[R-390] FRR-59/URR

[gregory mengell]

Keith Densmore wrote:

>Having owned and refurbished 4 of these critters over the last 30 years,
>I partly agree with Craig, and partly disagree.
>They are definetely not for the faint of heart, to service
>properly they must be bolted down. Once that is done
>however, the drawers swing out, seperate,  and  tilt for easy
>servicing. The trick with doing a repair on a radio of this
>nature is isolating the faulty section. Same applies to any
>complex radio, R-390's  included. Once the section is
>isolated repair is straightforward. Front end alignment is
>easy to do on these sets.
>Once repaired and aligned, I have never heard a better
>sounding SSB radio.
>Like all sets, they do have some weaknesses too but when
>you weigh in the quality of construction, these are beautiful sets, if you
>have the room for them.
>IMHO.
>BTW, the set on ebay that sparked this discussion is mine.
>I did the original repair and alignment about 20 years ago
>and it has not failed once in that time.
>
>73,
>Keith
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Craig Anderson Ext 1365 <Craig.Anderson at saintpaul.edu>
>To: <r-390 at mailman.qth.net>
>Sent: Tuesday, February 20, 2007 8:54 AM
>Subject: [R-390] FRR-59/URR
>
>
>I actually owned two of these behemoths back in the late 80's.  One of
>which I purchased from Rick Mish at Miltronix.  The FRR-59 makes the
>R-390A look like a crystal radio in its complexity since it uses 64
>tubes and uses a tube based frequency synthesizer.  Trying to get the
>thing to work was a nightmare.  The documentation is hard to get and the
>thing is so big that it is difficulty to work on.  It is not a
>particularly good radio anyway.  I think this was the contract that
>finally killed National.  I talked to an ex-Navy technician who had
>worked on these and he was not impressed.  Their reliability was less
>than stellar.  No comparison to the R-390A or R-1051.  The two best days
>of my life...the day I acquired and FRR-59 and the day I finally sold
>them both!
>
>
>
>W9CLA
>
>
>
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>  
>
I would agree with Kieth. Once properly maintained they are an Excellent 
reciever.Manuals can be obtained and repairs though at times difficult 
are not impossible.I have nothing but good things to say about them. I 
own 2 at present and have another 2 across town that I will be 
attempting to rework with aid of a friend.This in no way detracts from 
my overall respect that I have for the R390A which is a superb design. 
73 Gregory