[R-390] R390/Solid State

Thu, 8 Aug 2002 23:22:11 -0400

Ok guys.  Enough is enough.  No I am not a troll.  Yes I want to convert
this anchor to SS.  I came to this place asking for help.  I have received
over 100 messages in the last day.  TWO were helpful.

You have talked me out of the project.  I will follow Mr Hauser's
recommendation with a few modifications.

1.  I will remove the front handles and use them for drawer pulls on an over
size drawer in the kitchen.
2.  I think I can sell the PTO to a kid down the street for $5.  I just have
to convince him it is some kinda special motor to use on his skate board.
3.  The tubes I will place in epoxy on a coffee table I am building for the
living room.
4.  I will probably use the power transformer and larger chokes and
transformers to weight down paper towels to soak up cat barf from the
carpet.
5.  Maybe I will send the power cord to that guy that is having trouble with
his.
6.  I may remove the front panel and mount my Yacht Boy behind it, drilling
the necessary holes to line up with important buttons.
7.  I have a friend (retired Mech Engineer) that will be glad to get all the
gears, esp the planetary system, for the robot is building.
8.  The coils I will probably just toss in my parts box.
9.  The frame and the rest I will give to my friend who needs a boat anchor.
10,  Y'all have a nice day.....you heah.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Barry Hauser" <[email protected]>
To: "Michael Young" <[email protected]>; <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, August 08, 2002 10:33 PM
Subject: Re: [R-390] R390/Solid State

