[R-390] R-1051

[Cecil Acuff]

I can second Bobs comments with plenty of first hand experience...Prices
have fallen in the past couple of years....as well as interest it seems.

I know somebody, somewhere is sitting on countless dozens of them waiting
for them to be worth something someday...and someday maybe they will be.
Right now there are none to be found in the common surplus channels. (you
would think that would drive prices up)  A few show up now and again on
Ebay...and I know many list members have one or more...but no one wants to
spend the money on them like they would the 390 series or even the SP-600's.

They are complex and difficult to work on at times...but when they work
properly they are nice radio's....especially if you have a need to monitor
one specific frequency for long periods of time.  ISB is great for AM
SWL'ing with the dual IF's and Audio's and it's a great SSB rig.  A bit
noisy compared to the earlier tube gear....but there are lots of Germanium
transistors in them all the way up to at least the D model.

I bought the last of the complete Fair Radio R-1051 stock 3 or so years back
and still have several.

If you are the adventurous type and want to take a shot at doing repair work
on that series drop me note off list and I'll discuss a package deal or
trades.  I could use the room!

Cecil Acuff
The R1051 Shop


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bob Camp" <ham at cq.nu>
To: "Walter Schulz" <k3oqf at localnet.com>; "R-390 HF Receiver List"
<r-390 at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Sunday, July 25, 2004 9:52 PM
Subject: Re: [R-390] R-1051


> Hi
>
> This is from about ten years later but I suspect it is also relevant to
> the comparison.
>
> The first R-390A I ever played with I picked up with at Fair Radio in
> about 1972. It was a Saturday morning and business was slow in Lima. We
> went back to an warehouse that was full of an enormous pile of
> R-390A's. I picked one out and we carted it back to the main office to
> run it through a basic check before I drove it back to Rochester.
>
> Along the way we passed a stack of these odd radios with a bunch of
> knobs on them. At the time I had no idea what they could be, but I have
> sense figured out they were R-1051's. The stack was pretty good sized,
> but no where near as big as the R-390 stack. I asked about them and the
> comment that came back was "FMS (Foreign Military Sales)  nobody seems
> to want them in this country".
>
> The 1051 has been suffering by comparison with the R-390 for a long
> time ....
>
> Enjoy!
>
> Bob Camp
> KB8TQ
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Jul 25, 2004, at 10:25 PM, Walter Schulz wrote:
>
> > Gentleman;
> > Some thoughts about the R-1051 from ex RM who served in the mid
> > 1960's. In radio central onboard essex class aircraft we had a number
> > R-1051's beside the R-390A's. We used the R-1051 for ISB or USB and
> > LSB to receive MUX (Multiplex) radioteletype. The R-1051 was very
> > stable but was always failing due to heat, the heat in the radio room
> > was always about 90 to 100 degrees F with A/C running.
> >
> > The transistors could not take the constant temperature off Vietnam.
> > The receivers keep failing daily where the R-390A's kept working.
> > R-390A was good on SSB without the adapter when receiving MUX. Also
> > they were excellent for receiving regular radioteletype transmission
> > with 850 cycles shift.
> >
> > The R-1051 is knob twister delight and far as I am concerned it should
> > be deep six. However, when it is working its good. It either good or
> > darn bad....so much for my opinion....which stems back to my days in
> > radio central of yesterday years.
> >
> > Rgds,
> > Walter
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