Collins T47 / ART13

[G4YVM David]

I have been offered a BC348 receiver, which I am sorely tempted by, but it got me thinking about the associated Tx. Google tells me the Collins ART13 was the usual beast but I have never ever come across one. Are they rare??

David

[M0SOE_Bruce]

The ART13 may be rare over here but are more readily available across the pond. Quite often found at regional swap meets (rallys). May be a bit pricey for shipping over here.

I sold mine prior to my last move but kept the BC348 receiver.

Two other transmitters that went with the BC348 are the BC191 & BC375.

[Radio Wrangler]

I once had a look through a Lancaster in the 1960s, and instead of the expected R1155/T1154, I found a T1154 paired with a BC348.

Was this ever an original combination, or were the owners making do? Though R1155s were plentiful in the sixties.

David

[G4YVM David]

Is the BC348 worth owning? I love my 1155 to bits and would quite like the 348 as a sort of counterbalance.

[M0SOE_Bruce]

The BC348 was to the USAF as the R1155 was to the RAF. I've kept mine because it was unmodified & had the shock mount.

There are many out there that have had the post war hacks. If it hasn't been modded go for it.

It's an average performing receiver but fun to play with.

[G4YVM David]

Thanks

D

[Hans PE1KWH]

In the large bombers the BC348 was used with the BC375 transmitters as liason radio sets.
Main use was aircraft to ground communications.

The sight of a fully glowing BC375 ( or as I own the BC191 vehicle version ) is much more impressive than a Lancaster transmitter BUT the latter has much nicer buttons and is a lot smaller......

[G4YVM David]

Ive just googled the bc375 tx...looks very impressive

D

[M0FYA Andy]

The BC375 is indeed impressive, especially if accompanied by a full set of tuning units.
One problem is that the VT4C valves are desired by the audiophools so can easily fetch into three figures and there are four of them...............
Andy

[Hans PE1KWH]

Yes VT4Cs are very expensive, and WW2 marked are hard to find.
But it runs fine on 4 211s made in China. Those are about $ 45,- each, stil not cheap but affordable.
For amateur use one set will go for a lifetime.

If you are a collector it uses up a lot of space with all the tuning units, dynamotor with its powersupply, BC348 on the bench, cw key, microphone, headphone, interconnecting cables, dummy antenne and BC221 frequency counter but its a fantastic view when its all up and running.
Easy to use ? No way, tuning will take time even for only 200 Kc in the 80 m band.
Changing band is changing tuning unit AND setting all the dials on the TX.
In WW2 that was never done during flight, the whole set was pretuned before take off and the TX was only switched on when needed ( but that takes only 10 seconds ).

[Keith]

Easy to use ? No way, tuning will take time even for only 200 Kc in the 80 m band.

That's where the ART13 comes into its own. Changing to another preset frequency is completely automatic and very impressive to behold (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2h_hU-tX5w)!

[G4YVM David]

Wow, thats cool!!