[R-390] Black Tube Shields, IERC and cooling fans

[Roy Morgan]

On Apr 17, 2009, at 5:35 PM, Richard W. Solomon wrote:

> The original owners ran these 24/7 in most cases. Why fix what ain't  
> broke ??

The radios are not really "broke".  But we operate (most of us) under  
quite different conditions than the military did with respect to a  
number of different aspects:

- The military folks had relatively unlimited supplies of spare  
tubes.  Most of us do not.
- The military had a regular schedule of operational checks and  
maintenance - radio overall performance was checked periodically, as  
were the tubes.
- For most operational radios, there was a ready maintenance  
capability - folks trained and experienced to make the things work  
right quickly.
- If a radio quit, there was likely another one to use in its place  
upon patching of the antenna and output.   Not all of us R-39x owners  
are lucky enough to have ready spare radios handy.
- Some installations (as in aboard many ships) had lots of air  
conditioning running and the spaces were quite cold.

With all of the above going for them,the military folks who ran these  
radios had pretty much a single goal for it all: keep the  
communications channels running (or keep the intercept operators happy  
with nice clear signals to copy).

We, on the other hand, have a different set of goals that may include  
the following:

  - Have a fun time discussing the things and how to keep them running
  - Copy some CW or other signals on the ham bands from time to time
  - Actually mess about with the radios and do things to and with them  
that seem like fun.

Roy

Roy Morgan
k1lky at earthlink.net
529 Cobb St.
Groton NY, 13073