[R-390] Please spare us

[Steve Hobensack]

     If the R-390a has 1 uV sensitivity and the RA-17 has  ½ uV 
sensitivity, Is that twice as sensitive? There are some frame-grid tubes one 
can insert in the front end to improve sensitivity. I have tried them, but I 
always go back to the good old 6DC6. It is resistant to imd (overload, cross 
modulation). The R-390 is my only receiver(as compared to 51J4, SP-600, 
Icom720A) that will pick up daytime WTOP in washington DC 1500 kc 360 miles 
away ?10kw, against a local station 1490 kc WMOA 1 kw 5 miles away. I have 
to zero beat 1500, 2 kc bandwidth selected, bfo offset 1.5 kc.
...Steve...N8YE

Message: 1
Date: Mon, 06 Jun 2005 10:35:51 -0400
From: Roy Morgan <roy.morgan at nist.gov>
Subject: Re: [R-390] Please spare us
To: "Kenneth Arthur Crips" <CRIPS01 at MSN.COM>, "R-390"
	<R-390 at mailman.qth.net>
Message-ID: <6.0.0.22.2.20050606102338.0456fd38 at mailserver.nist.gov>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

At 07:13 PM 6/5/2005, Kenneth Arthur Crips wrote:
>... Instead of arguing which radio is better the discussion sho(uld) center 
>on what is different and why they are different.

Ken,

There is a fellow in my antique radio club (www.maarc.org) who has had a
long and varied career in radio, both military and civilian. He's VERY
knowledgeable about all sorts of radios. I heard him say once that the
Racal RA.17 was ten times more sensitive than the R-R90A.? At the time,
I
though "probably not!"? Then later I got a manual for the Racal (and
later
yet a radio itself) and found that the specifications for sensitivity
are
very similar.

I have not yet repaired and aligned the Racal RA.17 UC that I have, so I
can't report on it's performance.
(snip)