[R-390] OT: Other Radios You Like

[Bill]

Ok, I'll jump in.

If you are going to chose a radio, I would recommend playing around with
them.
They all have their own quircks, features etc.

The sp-600 has the smoothest tuning I've ever come across.  
It is a wonderful radio to work on. Even replacing the caps in the 
RF deck isn't so bad.  Going from one end of a band to another can be 
a pain as requires many turns. The bands are basically set up
harmonically.
I can tune in cw/ssb ok on 14 MHz but you do have to fiddle with the RF
gain
to keep it low enough. I havent' tried ssb at say 21 MHz but it will be
harder
to tune in because the tuning rate get gets faster as the bands get
higher.

R-390(a) is a big radio. I may get shot but consider a r-388/51j-4 as
the little
brother.  All have linear tuning over 1 MHz. Very nice esp at higher
frequencies, e.g.
 21 MHz SSB.  However, if your desired station crosses the 1 MH
boundary, its a band
change and you have to crank the PTO all the way to its other end.
Tuning is not
as smooth or rapid as the sp-600.  The tubes in the 51J series are
relatively easy
to come by. 

Similar to the r-390(a)/51J is the 51S-1. Again it has linear
tuning/gearing.
More compact modern looking. RF section is pain to work in - very tight.