[R-390] Classified Equipment

[Jerry K]

On 6/7/2010 12:28 PM, Dennis Deaton wrote:
> The only classified equipment I
> ever saw was krypto gear (KG-75's and -125's), jammers (ALQ-162's, -126B's
> and -165's), missiles (SM-1's, SM-2's and RIM-2D's) and radar consoles
> (AWG-9's, APG-65's and SPG-55B's).  The receivers and transmitters
> associated with the krypto boxes were unclassified.

True. The R-390 series was never classified gear in and of itself, 
although it was sometimes tuned to freqs whose particular use was 
classified at the time. When used during classified ops the receivers 
sometimes carried a temporary classification appropriate to their freq 
in use at the time. That's one of the reasons for the little flip-up 
peek-a-boo cover installed on some Veeder Root counter windows. Crypto 
gear, per se (KG series, KWR and KWT series, etc.) was ALWAYS classified 
any time associated card readers, tape readers, and guts (circuit 
boards) were installed. When I was sent to Mare Island to crypto repair 
school in the early 60's and we first got our KWR-37's aboard ship, 
there was no dedicated space for them that was secure enough, so our 
37's were jammed into the Crypto room itself, which was a pretty small 
space. Shortly after, we got a full overhaul of the topside spaces which 
included installation of new banks of R-390A's, WRR-2's, URC-32's, 
WRT-1's, WRT-2's, UHF and VHF gear, and a major space expansion. The 
entire radio shack was finally classified SECRET, along with my 
adjoining ET shack and IFF/Radar rooms. Finally, we could quit worrying 
about different classifications of individual items of gear, since 
without a SECRET clearance nobody got in there unescorted anyway, and 
the covered fleet broadcast area simply had a little shower curtain 
looking thing around it to keep official visitor's stray eyeballs away. 
We were in tall cotton then, at least for an old gator freighter.

Koken chains, vacuum tube cipher streams, card readers, stop watches, 
and WWV.  Fun stuff to work with, cutting edge technology at the time. 
The amazing thing is, it actually worked quite well, as did the 390A's, 
which is more than I can say for the AN/WRR-2's!

ex ET