Re: SKN rigs - OT Old Stuff Comment

[Mike Morrow-3]

>Well, there you are! "Restorable" ARC-5s are expensive but junkers aren't.

Most have been ham-hacked into oblivion.  Today, it would be a shame to deface or modify in *any* way WWII-era military radios that have managed to avoid 60 years of ham defacement.  Please, use a "pre-hacked" unit if you intend to actually put one on the air.

The famous WWII "command set" (ATA/ARA, SCR-274-N, AN/ARC-5) transmitters actually perform rather well when left all original and operated in the manner which the original engineers intended.  Leave it to a ham armed with not much more real radio engineering knowledge than how to use Ohm's law to completely "re-design" (i.e., destroy) a set.  Most of the post-WWII ham mag articles detailing the faults of the original designs are based upon pure myth and lack of knowledge by the author.

I have all-original AN/ARC-5 and SCR-274-N systems (radios, controls, racks, mountings, tuning shafts, cables, connectors, etc.) that took me many years to complete.  The receivers and transmitters are by far the easiest components to obtain.

eBay is a great resource for hacked or original condition units.

Those who are interested in this great old technology, both historical, operational, and technical, may want to join two other qth.net lists:

[hidden email]    [General military radios of all eras, but WWII predominates]
[hidden email]            [WWII aircraft radios, especially "command" sets]

Traffic can sometimes be light on these lists.  But beware...on either of the above lists, inquiries about modifications to all-original gear or major "re-design" of lightly-hacked gear, may get a somewhat cool reception.

73,
Mike / KK5F
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[N2EY]

In a message dated 12/24/05 1:14:44 PM Eastern Standard Time,
[hidden email] writes:


> >Well, there you are! "Restorable" ARC-5s are expensive but junkers aren't.
>
> Most have been ham-hacked into oblivion.  Today, it would be a shame to
> deface or modify in *any* way WWII-era military radios that have managed to avoid
> 60 years of ham defacement.  Please, use a "pre-hacked" unit if you intend
> to actually put one on the air.


I agree 100%. Keep the mint/unmodified sets as they are, and focus on the
ones
so hacked up they'll never be restored.

>
> The famous WWII "command set" (ATA/ARA, SCR-274-N, AN/ARC-5) transmitters
> actually perform rather well when left all original and operated in the manner
> which the original engineers intended.

Agreed!


  Leave it to a ham armed with not much more real radio engineering knowledge

> than how to use Ohm's law to completely "re-design" (i.e., destroy) a set.  
> Most of the post-WWII ham mag articles detailing the faults of the original
> designs are based upon pure myth and lack of knowledge by the author.
>

I disagree! Sort of, anyway.

The "ARC-5" sets do work quite well in original configuration *if* you have
all the
required stuff like dynamotors and suitable supplies, and set them up the way
they
were originally used (transmitters tuned up and locked on frequency, for
example).

But hams didn't/couldn't use them that way. They'd get a surplus unit all by
itself - no documents, no dynamotor, etc. Cars were 6 or 12 volts DC, houses
were 110 AC - 24-28 VDC was a problem!

In those days *anything* less than pure T9X was likely to get you an FCC
notice as well as an OO card. Sure, it might be possible to get a good signal out
of Command set - if a lot of "ifs" were met...

On top of this was TVI. Even a little harmonic energy was too much back in
those days when TV stations ran relatively low ERP, there was no cable, and
people tried to pick up distant TV stations because so few were on the air.


> I have all-original AN/ARC-5 and SCR-274-N systems (radios, controls,
> racks, mountings, tuning shafts, cables, connectors, etc.) that took me many years
> to complete.  The receivers and transmitters are by far the easiest
> components to obtain.
>

The average ham who used Command sets in the bad old days was very
economy-minded, and buying "accessories" wasn't part of the plan....

> eBay is a great resource for hacked or original condition units.
>
> Those who are interested in this great old technology, both historical,
> operational, and technical, may want to join two other qth.net lists:
>
> [hidden email]    [General military radios of all eras, but WWII
> predominates]
> [hidden email]            [WWII aircraft radios, especially "command"
> sets]
>
> Traffic can sometimes be light on these lists.  But beware...on either of
> the above lists, inquiries about modifications to all-original gear or major
> "re-design" of lightly-hacked gear, may get a somewhat cool reception.
>

How to join?

Again - my opinion is that unhacked units should be left alone! There are
plenty of sets that have been hacked up so much or are in such poor shape that
they're better off as parts sources/modification platforms.

73 de Jim, N2EY
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