[R-390] Black faced R390-A

[Harold Hairston]

Hey, Chris & All;

Sounds right to me. Hopefully,this thread is winding down. However, I have 
learned a lot----and been somewhat enterainned at the same time!

Now I have a legitimate question;

I have been looking for an R-390A for last few months. Question; Apparently, 
these fine receivers were manufactured by several (?) different companies. 
>From those of you who have had experience with them, are receivers 
manufactured by one particular company more desirable as a restoration 
project than another? Or, put more simply, if one had a choice, which one 
would you recommend? Please reply direct.

Many thanks,

Harold
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Christian R. Fandt" <cfandt at netsync.net>
To: "R390 List" <r-390 at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Monday, March 28, 2005 2:04 PM
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/
> _____________________________________________________________
> R-390 mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/r-390
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/faq.htm
> Post: mailto:R-390 at mailman.qth.net
> Unsubscribe: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/options/r-390
>