[R-390] Dayton

[Paul H. Anderson]

On Mon, 20 May 2002, Jerry Kincade wrote:

> Did not see one single solitary R-390/R-390A in the flea market, might have
> missed one somewhere, but clearly not much there in the boatanchor line. No
> SP-600's, no Johnsons with only a couple of overpriced exceptions. A few
> Hallicrafters, one fair SX-115 (priced at $2K).

Hmmm... there was a fair bit Friday morning.

I saw two R-390A's - both reasonable priced, good condition units
(complete w/meters, $450 range).  Saw 3 R-392's - I snapped up the first
one $100 for a repairable unit needing a front panel, but had the original
meter and all the knobs (bought a front panel from Fair on the way home,
and put it on this weekend).  Two other 392's - $100 (no meter) and $200
(w/meter and working).  The guy I bought my R-392 from had a T-195 looked
complete, he said it was functioning, for $200.  He had related
components, too (FSK converter?, etc?).

The 392 I bought turns out to be the best functioning one I have - the PTO
is linear within a few hundred cycles across the bands, and it is
generally very well aligned.  With the new panel, it will look like a
fresh out of the box unit (after I paint the case to match the front
panel, anyway).

I saw 5-8 command sets, most in hacked condition, saw one R-24 in the
front seat of someones truck, clean but it was missing bits.

I ran across a guy selling a BC-348R with the original dyno.  The unit is
unmodified, the dyno looks new, but the unit had seen a commercial
overheaul in 1959 (minor paint touchup, maybe some other fixes).  I bought
that for $100.  Then, while carting it around, I got to listen to older
guys saying "hey, we used to give those away!"

I picked up a bud cabinet for $75 - like new condition, but needs work to
hold an R-390A - just a smidge too short.

I also saw several R-388's, a fair number of other tube equipment pieces
(amplifiers, who knows what else).

I picked up new R-392 power connectors, plus connectors for the back of my
R-391's, as well as more cables, adapters (UG-970's), and other stuff.

I also ran into Don Reaves - more by accident than anything else.  Would
have stuck around longer, but waking up at 4AM to drive down there kinda
knocked the stuffing out of me.

Overall, I can't complain.  My wife did (a little), but I can't... (*:

Paul