[R-390] Lucky R-390A find on eBay...

[Norm - WA3KEY]

Greetings to all on the list.

I've been a subscriber (in digest form) for many years but only
post once in a while when in need of a hard-to-find part.  A few
weeks ago an R-390 caught my eye on eBay.  It was listed as a
Stewart Warner and only featured one small, out-of-focus picture
with covers on.  The brief description read "working," "selling
for a friend" and the odometer was on "28,185."  I was looking
for a reasonably clean, working radio for restoration or possibly
parts (I already have 5 others), so thought this one might go for
a reasonable price.  It did, and I won the auction for $760.

Upon arrival I peeled away the bubble-wrap and the first thing
that caught my eye was what I thought was a reproduction top
cover.  I pulled the radio out of the box and was happy to see a
front panel that looked like new and a back panel that featured
an original line cord with metal 3-wire plug neatly stowed in its
clip.  I popped the top cover and my jaw dropped.  Aside from a
thin layer of dust, it looked like a new radio.  As I carefully
removed the modules, one-by-one, they all revealed EAC markings
... not Stewart Warner as indicated by the nameplate.

Long story short - all the tubes were either GE or RCA (except
for the ballast, of course) and bore the same "68" date codes as
the original font panel meters.  Even more remarkable was that
aside from the 0A2 and 26Z5's (which run hotter) all the silk
screen markings on the tubes remained fast even when rubbed with
a damp cloth.  This was a new radio!  The only sign of age was a
hardening of the insulation in the line cord and slight yellowing
of the white lines on the knobs.  A close inspection of the
"green" screws revealed no scratches and the tubes almost seemed
welded in their sockets for not having been touched in 40 years. 
As expected, they all tested as new in my TV-7D/U.

All the radio required was a good cleaning with compressed air
and a dry paint brush and some soapy water on a cloth.  Some
Tarn-X was applied to the silver plated surfaces with Q-tips and
a few of the knobs had some small paint chips to touch up. 
Electrically, the radio came right up to spec with the exception
of transformer Z216 in the high-IF which failed to peak and was
replaced.

Since most of us will never get to see what a new R-390A looks
like, I took photos of all the modules before reassembly and posted
them at my Web site.  Thirty high-resolution photos tell the story
at  www.wa3key.com/r390a   (r390a-01.jpg thru r-390a-30.jpg)

I e-mailed the seller informing it was the cleanest R-390A I've
ever seen and inquiring as to the radio's origin, but he never
replied.

Enjoy the photos...

73 de Norm - WA3KEY
norm at wa3key.com