[R-390] What is the difference between 390 and 390A

Mon Apr 11 22:23:44 EDT 2005

Hi

Well here it goes:

190KC to 490KC BC-453? ARC-5 Command set is an 8
The 390A is a 9.
The 390 not an A is a 9.1 +/- 0.5
Harris RF-550 w/551 is at least  7.
Gotta get the R&S in there, maybe a 8.99976 +/-3.13742 (it's German - 
we need to be precise)
There's the Racal RA-17, give it a -17 with all the original cooked to 
oblivion by now resistors still in place.
Need to put the Heath SB-301 in there somewhere above a 5 or so.
I would put the R250M2 in at least in the 6's from what I have heard. 
Be nice to see one.
SP-600-JX-any at least an 8

On the other end of the scale:

AM section of your car radio -2
Stations received by the FM section of your car radio -9
Anything satellite radio -10

Optional points (may be additive):

Radio's painted *very* bright colors (including stripes) -3
Radio's named after American Presidents -5
Radios designed to cover 2 to 22 MHz in one band 3/4 inch wide -12
Any radio made before 1920 +10
Radios with "massacre" in their name -3
Radios with LED's built into the antenna -12
Any radio that saved a life while turned off  +5 (Motorola MX-300 in 
bludgeon mode comes to mind)
Any radio that saved a life while turned on +12
Any radio with more than 35 tubes in it +6
Computer driven black box radio (including those with 35 tubes) -9

Of course this is only the abbreviated list ....

	Enjoy!

		Bob Camp
		KB8TQ

On Apr 11, 2005, at 9:48 PM, Michael Murphy wrote:

> That's right Bob.  We like all of them. What we need is a radio 
> performance
> scale. Let's call a command set receiver a 2 and an R-390 a 9.  This 
> ought
> to bring out the natives..
> Here is the scale:
>
> 1. Knight Space Spanner
> 2. ARC-5 Command Set
> 3. Heath HR-10
> 4. BC-348
> 5. Hallicrafters SX-28
> 6. National HRO
> 7. Hammarlund HQ-180
> 8. Drake R4B
> 9. R390A
> 10. Murphy MB-40
>
> Mike Murphy   WB2UID
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Bob Camp" <ham at cq.nu>
> To: "ROBERT YOUNG" <youngbob53 at msn.com>
> Cc: <r-390 at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Monday, April 11, 2005 5:12 PM
> Subject: Re: [R-390] What is the difference between 390 and 390A
>
>
>> Hi
>>
>> Obviously item number 4 is a prerequisite. We *never* get rid of
>> radios, we just keep adding to the pile.
>>
>> Enjoy!
>>
>> Bob Camp
>> KB8TQ
>>
>>
>> On Apr 11, 2005, at 4:34 PM, ROBERT YOUNG wrote:
>>
>>> I'd like to thank all of you for taking the time to answer my
>>> questions of
>>> which I'm sure I'll have plenty more in the next months. You've 
>>> helped
>>> me to
>>> decide which one to buy:
>>>
>>> 1. 390
>>> 2. 390A
>>> 3. SP-600
>>> 4. keep my HQ-180
>>> 5. many others.
>>> haha!
>>>
>>> Bob Young
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Damon Raphael" <w7md at comcast.net>
>>> To: "ROBERT YOUNG" <youngbob53 at msn.com>
>>> Cc: <r-390 at mailman.qth.net>
>>> Sent: Monday, April 11, 2005 3:08 PM
>>> Subject: Re: [R-390] What is the difference between 390 and 390A
>>>
>>>
>>>> Hello Bob,
>>>> I use a HQ-180, R390 and R390a.
>>>> The 390 radios have more accurate frequency readout, to start. This 
>>>> is
>>>> not surprising since they cost a fortune in 1950s and 1960s dollars
>>>> when
>>>> they were manufactured. They have the best freq readout of probably
>>>> any
>>>> non digital radio ever made.
>>>> The 390 and 390a have the ability to listen to "wider" signals which
>>>> means better audio fidelity when you want to listen to broadcast
>>>> music.
>>>> What the HQ-180 has, that the 390s don't, is a tunable notch filter.
>>>> I use the Hammarlund mainly for SWL and the 390s for ham radio. The
>>>> mechanical filters in the 390a are more effective for rejecting
>>>> interference than the LC filters in the 390, but may give somewhat
>>>> poorer quality audio fidelity at the same bandpass width.
>>>> The R390 may be a little more sensitive than the 390a. It has an 
>>>> extra
>>>> stage of RF amplification but this probably doen't really make much
>>>> difference as both radio are very sensitive; otherwise, the Collins
>>>> engineers wouldn't have removed the extra stage in the redesign to
>>>> make
>>>> the 390a.
>>>> If you get a 390 or 390a, then you will have a considerable expense 
>>>> in
>>>> getting it restored to its original operating specifications. There
>>>> are
>>>> only a few people who know enough about these radios to properly
>>>> restore
>>>> them.
>>>> Hope thmis helps,
>>>> Damon Raphael, W7MD
>>>> Tucson, AZ
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ROBERT YOUNG wrote:
>>>>> Hi,
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm new here, I'm a BCB dx'er and plan on buying a Collins within 
>>>>> the
>>>>> next
>>>>> year and was recommended to come here for help by a fellow member 
>>>>> of
>>>>> the
>>>>> NRC. I'll probably have a lot of questions and my first one is what
>>>>> is
>>>>> the
>>>>> difference between the 390 and the 390A? Which would be better for
>>>>> BCB
>>>>> DXing? Also I use a nice HQ-180 right now, can anyone compare the 
>>>>> two
>>>>> for
>>>>> me? thanks,
>>>>>
>>>>> Bob Young
>>>>> _____________________________________________________________
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>>>>
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