[R-390] Racal RA17 - off topic question

[Todd Bigelow - PS]

R390rcvr@aol.com wrote:

>Good day all:
>
>Would like to hear from anyone in the group who has experience with the RA17 
>line of receivers. My 1st impressions are that it is a mix of interesting 
>engineering and frustrating execution at times. Does not lend itself to easy 
>service like the R-390X series. Sorry for the off topic post, but this radio 
>def. is a kissing cousin to the R-390 radios, at least as far as its mission 
>in life!
>
>Randy
>

You've pretty much covered it, Randy. Served in similar-to-identical 
roles, similar performance, a bear to work on. Takes a little getting 
used to as far as setting and tweaking the Mcs knob when tuning the Kcs 
knob at the same time. No clickety-click bandswitch like we're so 
familiar with. From the reading I've done, it seems the founders of 
RACAL were originally supposed to build R-388s under license for the 
gov't in UKland, but would have been required to use all Collins parts 
or parts accepted by Collins, something to that effect. So, the deal 
fell through and they instead decided to roll their own. Take a look at 
the escutcheon sometime and note the similarity to the Collins design.

Several of us have RA-17 variants. I've spoken with Don who owns one 
about problems I have with mine. I think Barry Hauser has one also, 
certainly a few others guys on this side of the pond. The RA-17 is to us 
what the R-390A is to the guys on the other side of the pond - a 
wonderful receiver not easily found and once found, not easily parted 
with. Mine has an intermittent problem at the base of a tube which 
requires the tube be wiggled to get reception. Apparently some of the 
parts were of dubious quality (like those Black Beauty caps we're so 
fond of?) or are just NFG after so many years. Solder connections are 
also a problem according to the  RACAL experts. I love mine, I just wish 
I didn't need to perform major surgery to get to a place where a 5-10 
minute fix is all that will be required.

Other than said defect, mine is rock-solid stable, extremely quiet and 
sensitive as well. And it's really fun to use. Certainly one of the best 
once it's been rehabilitated, just like an nice R-390(*).

Boomer,  KA1KAQ