[Premium-Rx] Marconi receiver...

[RichardReich at aol.com]

Hello all.

A little off-topic - but I was wondering if anyone can help me with info for 
an elderly 'premium' HF receiver I have recently bought - made by Marconi-GEC, 
probably in the late 1960's or early 1970's.

The model number appears to be RC411/R - but its difficult to read on the 
label. However, I can find no info anywhere about it. I've never seen another in 
40 years, and neither have other serious radio users/collectors I've dicussed 
it with.

One very interesting/unusual feature is the frequency synthesiser - it is 
electro-mechanical - having a servo motors to set the divide ratio mechanically, 
and to 'zero' the loops with a tuning cap (rather than Volts on a varicap). A 
lot of the other functions are controlled by motors too (wavechange, etc) - so 
you can imagine the noise in use. I guess Marconi must have bought a job-lot 
of motors at some point - and had to use them somewhere !! 
All the semiconductors are discrete transistors - not an IC in sight, and it 
has a serious over-heat problem. Needless to say - it is not the most reliable 
of receivers - occasionally going into incredible uncontrollable mechanical 
oscillation violently shaking about on the table as one loop fights with 
another to find the right tuning point. The only remedy for this is to pull the plug 
and start again. 

The few circuits I have, are (properly) hand drawn on GEC/Marconi paper - but 
no date. I am tempted to think it may be a very low production run - 
abandoned after it was discovered it was a white elephant.

If anyone has any info - anything at all - I'd be interested to hear it. I 
can forward pictures to anyone interested.

Thanks for your help.

Richard
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