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

Tue Apr 12 13:57:06 EDT 2005

FRR-59A

Lester Veenstra
Senior Engineering Program Manager
Intelsat General
6550 Rock Springs Drive, Suite 450
Bethesda Maryland, 20817
+1-301-571-1212
e-mail: lester.veenstra at intelsatgeneral.com

-----Original Message-----
From: r-390-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:r-390-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Tom Norris
Sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2005 1:41 PM
To: R-390 at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [R-390] What is the difference between 390 and 390A

Any bonus points for a receiver with 65 tubes 5 meters (just on the
front
panel, there are 2 behind a lift up panel in front) AND that weighs
around 300
pounds? Has a cooling fan too.

Tom NU4G

>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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>>>
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>>
>
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