[R-1051] R-390 vs. R390A

[paul swed]

I have to say stuff sitting around is just as bad as stuff being used.
Everything deteriorates one way or another.
But essentially they deteriorate at different rates and what we don't
realize is the optimum life is some place between the two.
The 390 mechanics are a nightmare. I have never had to work on them in the
Navy. At the point I ran into them they were entertainment radios only.
R1051s were the main radio circa 1970. I worked on UHF radios that were
quite amazing mechanically SRC 20/21 urc9 exciter. There was a magical
touch to tuning them across 220 MHz of bandwidth.
I can still remember my first visit to Guam and walking into a radio hut
that had racks and racks and racks of R390s.
All off just sitting there. Quite the sight. The Guam environment was
really nasty for radios. I restored the Collins KWM2 to operation in the
ham shack.

Back to the main theme. I simply do not see people pulling boat anchors
around like I used to.
Think that may come down to dealing with the weight and the interest in
digging into the radios.
These radios really are amazing but what can you say the ole iPhone works
as well for most communications.

Staying clear of the you've been nuked discussion.
Regards
Paul.


On Wed, Feb 7, 2018 at 11:40 AM, Ray Fantini <RAFANTINI at salisbury.edu>
wrote:

> Thousand years ago I had a R-390 that I bought as a basket case, Had the
> manual and tried and tried to get the mechanical systems aligned on that
> radio but was never able to get it to work right on all the bands. Endless
> cams, gears and some strange issues that when you got the radio to work in
> one band segment it refused to work in another!
> Have been told of the nicer sound filters and superior B+ regulation and
> the like on the R-390 but have to say after that trauma of trying to get
> that R-390 up and running will stick with the R-390A, maybe it's just
> memory but the R-390A at least for me is about a thousand times easier to
> work on and have the striping, cleaning and mechanical alignment down to a
> simple process that's all easy to follow from the manual so I will stay
> away from its non "A" brother.
> This entire R-390A operation on my part is only an attempt to try to
> generate revenue to have additional funds to piss away on other projects
> and to try to offset the high cost of shows like Dayton.
> But starting to think about what I have to shell out for radios that have
> been in storage for decades, the labor involved in just getting these
> radios cleaned up and working again and the logistics of loading up and
> dragging them around starting to question the wisdom of the entire project.
> At the point now of thinking that at $400 to $500 each am just breaking
> even but do have the small satisfaction of seeing radios that have been
> languishing around in storage for twenty or so years coming back to life
> and maybe being useful to someone else.
> Funny thing, you would think that the radio just sitting around and not
> being used for a long time would not have as much affect as it does but
> just think about it, if you parked a car and did not do anything with it
> for twenty years do you think you can just get in it and drive away?
>
> Ray F/KA3EKH
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: r-1051-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:r-1051-bounces@
> mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Lester Veenstra
> Sent: Wednesday, February 07, 2018 10:40 AM
> To: 'R-1051 Discussion Group' <r-1051 at mailman.qth.net>; 'Military Radio
> Collectors Association' <mrca at mailman.qth.net>; 'milsurplus' <
> milsurplus at mailman.qth.net>
> Subject: Re: [R-1051] Frostfest AAR
>
> I bought the "Ratty" looking R-390/URR ($200)!!!.  Better receiver than an
> A
> (INHO) and a little surface dust accumulated in storage is a minor step in
> getting it back in service.
> But  first I still have to get these two R-1051s singing.   I good fest and
> I hope the have the courage to grow it back to the two buildings it used
> to occupy.
>
> http://r-390.com
>
> Lester B Veenstra  K1YCM  MØYCM  W8YCM   6Y6Y
> lester at veenstras.com
>
> Physical and US Postal Addresses
> 5 Shrine Club Drive (Physical)
> HC84 452 Stable Ln (RFD USPS Mail)
> Keyser WV 26726
> GPS: 39.336826 N  78.982287 W (Google)
> GPS: 39.33682 N  78.9823741 W (GPSDO)
>
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> R-1051 mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/r-1051
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:R-1051 at mailman.qth.net
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>