BC-348. The BC-348 is an American-made communications receiver, which was mass-produced during World War II for the U.S. Army Air Force.  Under the joint Army-Navy nomenclature system, the receiver system became known as the AN/ARR-11.

History
The BC-348 is the 28 vdc powered version of the 14 vdc powered BC-224.  The first version, the BC-224-A, was produced in 1936. Installed in almost all USAAF (and some USN, some British and some Canadian) multi-engined transports and bombers used during the fifteen-year period from before World War II through the Korean War, BC-348 radio receivers were easy to operate and reliable. Designed as LF/MF/HF receivers for use in larger aircraft (B-17, B-24, B-25, B-26, B-29, C-47, etc.), they were initially paired with a BC-375 transmitter in the SCR-287-A system.  Late in World War II, the AN/ARR-11 (BC-348) was the receiver and the AN/ART-13A was the transmitter in the AN/ARC-8 system.  They were also used in some ground and mobile installations such as the AN/MRC-20. The BC-348 series ran through several variations during its long production history, which included the BC-224. More than 100,000 of these receivers were produced, 80 percent by Belmont Radio and Wells-Gardner and the balance by RCA and Stromberg-Carlson.

BC-348 receivers were copied and manufactured by the U.S.S.R. following War II, by the Russian Vefon Works and labeled УС-9 (US-9 in English) The УС-9 continued to be produced in the Soviet Union through the 1970s, with such improvements as a solid state inverter to replace the dynamotor.

Enola Gay, the B-29 Superfortress bomber that dropped "Little Boy", the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, was equipped with a BC-348 receiver as part of the aircraft's AN/ARC-8 system. Today, many examples of the BC-348 are restored and operated by vintage and military amateur radio enthusiasts.

The AN/ARC-8 system was still in service in older USAF aircraft in the early 1970s. At that time, military surplus dealers near Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona, had stacks of the BC-348, that had been removed from aircraft, for sale to the public.

Specifications

The BC-224-A, -B, -C, and -D, and the BC-348-B, and -C, tuned 1.5-18 MHz in six bands. The Signal Corps had the receiver design modified to add a 200-500 kHz band and compress the 1.5-18 MHz coverage into the remaining five bands. This modified design became the BC-224-E and the BC-348-E. The 200–500 kHz and 1.5-18 MHz tuning range remained constant for subsequent production of all models.

References

General references
U. S. Army Signal Corps Technical Order No. 08-10-24, 12 June 1936, Instruction Book for Radio Receiver BC-224-A manufactured by RCA Manufacturing Co., Inc., Camden, N.J., U.S.A., Order No. SC-132373
Army Air Forces Technical Order No. 08-10-119, 15 December 1942; Instruction Book for Operation and Maintenance of Radio Receiver BC-348-E Radio Receiver BC-348-M Radio Receiver BC-348-P
U.S. Air Force Technical Order 12R2-3BC348-2, revised 15 April 1957; was AN 16-40BC-348-3, 21 June 1948; was AN 08-10-112, 17 July 1943, revised 18 December 1943, revised 30 July 1945; Handbook Maintenance Instructions Radio Receivers BC-348-J BC-348-N BC-348-Q
U.S. Air Force Technical Order 12R2-3BC-112, revised 15 April 1957; was AN 16-40BC224-2, 20 July 1945, revised 11 May 1948; Handbook Maintenance Instructions Radio Receivers BC-224-F BC-224-K BC-348-H BC-348-K BC-348-L BC-348-R

See also

ARC-5
ART 13 transmitter
BC-610
BC-654
Collins Radio
Hammarlund super pro
National HRO
R-390A
List of military electronics of the United States

Military radio systems of the United States
World War II American electronics
Equipment of the United States Air Force
Telecommunications equipment
Radiofrequency receivers
Military equipment introduced in the 1930s
Military electronics of the United States