peguy wrote:
Hi all,
I've got a question relating the Hornet's Radar.
I read in the N. Friedman book ("U.S. Aircraft Carrier"), that Hornet initially received the SC radar with a smaller antenna then the CXAM one.
Because its disappointing perfomance the antenna was replaced with the CXAM one's coming from the damaged California, with a resulting permorfance equivalent to a SK radar.
But in the pictures showed in this forum it has been showed the SC antenna was only moved in another position.
Was Hornet fitted with 2 radars? 1 complete CXAM (antenna + tranmitter) coming from California, and the original SC? Or the 2 antennas was used for the same transmitter (I think it is not possible).
Why the SC antenna was retained if it was ineffective?
BR
Corrado
Hornet initially had a SC radar antenna mounted on top of the tripod. She also had two FD radars for her Mk 37's. After Midway, the navy decided that all large fleet carriers should have two air search sets, one main set and one backup set. In her post-Midway yard period at Pearl Harbor, Hornet had her SC antenna moved to the top of the main mast on the aft end of the stack and the CXAM unit salvaged from California, one of six CXAM pre-production units made, was mounted on top of the tripod mast. (CXAM-1 was the production version of CXAM, and had a non-tiltable bedspring antenna with heavier dipole structure. Enterprise had this type at the time, along with an SC-1 as backup on the starboard edge of her stack). The SC worked, but it just did not work as well as CXAM in the long Pacific swells. The big antenna is what made the difference. The electronics were very similar. She had two complete sets, not one set with two antennas. It has been rumored, but I have not been able to confirm for many years, that the CXAM set was upgraded to match the SC electronics (which were a bit more advanced). If so, that would indeed approximate SK performance. These radars were all being developed and improved in service continuously by Westinghouse, who often had their civilian service reps aboard ship to maintain and improve the radar units. These early sets were basically hand made pre-production sets, so upgrades could have been made to the unit in place by the service reps upon direct instruction from the Westinghouse laboratory.