[R-390] A (very) big project

[Tim Shoppa]

"Mark Richards" <mark.richards at massmicro.com> wrote:
> Amateur Radio has sent some of the first raspy dits and dahs across the
> ether and communications into orbit by satellite.  Perhaps it's time to
> engage in what may be seen by some as insane: re-manufacture the R-390a.
>
> Some might ask "why?".

Oh, you don't need to convince anyone on this list of the "why".  We
and many others understand most of the "why" quite well.

A better question might be "how much?".

My guesstimate is that the tooling to make all the chassis/
inductors/transformers/gears/cams/etc.
would run into hundreds of thousands of dollars.  We would
convince Collins to make mech filters to the original specs
(actually, maybe better, in terms of foam...).  And then, ignoring
the cost of the tooling, it'd be about $20,000 a copy in mass
production.

In smaller production runs many of the parts would be made using
CNC rather than dedicated tooling, but the cost would go up by
a factor of several.

Maybe I'm being pessimistic.  On one of the Usenet ham groups
a guy was swearing up and down he could build and sell a 60's era
mostly-tube HF transceiver for $200, my guesstimate was 20 times
as much.  Maybe I do too much government-like contracting to
be optimistic about the prices.

Does anyone know what the price to the gov't was for each Fowler
made in 1985?

I look in my mid-60's QST's and see HF SSB transceivers for $300-$400
on the low end, and kits for 3-tube Eico CW transmitters in the $80 range.
In inflation-adjusted numbers those would be like several thousand for
the transceiver and many hundred for the CW transmitter.

Tim.