[R-390] Hello New to list

[Dallas Lankford]

Welcome Mike and Hi Don -

At the moment we are swatting mosquitoes because of the West Nile virus or
whatever here in Louisiana.  I think we have encephalitis floating the state
too.

I was gonna let this pass because of the tendency I have to stir up the
hornets, but then I decided to go out to the shed and get my hornets nest
stick and give it a little workout.

I wouldn't buy an R-390A from Fair Radio or anybody else unless I was
certain it did not come from the government auction at St. Julian's Creek
Annex, VA.  (We may swat mosquitoes in LA, but we don't leave R-390A's in
parking lots to be rained on for a year or whatever.)  That means I would
probably only buy from a long time friend who had an R-390A from before the
SJC massacre (as it has been called).  You may read glowing reports of
rebuilds of these SJC 390's in the reflector archives, but I would want to
use one of these R-390A's myself, give it some thorough measurements, and
draw my own conclusions.  Even if it passed those tests, I don't like the
idea of squirting a bunch of Tilex, 409, Windex, or other kitchen cleaner
into an R-390A.  I wouldn't even set an R-390A of mine in the driveway and
wash it down with tap water.  My car shows numerous water spot residues
after I wash it, and I don't think I would care for those water spots on and
in my R-390A's.  Then you would have to remove the PTO and crystal ovens,
take them apart, and dry out the innards.  Among other things, I guess that
means you would have to remove the insulation from the PTO, wash it (to
remove any residue), and hang it on your clothes line in the back yard to
dry out.  I think the ovens also have insulation that you would have to
remove, wash, and dry, but it has been a while since I have been inside one
of them.  A couple of years ago when the SJC R-390A's were hot items,
someone e-mailed me a very well written discussion about the things that
were wrong with a typical SJC R-390A.  I thought he posted it on the
reflector, but now I can't find it.  Here are a few of the things I remember
from his discussion.  Stainless steel screws rusted (not surprising).  This,
of course, could make repairs more difficult.  Yellow wrap capacitors coming
unwrapped.  Well, that's not too tough.  Replace the capacitors.  Coil
windings in the shielded transformers of the RF deck starting to come
unwound.  I don't know how you would fix this.  His conclusion (not mine)
was that this RF subchassis was unsuitable for use in an R-390A.

Despite these difficulties in getting a good R-390A, it is certainly worth
the trouble.  I don't think there is a finer receiver made.  If you can't
find a non-rained on one, let me know, and I'll try to help you find one.

Best regards,

Dallas

----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Reaves W5OR" <w5or@comcast.net>
To: "R-390@Mailman. Qth. Net" <r-390@mailman.qth.net>; "Mike Meador Meador"
<ft990@hotmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, August 07, 2002 10:00 PM
Subject: RE: [R-390] Hello New to list


> Greetings, and welcome, Mike.
>
> Fair Radio has always lived up to their name, in their pricing and
> after-sale support.  You can find 390's at hamfests, and various 'net
places
> (ebay, newsgroups, mail lists, even *this* list) but these venues require
a
> bit more patience and luck!
>
> The mod you refer to is the Dallas Lankford mod.  His mod is generally
> recognized as a simple, effective, reversable one that works well.  Dallas
> frequents the list here so he might comment, unless he is busy swatting
> those Louisiana state birds.
>
> I'll let others comment on how best to use a TR switch.  I just run 100
> watts and blast away at a couple of diodes back to back on the antenna
> input.
>
>
> Don Reaves W5OR
> w5or@comcast.net
> R-390 list manager
>
>
>
>
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