[R-390] R-390A vs RA 17

[Ed Tanton]

I have both... and both are terrific examples of the
then-state-of-the-art. You have it exactly correct about repairing the
RA-17... I also have an HRO-500 that I need to work of since it doesn't
lock above 20MHz... it is similar to the RA-17 with its early PLL design
(the '17 being implemented using tubes and the '500 with all germanium
transistors.) My R-390-A is the best one can be, having been given the
FULL Chuck Rippel 'treatment'. I CAN do a side-by-side of both since I
have a nice receiving multi-coupler, and only need the time-AND SPACE-to
make some observations. My expectation is that-somehow-the R-390-A would
win... but that 6 ft long 35mm film-like dial is hard to beat! And w/o
Chuck's expertise in bringing my R-390-A to its full potential, that
expectation of a winner would be reversed.

73  Ed Tanton  N4XY  <n4xy@arrl.net>

Ed Tanton  N4XY
189 Pioneer Trail
Marietta, GA  30068-3466

website:   http://www.n4xy.com

All emails <IN> & <OUT> checked by
Norton AntiVirus with AutoProtect

LM: ARRL  QCWA  AMSAT & INDEXA;
SEDXC  NCDXA    GACW   QRP-ARCI
OK-QRP  QRP-L #758  K2 (FT) #00057