[Collins] R388 51j-3

Tue, 27 Jan 2004 22:12:16 -0800

I buy and sell receivers like crazy and I have tried them all. This J3 I
have is the best sound of them all case closed. I had a j4 about a year ago
and it was very unpleasant to listen too, as a broadcast SWL receiver I
mean. I am sure for tight cw the J4 excels.  Dan
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ian Webb" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2004 1:57 PM
Subject: RE: [Collins] R388 51j-3


> It has been maybe 30 years since I had an R388...  But I remember it well.
>
> It DID sound great, looked great/impressive and was a joy to tune.  I
> converted it to an R388A/51J-4.  And it didn't sound as good but it sure
did
> a better job of making a signal readable if you were listening to the ham
> bands with it even using the BFO to inject the carrier.
>
> Since the two receivers are, if I remember correctly, IDENTICAL except for
> the circuitry associated with the filters I think the comments about how
> they sound is related to the steeper skirts when having the mechanical
> filters.  I haven't looked for a long while at the schematics of each but
> aren't they otherwise the same?
>
> I would suspect if you have an R388A/51J-4 and don't like the way it
sounds,
> there might be somebody who'd gladly swap you their IF can and some $$$
for
> the parts that make yours a mechanical filter based receiver and you can
> buck the trend and convert it back to a non-mechanical filter IF.
>
> I think in my box of R388/51J parts I still have the R388/51J IF can that
I
> removed when the filter circuitry goes in.  And it looks like new.
>
> I think it's a case of not being able to have everything in one receiver
> that you can afford to buy.
>
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: [email protected]
> > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of DAN COTSIRILOS
> > Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2004 12:20 PM
> > To: [email protected]
> > Subject: [Collins] R388 51j-3
> >
> > I haven't had a 388 51j3 in a long time! The audio is
> > fantastic. I know the J4's are the coveted ones but they
> > don't hold a candle to the crystal filter audio. Its like hi-fi!!  Dan
> >
> >
>
>