[Premium-Rx] Watkins Johnson 8718A from Shanghai, China

[Terry O']

  One of my sources told me the deal to sell WJ-8718A radios to China 
was completed in 1989 shortly before the Tiananmen Square protests.   
The radios were probably shipped within a reasonable amount of time.  I 
think you can assume they arrived in China in late 1989 or 1990.  I do 
not know the quantities involved.

WJ sent an engineer and a couple technicians to repair the radios after 
the tantalum capacitors failed at an inordinately high rate.  I was told 
this was due to the radio shipment going from the US to China via 
unpressurized and unheated Chinese military transport planes.

The repair work was done on tables in a conference room at a hotel.  The 
photos I have seen show little mounds of blue tantalum caps around the 
radios.  I assume the original caps were replaced with the exact same 
make and value.  The new caps probably arrived safely packed in the 
luggage of WJ staff on a commercial flight.

The stickers on your radio are probably the only historical information 
specific to that radio you will find.  Years ago, WJ maintained an 
extensive database of all sales on a Wang computer.  Dave Shane, who 
still works in the same facility even though it has changed owners five 
times, told me the database was not converted from the Wang format when 
the computer was decommissioned.

If you are able to obtain more information on the radios, I'd love to 
hear it.

Terry O'
http://watkins-johnson.terryo.org



On 9/16/2010 6:06 PM, Andy Brown wrote:
> Hello,
> I recently acquired an 8718A from China via ebay. I believe there was previously some discussion about the possible source of these radios. This radio is serial no. 3410. There is very little indication of the source on the radio itself. Two labels have evidently been removed - one next to the main dial, on the main dial plate another on the rear. There is a paper label still attached to one of the rack handles - marked with what looks like Chinese lettering and then "11/80" which I take to mean November 1980. Most interestingly there is a very feint "39" printed on the fascia between the Watkins Johnson badge and the signal/audio level meter. I gather from colleagues here in the UK that it was common practice in UK diplomatic radio services, where there were frequently multiple receivers in a stack, to mark each unit with a number, so that they could keep track of failing sets taken out for repairs and servicing. Other that that, there is no further obvious identification ma
>   rks. There was mention of some caps being replaced in the sets that were originally sent to China - do we know what they were changed from/to? If so I may be able to identify any repairs that were undertaken. The radio works very well with no immediate repairs being necessary on arrival from China. The main dial was a bit stiff so was removed and cleaned and is now silky-smooth. The phone level control is a little scratchy, so I will be cleaning that next. It would be fascinating to discover/verify the further history of this particular radio if at all possible.
> PS This is my first post to the group, so please forgive me if I have not kept to any accepted etiquette.
> Regards,
> Andy Brown