones. 

Like I said before think if you wanted to do a operational vintage VHF radio on a aircraft 144.250 would be the way to go and also be legal.

Ray F/KA3EKH







On Sep 11, 2024, at 10:49 AM, Doran Platt via MRCA <mrca at mailman.qth.net> wrote:

If I may adjunct what good data Mark has provided, let me add that, short of operations under a special ferry permit or such, any civil aircraft operating in controlled US airspace (just about everywhere these days) aircraft must be equipped with operational VHF communications capable of operating on appropriate ATC frequencies (typ. 118.000 mHz to 135.975 mHz)). Aircraft must also have a functioning Mode C transponder with altitude reporting. Recently, the FAA has added the requirement for ADS-B equipment for additional ATC and informational data transfer.  All this equipment must be "Type Accepted" (not to be confused with TSO certification)). Practically speaking, equipment built, with some limited exception, before about 1980 or so will not be found on the list. The military can, and has, waivers or exceptions for equipment on the UHF band (225-399.0 mHz). The incremental increase in specifications for VHF comms were precipitated by the implementation of, first 90 channels, then 180, 360, and now 720 channels with 25 kHz spacing. Europe is even tighter. It also used to be that operating below FL180 (18,000 ft), one did not need channels above 126 mHz. All that has long passed.  Again, one can apply for a ferry permit for maintenance or other one-time reason, if ATC can accommodate.
As far as MF-HF SSB, operations are fairly limited to oceanic and OCONUS operations.  The FAA and ARINC control this.
Been there and "suffered" financially for all the above..... well, generally for good reason.. in the end!
Jeep K3HVG

> On 09/11/2024 9:36 AM EDT MARK DORNEY via MRCA <mrca at mailman.qth.net> wrote:
>
>
> There has been some discussion of the use of vintage radios in historic military aircraft.  There are some basic things to be taken into consideration when doing this. :
>
> 1) Modern aviation communicates in the VHF frequency range. MOST military aircraft radios in use prior to 1945 operated in the MF and HF frequency range - and won’t be of much use for aviation communication. The FAA requires VHF transceivers.
>
> 2). Most historic aircraft are simply not that big. Vintage aircraft radios and their associated accessories tend to be bigger and much heavier than modern radios. It really only makes sense to install vintage radios in operational larger fighter, bomber and transport aircraft where limited tours of the inside of the aircraft can be offered to the public ( of course, for a small fee ). It makes NO sense to put vintage radios in a small, single seat aircraft where the radio is mounted hidden in the fuselage, where nobody will ever see it. And maintenance is hard enough to do on these radios, both physically and logistically. It becomes more of a pain in the butt if you have to jerk around in the confined space of the fuselage of, say, something like a P-51 Mustang.
>
> 3)  The few common military VHF sets I’ve some across are very limited in how many frequencies they can actually operate on. For instance, the T-23/ARC-5 is crystal controlled, and can operate on 1 of  4 preset frequencies. And that frequency is set pre-flight, and cannot be normally changed in flight.  The AN/ARC-1 has 10 crystal controlled frequencies it can operate on, and there is a remote that does allow for a frequency change to 1 of the 10 frequencies of the crystals installed in the set, in flight. Other aircraft VHF sets of the pre-1945 era operate in a similar fashion. VFO’s of the time period were prone to float, and certainly a pilot of a single seat fighter had neither the time nor the room to be constantly screwing around with a radio while flying their aircraft.
>
> 4) Some ATC equipment will only be of any use as a decoration in the aircraft. For instance, WW2 transponders were what is now referred to as a Type 1 transponder. When triggered by a specific radio signal, they tell an ATC operator who you are and where you are.  Modern aviation requires an aircraft to use a Type 3 transponder. A type 3  transponder tells an ATC operator who you are, where you are, what altitude you’re flying at and what heading you’re on. Another instance of equipment with only a decorative use is in C-47A. That aircraft had a navigation system called the “GEE”.  Similar to LORAN-A, it went out of use in 1960. So restoring a GEE receiver to operational use is really just a labor of love, since you’d only be able to listen to a whole lot of nothing on the set. In these two instances, a mock up or using the equipment shell to hide modem equipment might be a better, cheaper and more practical solution ( Camouflage is more than just painting  something green). The beacon radios on the ARC-5 and SCR-274-N are also of limited use, since a lot, but not all, of the radio navigational beacons have gone out of use.  The exception would be the broadcast band receivers. If the radio tower transmitting the signal of a commercial AM station antenna is at a known, fixed location, using a directional antenna would allow for an aircraft to home in on that signal ( ie, like in the movie “Tora,Tora,Tora!” ). Of course, a modern GPS system is so much smaller and easier to use. VOR was in extremely limited use in 1944 -45, but certainly was not common until after WW2. TACAN came in post WW2.
>
> 73
> Mark D.
> WW2RDO