[R-390] Black faced R390-A

[Barry Hauser]

Actually, Les, the very best clue is an extra tag which reads "Unauthorized 
personnel will be terminated with extreme prejudice."  Also may have a 
countermeasures device -- a button marked "Top Secret -- Do Not Press this 
Button!  It's metal and wired directly to the hot side of the AC line.  The 
special floor mat that comes with it (black) is conductive and has a ground 
lead.  It's the automatic security model.



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Veenstra, Lester" <Lester.Veenstra at intelsatgeneral.com>
To: "Christian R. Fandt" <cfandt at netsync.net>; "R390 List" 
<r-390 at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Monday, March 28, 2005 2:20 PM
Subject: RE: [R-390] Black faced R390-A


Actually the best clue to a "spook enabled" R-390 is not the paint
color, but rather the presence of the ten turn dial modification on the
BFO. We tended to put that on all the receivers rather than keep track
of the receiver that might have to meet an FRA-86.

73
   Les  K1YCM/3

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 Christian R. Fandt
Sent: Monday, March 28, 2005 2:05 PM
To: R390 List
Subject: Re: [R-390] Black faced R390-A

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/

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