The 89 cent ANORS

Contributed by Mark W. Arnett

I was a radar repairman at Peacock, 620 TCS Det 2 at Pleiku AB, VN from August 1969 to July 1970. While I was there, the AN-MPS-11 was replaced by a refurbished AN-FPS-8 with a Parametric Amp receiver. Also installed while I was there was the GPA-122 digital IFF/SIF system that replaced the old troublesome UPX-14. Went to a school at Tan Son Nhut AB that was taught by a factory rep.

I worked mostly an overlapping night shift with a staff sergeant named Harry Holtman. Alternately, early, then late 7 days a week. Our overlap time was for VNAF training. My age and poor memory prevent me from remembering any other names.

I can`t remember when it occurred but we kept getting calls from Ops. that they had lost raw video and when we would check it, it was okay. This went on for several nights in a row until finally I figured out what the cause was. The filaments of the light house tube in the StaLO (Stable Local Oscillator) were going out because the tube socket was bad. It would heat up over a period of 30 to 40 minutes and the filament would open. Then it cooled off in 10 to 15 minutes and the filament would come back on. Several new tubes later I finally ordered a replacement 8 pin octal socket ANORS (Anticipated Non Operational Ready Supply) and listed the next higher Work Unit Code as the StaLO.

About three days later in the late late evening I got a call from the flight line that they had an ANORS for Peacock. They said to bring a truck. I drove our duce and a half down to the supply building on the field and they loaded a large wooden crate onto the truck with a fork lift. I got back up the hill around 11:30 PM and started trying to figure out what they had sent us. To my surprise, it was a complete Receiver Cabinet for the FPS8. I think it weighed about 800 pounds. It had been air dropped from Warner Robins AFB in GA.

Supply didn`t have the .89 cent socket in stock so they looked to the next higher Work Unit Code which was the StaLO. There was no StaLO in stock so they went to the next higher Work Unit Code which was the Receiver cabinet. Since the order was placed ANORS they air shipped it all the way to Pleiku.

At first light the next morning I opened the crate, removed the StaLO, swapped it with our old one, and reinstalled the old one into the refurbished receiver in the crate. Nailed the box shut and drove it to the flight line with the return paperwork.

I wish I could get parts that quick for my RV.

And yes, I remember the UPA-35 scopes and the GPA-30 video mapper and the 300 BNC connectors I used to rewire the IFF/SIF feeds to the scopes because the `Scope Dopes` kept tripping over the coax cables causing all units down line to loose video.