

RCA AR-88D History of the AR-88 Series

RCA's greatest communications receiver creation was the AR-88, a receiver that achieved its renown by providing top performance and high reliability in service as a surveillance and intercept receiver during WWII and later as a "workhorse" for the RCA and Radiomarine Corporation of America coastal stations, usually in triple diversity receivers that provided world-wide ship-to-shore message handling. RCA's AR-88 planning may have chronologically followed their AR-77 ham receiver but the AR-88 owes much of its design concept as a replacement for RCA's aging commercial-military receiver, the AR-60. The AR-60 had been introduced in 1935 and was still being built as late as 1940. RCA had to update their "cost no object," highly reliable military/commercial product and the AR-88 was the result. Design stages probably date from as early as 1939 and the demands of WWII in Europe pushed RCA into having the AR-88 ready by early 1941. The finalized AR-88 was a 14 tube superheterodyne that covered .54 to 32MC in six tuning ranges, featuring incredible sensitivity (even up to 10 meters), excellent stability and high fidelity audio along with mechanical and electronic reliability that couldn't be found in any other receivers of the day. The electronic design was the work of Lester T. Fowler while George Blaker handled the mechanical design. The actual production during WWII was handled by RCA's Export Sales under Charles Roberts in Camden, New Jersey. Additional receivers were produced at RCA facilities in Bloomington, Indiana and Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Use of Majestic Radio and Television Company as a contractor during WWII production is possible, although this company is usually mistakenly identified as the Grigsby-Grunow Company (bankrupt in 1934.) Outside the USA - Most of the early AR-88 production was sent to Great Britain or Russia (and to a lesser extent China and France) during WWII through Lend-Lease and this accounts for the scarcity of the early versions of the receiver in the USA. The Lend-Lease Act of October 1941, allowed the USA to supply materiel to our Allies in exchange for permission to build and operate bases in the allied countries or territories. The AR-88 was used extensively in Great Britain during WWII for varied purposes.



photo left : The AR-88 was used extensively as an intercept receiver during WWII as shown in the 1956 Norwegian film "Konakt!" - photo from ON4ROB Many of the Allies required coverage of the LF and MF parts of the spectrum and the AR-88LF was created for that service, providing coverage from 70kc to 550kc continuous and 1.5mc to 30mc continuous. Building of the AR-88LF receivers was handled by the RCA plant in Montreal. By the end of WWII, it certainly seemed like tens of thousands of AR-88 receivers had been shipped overseas to our allies. However, careful examination of serial numbers indicate a production level that was far less than the customary published estimates. While it may have seemed like "AR-88s were everywhere" the actual production numbers did not exceed 25,000 units (total WWII production of AR-88D, AR-88F, AR-88LF and CR-91 receivers.) The AR-88 was used for several purposes by Great Britain during WWII. This is a photo of the Portsdown Tunnel communications center that handled wartime communications. Note that the WREN (Womens Royal Navy Service) to the left is using an AR-88 as the communications receiver.

photo from: www.portsdown-tunnels.org.uk

Many of the British AR-88s were destroyed after WWII ended. This was due to the provisions in the Lend-Lease Act which stated that materiel had to be either returned or destroyed. In just one incident, a load of AR-88 receivers was "dumped" into an abandoned well by USA forces after the war ended. Some sources even indicate that RCA had made it clear they did not want to see the receivers back in the USA for any reason. The AR-88 survivors, along with other surviving materiel, generally were placed in groupings that were "sold back" to Great Britain at discount, which was usually at "ten cents on the dollar."

Still, lots of the AR-88s survived and they were considered a common and easily available receiver in Great Britain for several decades after WWII. The easy availability of AR-88s made them a popular amateur receiver in the 1950s and 1960s. Shown to the right is the typical British ham, G5FA, with his AR-88D station receiver. Photo is from the G5FA QSL card. AR-88s survived in Canada because the receivers were built in Montreal and during WWII remained in Canada for various needs there. The AR-88LF versions, which were only built in Montreal, found their way to airports, civilian and military, ship-to-shore coastal stations around Canada and for general communications. Although Canada did export AR-88LFs to Great Britain, many remained behind for wartime use. After WWII, commercial users, such as the airports and coastal stations, did continue using their AR-88LFs for sometime. Eventually, most of the receivers have made it to the Canadian government surplus sales and many were available though other Canadian surplus outlets. >>>





photo left: VE1HO Stadacona, NS in Canada using the CR-88 version in their club ham station. photo from: www.jproc.ca/rrp/stadacona

