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Products, 1912-1965

 Series
Accession: 1986-273Identifier: 1986-273-III.

Dates

  • Creation: 1912-1965

Scope and Contents

Products series is divided into eleven subseries: Aeronautical Systems; Air armament; Aircraft sights and turrets; Army Fire Control (AFC), Bomber Navigation Systems (BNS); Marine systems; Microwave and electronic equipment; Navy Fire Control (NFC) and Navy systems; Radio and electronics; Surface armament; and Searchlights.

Throughout the subseries many folders are titled with “AN/” followed by a series of letters and numbers. The United States military use letter combinations to designate electronic and communications equipment. This designation system is called the "Joint Communications-Electronics Nomenclature System" or “AN” for short (Army-Navy). All designations have the “AN/” prefix followed by three letters, a number, and potentially followed by another single letter and a version. The letters in different positions signify the installation, equipment type, and purpose. See the Wikipedia entry for Joint Communications-Electronics Nomenclature System for the full explanation of the letters in the system.

Aeronautical systems subseries are images of parts and components for aircraft related to autopilots, gyros, and navigation. There are many folders containing images of products from various Sperry departments. Departments were assigned numbers, however, there is no key within the collection that explains what the numbers mean or what the name of the department was. The images date from 1912 to 1918 and from 1926 to 1964. The films in this subseries are primarily of flight tests, there are a few films not produced by Sperry that show old versus new methods of manufacturing or installing different parts, and there is a three part series about weighted guidelines.

Air Armament subseries are images of components primarily related to radar. There are also images of parts, components and the production of aircraft bombers Hustler B-58 and Tempo I, and the air-to-air guided missile, the Sparrow. The images date from 1948 to 1962. There is one film showing various tests of targeting by air.

Aircraft sights and turrets subseries contains images of bombsights, gunsights and turrets. The images date from 1916 to 1947. There are many films showing tests of gunsights, particularly the Airborne Gunlaying System (AGL). There are also films showing various turret experiments, specifically with the Central Station Computer and the M-33 turret.

Army Fire Control (AFC) subseries has images of automatic gun control equipment, fire control systems, and the flight attitude indicator T-38. The images date from 1928 to 1952.

Bomber Navigation Systems (BNS) subseries consists of images of components of amplifiers, power supply, transmitters, sights, periscopes, indicators and computers related to Bomber Navigation Systems (BNS). The images date from 1946 to 1958.

Marine systems subseries contains images of components of the gyro compass, steering indicators and controls, and computers related to ships and submarines. The images date from 1912 to 1963. There is a series of films about the Advanced Range Instrumentation Ships (ARIS) that provide progress reports. There is also footage related to the Conte di Savoia and the S.S. Mariposa.

Microwave and electronic equipment subseries consist of images primarily related to radar equipment for aircraft. There are also images of components for Aviation Support Detachment (ASD) equipment, Instrument Landing System (ILS), and shipborne doppler system. The images date from 1941 to 1952. There are three films in this subseries showing footage of the Gyrotron, Instrument Landing System (ILS), and Pulse Compression Applied to High Power Radar.

Navy Fire Control (NFC) and Navy systems subseries includes gunsights, directors, a search light, and an album of WWI products. The images date from 1930 to 1954. There is one film reel containing footage of Naval Fire Control Anti-aircraft.

Radio and electronics subseries contains images primarily related to radar and radio communication, including images related to the Klystron tube, Long Range Navigation (LORAN), and Long Range Navigation version C (LORAN-C). The images date from 1940 to 1965. There are two films which show footage related to the LORAC-C and Tactical Early Warning Radar (TEW).

Searchlights subseries consists of images of searchlights, primarily the 60 inch high intensity searchlights. The subseries dates from 1913 to 1949. There is one film containing footage about the manufacturing of the 60" searchlights.

Surface armament subseries are images primarily related to radar, target and guidance tracking. There are images of components of the Nike Zeus (anti-ballistic missile), and military aircraft the T-38 and T-41. This subseries dates from 1947 to 1964. There are a few films in this subseries which contain footage related to fleet ballistic missiles, the Nike-Zeus missile, the Talos missile, Polaris missile, FPS-35 Radar and T-38 director.

Extent

From the Collection: 100 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Additional Description

Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research. Litigators may not view the collection without approval.

There are no viewing or listening stations for analog audio, video, or film in the reading room. To access this material, please place a digitization request for the item(s).

Related Names

Creator

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the Audiovisual Collections Repository

Contact:
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