[R-390] AF MARS record keeping, and "chains of custody"

[WD4INP]

Tom,
 
Thank you, SIR! That makes sense. The receiver looks as 
though it was treated well.
 
Do you know anything about AF MARS and whether they kept
record of which command surplussed the receiver? 
(I think when a term gets out into the civilian world,
the military feels the need to come up with a new word,
e.g. [to] "excess" [something].)
 
I got the very last R-F deck that Fair Radio had, and it
came with the MC CHANGE shaft BENT! I thought and thought
about what circumstances might cause someone to handle
equipment like that. It had some problems easily fixed
that probably got it separated from the rest of the set.
Since an R-390A/URR was generally considered "high value,"
anyone caught manhandling a set or part of it would be in
trouble. It makes me think that perhaps the situation was
that nobody cared. Like maybe a hasty withdrawal from 
Vietnam. It had corrosion consistent w/a tropical climate. 
 
I guess you can see where I'm going with this. I would
like to be able to reconstruct the "chain of custody" of a
set like the R-390A.
 
 
Charles A Taylor, WD4INP
Grifton, North Carolina

----- Original Message ----- 

From: Tom Norris 

To: WD4INP 

Sent: Sunday, September 24, 2006 2:01 PM

Subject: Re: [R-390] Imperial R-390A Excessed/Surplussed
by Which Branch of DOD?

On Sep 24, 2006, at 12:13 PM, WD4INP wrote:

> Here's what's on a white paper tag on the receiver's
> back panel:
>"5820 00 7555   B441   CC   0029

> 5820 01092 8435 709BOOA [bravo oscar oscar alfa]

> RECEIVER R-390AURR         2221"


Looks like a MARS property tag.  They used to have folks
keep up with stuff way back when, when folks gave a damn.
I got in some 390A's from the estate of an ex AFMARS guy
several years ago, and if I remember that was pretty much
the same format these stickers were.


Tom