[R-390] Solid State Mods

[Todd Bigelow - PS]

Don Reaves W5OR wrote:
<snip>

> I have an R-388 that was almost fully solid stated, and it quit working
> before I had a chance to analyze how well (or badly) it performed next to an
> original one.   I have no documentation on the mods, and there are lots of
> 'loose ends' in the receiver.  With too much ripped out to ever put it back
> together (the R-388 is not modular like the R-390 series), a kluged on
> Collins mechanical filter adaptor that sticks up over the top panel, and
> several homebrew printed circuit boards it is quite a sight.  It is
> certainly an example of how a project can go awry.

I guess we know who's house to visit this halloween!

Seriously though, Don is right in what he says here. I'm one of the users who
speaks up against mods *only* if they are irreversible and destroy a piece of
history no longer being manufactured. I'm not at all against mods that extend
the life of a radio or replace otherwise-unobtainable parts to bring a rig back
to life. I realize that some enjoy the 'challenge' of trying to improve a good
design or to do it their way, and I'm not one who'd prevent it if I could - I'd
merely discourage the destructive part, that's all. I'm against adding holes or
anything really that involves a Sawzall or air chisel. There are some who don't
even want you to disturb a solder joint or change a single component! Talk about
the opposite extreme. If you totally gutted and rebuilt an R-390 with all new
technology, it would no longer be an R-390 receiver. And if you refuse to put
power to it for fear of frying a component, it becomes a paper weight( big
'un!), and no longer an R-390 receiver since it doesn't receive.

I think it's not only good that we can find ways around rectifiers, ballast
tubes, or anything else that goes bad, it will become more and more important
and necessary as time goes by. However, if you want a solid state R-390(or other
old BA), why not just find an empty chassis and panel, then mount a RatShak
receiver behind it? Saves a lot of time! It just seems wasteful to me to try to
make a tube set into a transistor set when it wasn't meant to be and others
already exist. That's my argument against 'mods', not all-encompassing by any
means. One of the most interesting threads I recall related to trying other
tubes in circuits, which grew out of the 'trying the same tube in a different
stage' thread. I like the mods like clipping pins off a tube (12BA6?) and using
it to replace the 3TF7 after swapping out the PTO tubes. There are some really
good ideas out there which require no major rig surgery.

Okay, okay....so maybe I still feel a tinge of guilt now and again over the old
command set receiver I 'modified with numerous improvements'(irreversibly hacked
up) in college. It still works, it still uses tubes, and it gave me a far
greater appreciation for original designs and owning/using historical artifacts.
Back then I was willing to replace the dynamotor with a 115v power supply and
add a few controls. Now I want to use them as designed, that's part of the fun
for me. I have plenty of other radios that will plug into the wall. If you think
solid stating a power supply is fun, try locating all the pieces for a complete
ARC-5 or ART-13 set up. They used to be available cheap, now they're hard to
find in unhacked shape. Expect the same for R-390s and other currently
'plentiful' radio gear.

Just don't mention Dr. Locklear's ballast mod tricks - we already know he's a
witch.....

73 de Todd/'Boomer'  KA1KAQ