[R-390] R390/Solid State

Thu, 8 Aug 2002 15:59:39 -0700 (PDT)

Well said, Meir!

Your E-mail is bouncing the T-3 mailing list posts
again.

I suggest he start with the 1921 Signal Corps manual
so he can get a grasp of what the people of that era
had to work with for equipment and a solid feel for
the intelligence level of the engineers of the time. 
That way he can learn what they knew of radio and what
they had to go through to get to where we are now, so
he can develope a feel for the history that the R-390
is part of.

Also, we should remember that the SJC Massacre was
only a few short years ago, not decades.  These radios
are NOT obsolete, except for the lack of computer
control.

I can't say, maybe he likes digi-noise in his radios.

Joe

--- WF2U <[email protected]> wrote:
> I'm an EE and worked many years in solid-state and
> tube RF design and I'm
> totally at loss why is that urge some people feel to
> take a mature and
> proven product and start "improve" on it....
> The R-390 is a result of zillions of dollars of
> design and development
> effort and it is one of the ultimate HF receivers in
> existence.
> Its sensitivity and noise figure are about the
> optimal you need for any
> practical purposes.
> Is it the power consumption that bothers some
> people?
> If you're an EE worth his salt, and looking for a
> challenge, maybe you can
> design and build a solid state receiver from
> scratch,  which will beat the
> original R-390 in performance, and keep the D&D
> costs to a level which won't
> make you broke out of your house and retirement...
> Butchering an R-390 in the manner you're planning to
> do, will leave you not
> with one of the best receivers anywhere but will
> render it totally
> worthless, and you'll destroy a historical
> technological resource which
> unfortunately is found in ever dwindling numbers and
> is irreplaceable.
> Would you want to destroy a historical artifact such
> as a pyramid to rebuild
> it with more "modern"  building materials?
> Here I do exactly the opposite from what you want to
> do: once in a while I
> find a "modified/improved/modernized"  military
> radio which was a
> technological marvel for its times and restore it as
> it was intended to be.
> This way hopefully it'll be preserved for posterity,
> in the same working
> condition to enjoy and to use as it was 50-60 years
> ago.
> 
> My 2 cents' worth...
> 
> 73, Meir WF2U
> Landrum, SC
> 
> 
>  -----Original Message-----
> From: 	[email protected]
> [mailto:[email protected]]  On
> Behalf Of Michael Young
> Sent:	Thursday, August 08, 2002 4:27 PM
> To:	[email protected]
> Subject:	[R-390] R390/Solid State
> 
> 
> I have an R390 (not A) receiver that I have been
> wanting to convert to solid
> state for many years.  Now that I am retired after
> 32 yrs as an electronics
> engineer (communications and instrumentation) I am
> ready to have a go at it.
> One of the things I bought a few years ago is the IF
> strip from an R390A
> (tubeless -- but with all Mech Filters).  I have the
> depot manuals for both
> the R390 and R390A.
> 
> Can someone point me to some sites that have
> information on my proposed
> venture?  I am not particularly interested in
> reinventing wheels.  I also
> want to build and install a electronic digital
> counter or the vfo.
> 
> TNX
> 
> Mikey
> 
> 
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