[Boatanchors] AR-88 comments, value?

Tue Sep 3 23:44:29 EDT 2013

Brian,

one of the receivers of that "era" were the greatest on 15 and 10 meters! 
The 6SK7's and others are deficient on the higher bands.  A testament to 
that was the proliferation of "preamplifiers" using stuff like 6AK5's and 
6J6 tubes for RE preamplifiers with greater gain and less loss especially at 
VHF frequencies.  The octal line in many cases were nothing more than older 
tubes "repackaged" in smaller spaces but with virtually the same electrode 
structure as the older tubes they were derived from.  Like going from the 
'57 and '58 to 6C6 and 6D6 then the 6K7, 6J7 and finally to the single ended 
tubes like 6SK7 and 6SJ7 etc.  Quite a bit of change when the tubes went 
Miniature then Noval after the war.

Those tubes all went thru the same evolution in mechanical structure some of 
which was helpful for better High HF and VHF operation in comparison with 
earlier types even though identical in "DC" characteristics.

The tube that probably had the MOST permutations was the 6L6!  6L6G, 6L6GA, 
6L6GB, 6L6GC, 5881, then the double ended versions 6BG6G, 807 etc.! 
Probably one of the most versatile designs, the "beam power amplifier" type, 
which reigned supreme in amplifiers, transmitters, TV's etc..

I find the old vacuum tube an extremely interesting device doing the job it 
did for what it was.

I did have an AR-88 for a while and found it to be a very stable and 
reliable receiver with very little drift and repeatability in "logging 
scale" recall of much used frequencies.  It just got too damned heavy for 
this old man to handle!  GREAT set.  One of the best for a "general 
coverage" wide range receiver.  Another of RCA;s creations that impressed me 
was the old Navy RAL-7 TRF regenerative receiver!  For it's vintage it is 
VERY stable up to 20 meters and very resettable in spite of no actual direct 
calibration, and will do well on CW and SSB!  I found out too late WHY the 
old Navy RMChiefs were so enthused with them compared with later directly 
calibrated sets at the time.

73,

Sandy W5TVW

-----Original Message----- 
From: Bry Carling
Sent: Tuesday, September 03, 2013 6:28 PM
To: boatanchors at mailman.qth.net ; Al Klase
Subject: Re: [Boatanchors] AR-88 comments, value?

The AR88 is not so good above about 15 MHz from what I am told.  My friend 
owned one
and it dissapointed him since he was mostly interested in 15 - 30 MHz 
reception.

On 3 Sep 2013 at 16:04, Al Klase wrote:

> Ian,
>
> The AR-88 is a much better radio in almost every way than an SX-28.
> The
> latter was a high-end consumer product.  The AR-88 is a PROFESSIONAL
> receiver, and may well have been the best general coverage radio in
> the
> world when it was introduced.  Don't be seduced by the PP 6V6's in
> the
> 28.  The single ended 6K6 in the AR-88 sounds better in side-by-side
> tests on a quality speaker (Altec 604).  The reason is the the RCA
> guys
> had a handle on negative feedback.  Reduced IMD results in better
> performance on noisy signals.
>
> Richard K's price range is pretty good.  At the retail level, a
> proper
> S-meter is a $200 adder.  I don't see any advantage to the LF model
> unless you just hate the broadcast band.
>
> Like any radio this age, TLC, i.e. recapping, is in order.  The
> AR-88 is
> pretty straight forward to repair.  Recapping the front end on an
> SX-28
> is a nightmare.
>
> Go for it,
>
> Al
>
> On 9/3/2013 2:50 PM, Ian Wilson wrote:
> > There is an AR-88 available (sort of) locally. Although
> > arguably the last thing I need right now is another
> > boatanchor receiver, the AR-88 is something special.
> >
> > No special tubes needed, I see. Would be interested
> > in reports on how this stacks up against the SX-28, say.
> > Also any suggestions as to what would constitute a
> > "reasonable offer" assuming fair condition and no
> > obvious major damage would be helpful.
> >
> > 73, ian K3IMW
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> -- 
> Al Klase - N3FRQ
> Jersey City, NJ
> http://www.skywaves.ar88.net/
>
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