[R-390] Pricing Question
Sandy Geiger
chg111 at hotmail.com
Sat Nov 19 09:28:22 EST 2005
I bought a RatShak DX-440 & a PopCom one bright day in 1990, & kept
hearing stories of this marvellous radio, an "R-398". Soon figgered
out it was an "R-390A", called Rick Mish, bought a Dittmore-Friemuth
from him, & it's been downhill ever since...2 R-390s, 2 R-390As,
R-388, R-389, R-391, R-392, SP-600, SX-28, SX-25, NC-183D, HRO-50T1,
Scott SLRM, RBO-2, EK-07D, & of course, a couple of mighty, mighty
SW-54s...<grin>-Sandy G.
C.H.(Sandy)Geiger III
______________________________________________________________
From: "Cecil Acuff" <chacuff at cableone.net>
To: "mikea" <mikea at mikea.ath.cx>, <R-390 at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: Re: [R-390] Pricing Question
Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2005 22:51:11 -0600
>Well that brings me to my story which I have never told here, of
how
>I got my first R-390A. I had been looking for one for quite a
>while...I didn't at that point have any boatanchor radio's...I was
>active on the ham bands chasing DX on a Yaesu FT-1000D. (long
since
>gone..sold it and bought my wife a computerized sewing
>machine...ain't love grand.)
>
>Anyway I had been talking to a local guy, I have spoken of before,
>about buying one from him since he had a pile of them. We could
>never get together...mostly because he would never commit. I
>decided to call an elderly Amateur Radio friend who is now
SK...his
>call was KB5QBU. I called and asked Fred if he had or knew anyone
>that had an R-390 for sale. His response was...."Funny you should
>call...I just went and retrieved one from a fellows home that I
had
>lent to him a few months back...he died in a plane crash and it's
in
>the trunk of my car and I was dreading having to get it out. If
you
>will come get it out it's yours." Of course it didn't take me but
a
>few minutes to get over there and get it out for him. Turns out
he
>was a member of MARS and had signed the thing out many years
>earlier. He did some paperwork to have it retired or
decommissioned
>or whatever it is one does to get it off the books. It's a very
>clean Motorola..with all Motorola modules. Original meters and
all
>covers. He gave me a binder with some manuals in it and they
turned
>out to be for the R-391 which I traded to our list admin for a
>correct original R-390A manual many years ago.
>
>My only regret looking back now is that the same day Fred offered
a
>very nice looking old National receiver...a VLF as I remember
>it...probably an RBL or some such and I didn't take it. (I had
what
>I had come for...couldn't imagine me needing another old tube
>radio..HA) He was cleaning out...worried about what his wife was
>going to do with all the stuff if he passed on. I'm sure it went
in
>the trash....
>
>Turns out as I later found out...his wife died a few years later
and
>he moved out west to live with his son where he died just a few
>years ago.
>
>One things for sure....I was bit hard by a bug that day...I didn't
>see the symptoms until much later. I have the incurable disease
>now. Probably no less than 20 boatanchors reside in the shop
>now....along with an Icom 756 Pro II just to keep things balanced!
>
>Where does it end? I find myself driving down the road looking at
>trash piles in front of homes folks have moved out of or cleaned
>out, hoping to spot a discarded boatanchor....haven't yet but I
can
>only imagine how many have gone to the landfill undetected.....
>
>Cecil...
>----- Original Message ----- From: "mikea" <mikea at mikea.ath.cx>
>To: <R-390 at mailman.qth.net>
>Sent: Friday, November 18, 2005 10:02 PM
>Subject: Re: [R-390] Pricing Question
>
>
>>On Fri, Nov 18, 2005 at 08:06:51PM -0600, bw wrote:
>>>
>>> > That and the 'chatter' on the list about this specific
auction
>>>raised
>>> > its awareness.
>>> >
>>> > I have a receipt from Slep Electonics (remember him?) dated
>>>6/28/72 for
>>> > "1 ea. R-390A Receiver with manual...... $750". It's a
>>>Motorola in
>>> > very nice shape, BTW.
>>> >
>>> > According the the BLS CPI calculator, that's $3,574.16 in
2005
>>>dollars.
>>>
>>>I don't have a receipt from the Dayton fest in 1994, but I have
a
>>>mint
>>>looking 67 EAC bought for $365. It came with the Utah plate, and
>>>top/bottom
>>>covers too. I don't think the radio ever saw service and was
>>>probably on a
>>>shelf the whole time.
>>>
>>>Somebody on this list found one in a dumpster. I can't remember
>>>who that was
>>>or if he is still around. Quite a few guys have had one given to
>>>them.
>>
>>I've had 3 R-390A given to me: an EAC, a Stewart-Warner, and an
>>Amelco.
>>I bought an R-390 from Rick Mish, and it's a lovely piece of
work.
>>
>>When I was TDY to Osan AB, ROK, I saw all the R-390 (or R-390A)
>>rigs in the
>>MARS shack being tossed into a dumpster, and couldn't rescue any
>>for myself
>>because I was leaving the next day and my hold baggage had
already
>>gone
>>out. That *hurt*.
>>
>>--
>>Mike Andrews, W5EGO
>>mikea at mikea.ath.cx
>>Tired old sysadmin
>>_____________________________________________________________
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>
>
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