[R-390] Charles' dilema

[Phil]

Charles,

Sounds to me like you need a helper - somebody good
and strong to lift the R-390A.

During WWII, there was the lend-lease program - a good
idea which helped ABC win the war.  [America, Britain,
Canada]  And yes, Australia helped, as did the Free
French, Poles etc.

Maybe what you need is the "lift and learn program" -
someone strong and interested in working on vintage
gear.  They would learn by watching you.  Family
member, neighbour, good high school kid recommended by
school, community college, good kid at church etc. 
Someone who would appreciate the opportunity to help
and learn.  They might not be interested in
boatanchors, but they might be interested in tube
guitar amps and they could learn a lot of stuff from
you.  If they were nice enough and wanted to hang
around, great.  If they were nice, but bored, they
could just haul as needed - desk to floor, floor to
desk, garage to bench, that type of thing.  They might
be delighted to have that crunchy pot on their guitar
amp sprayed, or their EL34s tested or whatever.

Alternatives would include assistance from a local
youngish ham, waiting for your muscle tone to improve,
waiting for someone in the R-390(A) fraternity to be
in the area etc.

None of us are getting any younger, and all of us can
have sore backs etc. so the idea of a lifting buddy
should be pretty relevant for all of us.

When it comes to dropping the front panel, I use the
floor, as my DX desk really isn't quite deep enough
and I don't have a workbench - wish I did, but I don't
have the room.  Floors tend to be strong, and its hard
for a 75 pound object to fall off the floor.  I use a
couple 2 x 4 s to prop the mainframe a couple inches
off the floor and then go at it. I take the module
out, ducttape some scrap laminate flooring to my DX
desk, then work on the module at desk height in
comfort. If I can't separate things - such as when I
recently replaced the local gain and RF gain pots with
nice new clarostat pots - 2.5K, 2 watt, linear taper,
I work on the floor in discomfort, grumbling that I
wish I had room for a workbench. 

Diningroom tables are a no-no.

But if you must use a dining room table :) make a top
out of a piece of plywood with edges made so it drops
down over part of the table, say an end [pull out the
table a bit if it has a centre leaf] -  and can't
slide off - 1 x 2 ought to work.  Put pieces of felt
on the inside so the plywood or 1 x 2 never
touches/scratches the surface.  Or line it with
anything soft - making sure you don't use staples etc.

When it comes to R-390(A) service, one area I like the
idea of is module repair/restoration/reconditioning. 
The only module that spooks me is the RF module.  I
have no problem with the electronics, its the gears
that scare me.  Others may cringe at recapping the IF
module.  Others may cringe at the idea of restuffing
the filter caps.  OK, I would cringe at that too -
yucky stuff and inqusitive small kids don't mix. You
can probably find a "niche" for service that is a
win-win for all.  When you live outside the lower 48,
service of the whole R-390(A) is not very practical,
but sending a well packed module 2000 miles, well,
that's different.

Someday, I'll probably send my RF deck away for
mechanical service if the right person is out there. 
In the meanwhile, I'm enjoying using my 1955 Collins
R-390A that I pored a 100 or so hours into!

Phil Rafuse
PEI Canada

Phil Rafuse 
PEI Canada

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