Note
QST Jan 1947, p. 107.
The BC-348 and its similar BC-224 predecessor were designed in the mid-1930s. The '348 was a mainstay receiver in WW II, serving mostly in heavy bombers and multi-engine transport aircraft. RCA did the original design and produced early models but shared production with a number of other manufacturers during the war. More than 100,000 receivers were produced, and the specific manufacturer is indicated by the letter at the end of the nomenclature.
Specific circuit details, tube lineups, and even the number of tubes changed with time and company of manufacture. Early models had nine tubes; later receivers eight. All BC-348s tuned from 1.5 to 18 MHz in six bands, but after the C model also covered 200 to 500 kHz without adding an additional band-switch position.
The initial model BC-348, the B, debuted in1938. It was a 28 VDC version of the Signal Corps’ BC-224 receiver and was powered by an internal dynamotor. The early models tuned from 1.5 to 18 MHz in six bands. The E and later versions added 200–500 kHz coverage to one band and compressed the 1.5–18 MHz range into the remaining five bands. The model H, manufactured by Chicago’s Belmont Radio Corporation, was a nine-tube, single-conversion superhet; WW II.
The BC-348-J, N, and Q used single-ended tubes and were manufactured by Wells-Gardner. They were also eight-tube sets, having deleted the 991 VR tube from the lineup used in earlier models.
The BC-348-P was made by Stromberg-Carlson. Popular with post-war amateurs, the BC-348 was the subject of many conversion articles in the late 1940s and early '50s.
