Fw: [R-390] Fair Radio Blue Strippers and other Ramblings

[N4BUQ at aol.com]

Lee,

The front panels can be re-silkscreened.  I had my first one done that way.  Looks pretty good to me.

http://members.aol.com/n4buq/r390a/

There was a gentleman who did this, but he no longer does them.  He sold the setup to someone else and I don't know if they still do that or not.

I think Hank (on this list) does re-screening as well.

Good luck with it.

Barry(III) - N4BUQ


>
>How do you restore a blue stripper when it does not have an engraved front
>panel?  Did you have the front panel re-silk screened or did you just
>replace it with an engraved front panel from another radio?  Or have both
>methods been employed?  Seems to me a radio with no meters and facing a
>re-silk screen process would get the project up into big bucks fast.  (Maybe
>the blue comes off leaving a nice grey panel) I guess if you got lucky and
>got a blue stripper with an engraved front panel it would not be too bad a
>project if you had to repaint it.  Missing meters really bugs me though.
>
>Since getting interested in R-390As a year ago, I have been able to find 4
>of them now and they were not too expensive.  In fact, they cost me less
>then a blue stripper and they all have meters. ($75 to $250).  I have not
>restored them as yet so I don't know what is totally facing me.  I bought
>two replacement cap kits and a couple extra IF decks and a couple extra RF
>decks to get me going.  Two of the R-390As were missing the power supplies
>but a member on here was kind enough to sell me two replacements at a
>reasonable cost.  I also purchased the R-390A and SP-600 videos from Hi-Res.
>I also downloaded from the internet the manual.  (It took 3 ink cartridges
>to do it)!  (It's wonderful)!  Now I need to start restoring before time
>runs out!  (I am 67).
>
>If I was going to start this quest all over again, I think I would approach
>it the same way as I have done in the past.  Don't be to quick to buy but
>look around.  Maybe I just got lucky, but I think finding a R-390A locally
>or within driving distance will probably provide a better project requiring
>less work for a better price.  There are no shipping charges and you can see
>what you are buying.  I guess if I bought a blue stripper I would want to
>restore it too as I am dumb enough to believe every R-390A should be
>restored, although not a project for everyone.  It sure would be a great
>accomplishment to do this.  You certainly would want to take a lot of
>"before" and "after" pictures to appreciate the project once completed.
>
>The amount of knowledge on R-390As on this reflector is awesome.
>
>Lee
>w0vt
>Houston
>
>
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