[R-390] R-390 restoration and modifications

[Paul H. Anderson]

Folks have written strongly negative postings about modifying R-390's,
especially with solid state changes to the tube circuits.

I think it is a shame to come down hard on people who want to modify them
or have done so in the past.

The reason I say that is that the best way to learn about something is to
take it apart, work on it, fix it, modify it, and so on.  I do this with
cars, and no one screams about me putting a 302 roller motor shortblock
into my 1966 Mustang (underneath the CA emissions heads, smog gear, and
so on).

Sure, there are fewer R-390 and R-390A's than Mustangs.  Some R-390's
certainly deserve to be saved in as original condition as possible - those
that are rare and unique - R-389's, pristine R-390's, and so on.

But come on - there are a lot of R-390A's out there that would have been
dumpster fodder 10 years ago.  Some on the list feel that St Julien Creek
radios aren't worth bothering with, with good justification (their
condition isn't worth the time needed to repair them properly).  Other
people, like me, feel the St Julien Creek radios have enough potential to
be worth the time, on average.  Certainly some will be lemons, but I
suspect most clean up to be perfectly adequate radios.

What's wrong with someone experimenting?  Alex wanted to do solid state
replacements for some hard to find R-392 tubes (26C6) - plug in, sure, but
what's wrong with some other guy taking a ratty R-390A and experimenting
with the circuits, trying different approaches to things for the purpose
of learning, not to mention fun?

I see a lot of conflicting views on this list - "the radio is perfect,
don't modify it", "the radio has poor AGC, do this mod", "tubes are
glorious, don't replace them", "let's build a solid state 6082", "diodes
vs 26Z5W's" , and on and on.  What's the line between solid state being
good versus bad?  Military obviously used them in the power supplies (and
probably preferred them).  Heat and power reductions are good - having
options for when rare tubes are no longer available is good, too.  But a
little experimenting should be ok, too.

Take the eBay auction for the transistorized R-390A.  They guy said he did
it long ago - maybe he dug it out of a dumpster recovery missing half its
parts with broken wiring to boot.  I admire him for having the knowledge
to fully understand the R-390A well enough to go through and solid state
everything, and still have it play at the end!  Is it better?  Is it
faster?  Prettier?  I don't know and I don't care.  He had the balls to do
something different, enjoyed the result, and shouldn't be persecuted for
it.

It was pretty painful awhile back seeing many dozens of very hostile
messages about the person asking about solid stating their R-390A.  It is
just a radio, and just a hobby.  The museums have as many as they need,
they last a long time, and there are still plenty to go around.  In the
long run, we're all gonna be dead, and the radios are probably going into
dumpsters anyway.

If you're gonna scream about someone solid stating an R-390A (theirs, not
yours), where's all the hue and cry about parting out radios?  Should
every R-390A be saved, no matter what the cost?  What about the folks with
5 radios (like me, oops) - are they all playing 100% perfect, 100%
pristine original restored examples, or are they just collecting dust on
the shelves?

I think it is perfectly appropriate to question if a particular radio
warrants special preservation or not.  But if it is just a below average
condition, garden variety R-390A from a garden variety contract, then
what's the big deal?

Just as there are Mustangs (6 cylinder drivers), and then there are
_Mustangs_ (boss 429, boss 302, 428 CJ, plus dozens of variants of rare
combinations), there are R-390's (bottom of the barn scavenging trip
recoveries, meterless St Julien Creek wonders), and there are _R-390's_
(about any R-389, a Rick Mish restoration of a NIB R-390, or a low serial
# 67 contract EAC or many others).

I personally draw the line at drilling holes in a piece of metal that is
original unmodified.  Many other changes on an R-390 series are hard for
me to justify for my radios for my purposes.  Other people naturally
differ.

I think the R-390 restoration hobby has room for both modified radios and
unmodified.  It would be great to see some more tolerance and acceptance
of both ends of the hobby.

Thanks for reading,

Paul Anderson