> WARNING:  THE FOLLOWING IS A DIATRIBE & MANIFESTO
>
> Michael, Michael <sigh>  (as in Lee Strassberg to Al Pacino in Godfather
II)
>
> Where have you been?  Actually, you've been in the thick of it.  Me?  I'm
> not even in electronics by trade, but have witnessed what you must also
have
> witnessed.
>
> One of the reasons for converting to solid state might be that, like
> diamonds, silicon is forever -- NOT -- on two counts.
>
> Another might be improved performance -- not likely.  There are many
> "premium" military and commercial units that may outperform the R-390 in
one
> area, but not another two or three.  There always seems to be a tradeoff -
> noise, susceptability to overload or front end burnout, etc.  Power
> conservation -- not particularly.  Less heat, maybe, but it's amazing how
> much heat some solid state equipment puts out.  Longevity? Well, that gets
> back to the "two counts".
>
> One:  Solid state stuff fails also. Usually the active components aren't
> plugins.  Some SS components degrade -- not true that they either work on
> spec or not at all.  As front end FET's take hits, they can weaken
gradually
> before they fail.
>
> Two:  To borrow someone's sig line "They don't make tubes like they used
> to."  However, the most common tubes in the R-390 and '390A are still
highly
> available at reasonable prices, with maybe two or three exceptions,
however
> those are reversably solid-statable.  I have a passel of tube radios of
> various stripes.  I have also acquired a number of high end solid state
> receivers of the last 3 decades.  Take a look at the component complement
of
> the W-J's, Racal 6790's, R-1051's and so on.  How many of those components
> are still widely available?  I have a Debeg 2000 that needs work.
> Fortunately, it doesn't appear to have any latter day custom LSI or VLSI
> chips -- mostly all standard, including a raft of CMOS and Schottkey IC's
as
> well as an 8080 microprocessor.  (Leading, bleeding state of the art 'late
> 60's early 70's.)  They used to be as cheap as dirt.  Now find them, other
> than collector's items for show.  Some of the CMOS and Schottkey numbers
are
> familiar to me from when I worked a parts counter.  Now, one digit off is
a
> miss that's as good as a mile.
>
> Problem is, a lot of the solid state components had a limited product life
> cycle and are no longer in production.  What components will you choose,
> considering that some may fail, particularly in an experimental mode?
>
> As Tom L. pointed out, the R-392 is a much better candidate for solid
> stating.  I have one that someone did a full SS job on.  It arrived in the
> form of a surprise.  It appears that many of the transistors were a one
for
> one replacement for the tubes.  There is somewhat more rationale for doing
> this to an R-392 -- the 26 volt tubes are getting harder to find in
general,
> not as if it were just one or two like the R-390's so far.  However, when
I
> first made some inquiries on this list about it a 2-3 years ago,  I
learned
> that the most likely transistor types -- with high enough impedance --
were
> already of the unobtainium variety.  Hopefully, there's something else to
> use.  Oh, yeah, my SS R-392 works, drawing only about 80 ma with the dial
> bulbs off and 250 ma with 'em on.  But it doesn't work nearly as well as a
> stock R-392, but that's not to say it couldn't be improved upon.
>
> Now, if you really want to whip up a solid state R-390, I suggest the
> following:  Purchase a front panel and set of handles in good shape and
> refinish as needed.  Use a standard chassis or modified '390 H mainframe
> behind it.  Get a Sony 2010 and make some modifications -- externalize the
> LCD and place it behind the Veeder cutout, get rotary pots to replace the
> volume control, etc.  Get some of those digital rotary controls or
> cannibalize some computer mice, etc. to bring the controls out to the
front.
> Secure the 2010 to the chassis and you're done.  Or you could do this with
a
> PCR-1000 or a Ten Tec RX-320 and a used laptop.  Just position the laptop
> computer with the screen opened so you can look at it through the Veeder
> port.
>
> OK, sorry, but here's a bee for your bonnet.  The "manifesto" part.
>
> Thirty-two years as an EE and recently retired?  I have an assignment for
> you:
>
> 1.  Start from a blank piece of paper.
> 2.  Tweak your non-A to a fair-thee-well and give it a good workout and
> evaluation.
> 3.  Study the treasure trove of documents available (another thing missing
> from those latter day wonders -- most don't even have decent
troubleshooting
> sections. You're supposed to master the theory section and then theorize
> what's broken)
> 4.  Carefully review the mission of the R-390 series -- the extremely wide
> usage in various situations -- military, NSA, CIA, commercial, hobbiest,
> etc.over the last 40-50 years. The historical perspective.
> 5.  Review all the significant receivers that followed it -- the Racals,
> W-J's, Harris, the military plus commercial, and high end consumer,
> including current wideband Icom, Yaesu etc. Also consider computer
> connectivity and control.
> 6.  Anticipate later, recent and coming changes in "software" -- namely
> digital transmission, satellite, MP3, whatever signal "modalities" (always
> wanted to use that word).
> 7.  Design the functional successor to the R-390A. R-390B?  At least, on
> paper, and see what it looks like.
>
> OK, some hard-nosed requirements -- low/no noise, wide selection of
> bandwidths, tuning accuracy, long term serviceablility (like 50 or 100
> years, not 7), same form factor of 19 inch standard panel by 10 whatever
> high and about 14 ins. deep.  No need to make it small -- whatever room is
> left over will be needed for optional expansion modules or storing things
> like Bristol wrenches and spares.  Probably need a tube front end to
ensure
> protection of what follows from overload and nearby lightning strikes.
>
> Oh, BTW, it's top secret, so if you tell I'll have to kill you, but the
> latest greatest is guess-wot?  Thermionic emission technology on a micro
> level.  Yup, LSI chips with a jillion micro 5814A's inside.  Someone on
this
> list told me, but I'm not tellin' who.  (Of course, now he'll have to kill
> me.)  A few years off before it hits the commercial markets, and by then,
> all the silicon stuff will be designated obsolete.
>
> Should you decide to accept this assignment Mr. Young, the agency will
> disavow, oops -- scrap that -- I'm sure you can count on a lot of help
from
> your friends.  This email will self destruct in 10 seconds, or maybe I
will
> ..... <poof>
>
> Barry
>
> P.S  "Michael, Michael, we could be bigger than US Steel!"
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Michael Young" <[email protected]>
> To: <[email protected]>
> Sent: Thursday, August 08, 2002 4:26 PM
> 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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