>>> AR-88s survive in Russia because a large quantity were sent over as part of Lend-Lease in the later part of WWII (after the USSR became an Ally.) The receivers were used for both surveillance and communications during the war. After the war ended, it is assumed that none were returned and it's unlikely that any were destroyed. The USSR continued to utilize the AR-88 after WWII as it had during the war, that is for military and surveillance purposes. By the late-1950s and early-1960s, the AR-88 was showing its age and the receivers must have become available to ham club stations as it was very common to QSO Russians on 20M CW who were using an AR-88 for the station receiver. More on UA-UK use of the AR-88 in the section "AR-88 and Russian Hams" below. Inside the USA - After WWII, RCA and Radiomarine Corporation of America (a division of RCA that handled all of RCA's maritime radio business and operations) continued to use the AR-88 and its variants in their own installations for various purposes. Most were in large coastal stations that provided worldwide ship-to-shore message handling via RCA Radiograms. Although single receiver operation was common, RCA/RMCA also utilized the AR-88 at installations in a triple diversity receiver designated the DR-89. In 1945, RCA replaced the AR-88 with the CR-88 which placed the Crystal Phasing control on the front panel and reduced the size of the RF Gain and AF Gain control knobs so all three controls would fit just below the tuning dial. The CR-88A replaced the AR-88F in the diversity receivers. Even in the mid-1970s, these incredible diversity receivers were still being used in RCA/RMCA stations. Parts for maintaining the aging receivers were scrounged from the WWII repair depots that had been set-up in Tangiers and San Juan, Puerto Rico during WWII. Unfortunately, most (probably all) of these incredible Triple Diversity Receivers were scrapped out with usually only the receivers themselves surviving to be sold as surplus.

The CR-91 version of the AR-88 from around 1945 Even the US Military used some of the later AR-88 variations in their installations that required a high performance, highly reliable receiver. During the latter part of WWII the Navy used a Triple diversity receiver that was essentially the RCA DR-89 but was given the Navy designation of RDM. This diversity receiver was mainly used for data transmission in the form of CW, High-Speed CW and RTTY. Voice could be used but the RDM was primarily for reliable data reception. After WWII, the Navy continued to use the RDMs up to the 1970s. By 1949, the U.S. Army Signal Corps wanted their own version of the DR-89 for the same use as the Navy. RCA supplied a slightly updated version of the DR-89 that was designated as OA-58A/FRC. Not very many were produced with estimates being less than 100 OA-58s made. The receiver used was the SC-88 of which about 300 were produced.

The CR-88A version of the AR-88 from around 1947 Some AR-88s found their way into monitoring positions in several Shortwave BC stations around the world. By the early 1950s, the RCA '88 receiver was still one of the best for stability, sensitivity and high fidelity reproduction available. With the modernized CR-88B, RCA began producing the last AR-88 version in 1951. The CR-88B, is the only variant to actually dramatically change the receiver, both in appearance and design. The CR-88B increased the tube count to fifteen, adding Push-Pull audio output. Oddly, the IF amplifiers were reduced from three stages to two. Also added was a 500kc Crystal Calibrator. Changes included a two-position Tone control, a three-position Selectivity switch and a different chassis layout that moved the power transformer forward behind the front panel. The CR-88B was in limited production until 1953 and it is the rarest of the entire series. In the mid-1950s, the Chinese built very close copies of the CR-88 receiver, the WS-430. The front panel nomenclature is entirely in Chinese as is the data plate attached to the receiver's chassis. Russian "octal" tubes are used in the earlier versions but later receivers were equipped with some miniature tubes. Photo below in "Collector's Gallery of AR-88 Series Receivers." Production level of the AR-88 series was rather high during WWII with approximately 25,000 total receivers built. After WWII, the demand was greatly reduced since the only users were commercial users and the military. The AR-88 series was never offered to the ham market and was generally not available as a new product to the average consumer. The serial numbers seem to indicate that post-WWII production was less than 10,000 total receivers and probably closer to about 5,000. This estimate brings the total AR-88 series production to around 30,000 receivers - far less than the normally quoted 100,000 plus receiver production. So, what was the selling price of the AR-88? It seems to be a mystery lost in the bureaucracy of the Lend-Lease Act and later RCA commercial advertising. By comparing the AR-88 receiver to its predecessor, the AR-60, which sold for $475 in the configuration used by the USCG (the CGR-32-1,) one can estimate that the AR-88 cost at least $475 - maybe even slightly more. Of course, this is just a guess. If anyone does know a specific price assigned to any of the AR-88 versions, please e-mail me and I will add that information to this article. Today, the AR-88 and its variants can be found in ham shacks and at amateur SWL set-ups around the world. Its world-wide fame was earned with hard work and service. This hard work has resulted in many AR-88 survivors being found in rough condition, missing parts and almost certainly, non-functional. Fortunately, there are still enthusiasts that scavenge parts in order to perform operational restorations of these incredibly stout receivers. With fans around the world, the AR-88 and its variants are assured of continuing survival.

The CR-88B version of the AR-88 from around 1952



This is the last of the AR-88 series, the 1951-53 CR-88B. Note the dial mask, the different placement of controls, different front panel mounting and the shorter chrome strips. Note the three position SELECTIVITY switch, 500kc CAL switch and the two position TONE switch. Inside, the "B" has push-pull audio output. This excellent condition example of this rare receiver is owned by N6YW who provided this photo (also see Collector's Gallery.)