These hugely heavy and incredibly sensitive sets were, rumour has it, produced for Lend-Lease agreements with England for service in World War II. They are quite common in the UK but scarce in the US. There appear to be two 'flavours' of AR88 - the 'D' version has a frequency coverage as per above whilst the 'LF' version goes down all the way to 75kHz.
The receiver consists of two RF stages, a mixer, local oscillator, three IF stages, a detector, noise limiter, BFO, AF amplifier, output stage and power supply system. The IF amplifiers incorporate variable selectivity and a crystal filter. The sets are normally housed in steel cases but can be rack mounted.
The receivers are designed for coupling to a 200 ohm transmission line, except on low frequency general broadcast bands. For these and general use a single wire 25 to 50 ft. long can be used.
General characteristics
- HAM bands
- ?
- Frequency stability
- ?
- Tuning steps
- ?
- Memories
- ?
Receiver
- RX-range
- 73-550 kHz / 1.48-30.5 MHz in six bands
- Modulations
- AM CW
- Sensitivity
- For 20dB S/N: 8µV at 1MHz, 4.5µV at 4.3MHz, 7µV at 16MHz, 7µV at 28MHz
- Selectivity
- 5 Settings: -3dB bandwidths 15kHz, 9kHz, 3.4kHz, 1.6kHz, 400Hz
- Filters
- ?
- Receiver system
- Single conversion, 14 valves
- IF-frequencies
- 735 kHz
- Image rejection
- 120dB at 1MHz 60dB at 16MHz 46dB at 28MHz
- Audio output
- 2.5 W (2.5 ohm external speaker or 600 ohm headphone)
Connections
- Antenna
- -
- Impedance
- 200Ω
- Other
- -
Electrical
- Power requirements
- 100-260 VAC mains or 6V DC vibrator pack
- Current drain RX
- ?
- TX
- -
Physical
- Dimensions (w×h×d)
- 488 × 280 × 488 mm (19.21 × 11.02 × 19.21 in)
- Weight
- 45.00 kg (99.3 lbs)
- Form factor
- Base Station
- Manufactured
- Between 1941 and 1945 in USA
Other features
- Usage
- Amateur / Ham radio operators
- Features + options
- Optional S-meter
- Accessories
- -
- RigReference ID
- 3700
- MPN
- RCA-AR000088LF
Manuals, diagrams and brochures
- RCA AR-88LF Instructions PDF - Unknown size, submitted by RigReference
- RCA AR-88LF Schematic diagram PDF - Unknown size, submitted by RigReference
- Upload relevant documents
New and second-hand prices
Estimating the value of a rig can be challenging. We collect prices paid by real hams over the years to help you estimate the value of a used RCA AR88LF. Just bought or sold this model? Let us know what you traded it for and help other ham operators!
Based on historic price data, today's estimated value of the RCA AR88LF in Good condition is around:
- EUR 77 ~ EUR 125
These estimates are based on the following prices:
Links & tools
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