[R-390] Black faced R390-A

[Christian R. Fandt]

Upon the date 13:57 27-03-05, wglevy said something like:

>When selling an R 390 an honest person would say where the R390 came from, 
>who worked on it and when, what mods were or weren't made on it. 
>Mentioning that Rich or Chuck or some other in the same class had 
>something to do could only add value. Intelligence Agency Black is the lie 
>that got the goat of our group. Do we have any spooks on the net that can 
>verify that the NSA, CIA, DEA ever had black radios?

Well, I'm decidedly not a spook but my 390A was said to have come out of 
the NSA. I got it from a small surplus dealer up near Rochester (NY) back 
in 1984/1985. I recall him telling me he got it in a batch of NSA gear that 
he bought from an auction in Virginia. He had no reason to BS me as I kinda 
knew him. Additionally, Nolan spoke well of him during one of our private 
email exchanges on a TV7 tube tester I had bought elsewhere.

Looks like a "normal", unmodified unit: grey panel, no shutter over freq 
indicator, made by EAC in the '67 contract. Haven't turned it on for 4-5 
years. I need to get a chance to un-rack it and do the preventative 
maintenance stuff: replace blocking caps in the mech filter circuit, check 
electrolytics, clean and lube gear train, etc. You know, the typical stuff 
one should do to protect and preserve their fine RX.

BTW, it seems I've only heard of one black 390x on the list but that was 
some years ago (5 or more?). Can't attribute it but, IIRC, it was simply a 
unit painted by one of the list members. Anybody recall that?

Doesn't it seem funny that if any black panel versions were factory-made 
and placed in the field in some quantity that some of us would have seen or 
at least heard of those units a decade or more ago??

Regards,  Chris F.

NNNN



Christian R. Fandt, Treasurer
Antique Wireless Association, Inc.
Jamestown, New York   USA
                          email:  cfandt at netsync.net
                          Electronic/Electrical Historian
                          URL: http://www.antiquewireless.org/