[Milsurplus] R-390

[KD7JYK DM09]

"I can see landing 1 of these but 5 he had dome connections!"

Back in the 80's I picked them up from yard sales, thrift shops and swap 
meets for $25-$50.  I snagged five for myself, passed on about a dozen 
others.  They used to be quite common, no connections needed, just a few 
bucka dna strong back.  I found a 1981 copy of WRTH, the World Radio and 
Television Handbook and much to my surprise there was an ad in the back for 
an R-390 repair depot on Fremont Ave. in South Pasadena, CA, about two miles 
from where I lived.  I went to the address, a small stucco bungalow in a 
residential area that looked like an NSA listening post with all the 
antennas, I always figured a Ham lived there, you wouldn't believe the racks 
of radios inside and the pallets of them out back and in the driveway.  I 
used them until they died, then sold them all by the mid-90's and was lucky 
to get $125 each at TRW.

Kurt