of interest. It can be found at
> How these threads do morph! I don't know about RCA MF's, but I can
> attest to the extreme non-fragility of the Collins variety (and in
> fact "everything Collins").
>
> In the mid-60's, while in the USAF (1Lt), I commanded an airborne team
> whose missions were to put mobile, hardened TACANS on various mountain
> tops in undisclosed locations for 10-15 days. After getting down, we
> got our equipment out of the C-130 using LAPES (Low Altitude Parachute
> Extraction System). The gear was mounted on shock pallets, the A/C
> made a low pass and, with a tail-hook apparatus, snagged a shock cable
> we had erected on flimsy poles, and flew out from under the pallets.
> Snap opening cargo chutes "landed the pallets," as the system
> description quaintly said. Despite all the shock protection, "landed"
> was really stretching the term, even for the guvmint.
>
> The pallets always contained two KWM-2A's packed in aluminum
> foam-lined cases which we used to communicate with our FOHQ south of
> the 17th who coordinated the CH-3's to come pick us up when we'd run
> out of JP4 for the generators. The tubes were packed separately, but
> other than that, the 2A's were stock, ready to transmit. We did 24 of
> these missions and I lost four troops, but we lost zero out of 48
> -2A's. Collins also manufactured our A/G radios (can't remember their
> nomenclature at the moment), and we never lost one of those either.
>
> Unfortunately, our missions ended by lighting off thermite on the pile
> of equipment ... burning up 48 perfectly serviceable, beautiful
> KWM-2A's was really really hard for a ham, and I wondered if my ham
> colleagues would ever forgive me.
>
> I used an S3-line for years, and while I don't have it any more to do
> an A/B test, based on my memory (a bit leaky these days), I think the
> K2 IF filters will easily stand up to the mech filters ... and, unlike
> the MF's, I can tailor the K2 filters as I wish.
>
> I think someone suggested that the move from AM to SSB was driven by
> the superior filtering that became available at the same time (please
> forgive me if I got that wrong). Personally, I think it was VOX.
>
> Re R390A's: The Wullenweber array and station at Clark AB in the
> Philippines, operated by the ATDE ("Agency That Doesn't Exist"), used
> 390A's. I wasn't permitted to know for what.
>
> Fred K6DGW
> Auburn CA CM98lw
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