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

odyslim at comcast.net odyslim at comcast.net
Fri Nov 28 22:55:01 EST 2008


 Beautiful! 
  

 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: Norm - WA3KEY <norm at wa3key.com>
> 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
> 
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