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

[Chris Kepus]

Norm, I felt you really didn't need to know one more person has covered
their keyboard and desktop with green drool but Gary's admission of drool
inspired me to add my comments.  The pictures you took of the beauty are
just amazing. As one person has already noted, these will serve as a
benchmark reference.  
Thanks for sharing them and congratulations!
73,
Chris
W7JPG

-----Original Message-----
From: r-390-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:r-390-bounces at mailman.qth.net]
On Behalf Of Gary Pewitt
Sent: Friday, November 28, 2008 11:19 PM
To: Norm - WA3KEY; r-390 at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [R-390] Lucky R-390A find on eBay...

Norm, you must have the nicest, cleanest R-390 in existence.  Even 
Rick Mish doesn't make them look that nice.  I know 'cause I had one 
of his full house rebuilds.  I'd still replace the "capacitors of 
death" and check out the mechanical filters.
At first I thought that $760.00 didn't seem like that much of a 
bargain.  Then I looked at the pictures.  Now I have to clean the 
drool off my keyboard.  You are one lucky guy.
Best of luck with it.  73  Gary




At 09:15 PM 11/28/2008, Norm - WA3KEY wrote:
>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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Gary Pewitt  N9ZSV   garypewitt at centurytel.net  479 675 4376
1500 French Prairie Rd. Booneville, Arkansas  72927
Sturgeon's Law "Ninety percent of everything is crap."
Pewitt's Law: But it's that other 10% that makes life worth living."


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