[R-390] RAL/RAK installation

[wf2u at ws19ops.com]

I don't think they're external BFO's...
The RAK/RAL are superregenerative receivers. There is no separate BFO  
in them, the carrier is regenerated by the regeneration control which  
is advanced to the point where the CW is audible. An external BFO for  
the RAK/RAL would have to be able to generate all the frequencies the  
receiver covers and be extremely stable, as the signal injected has to  
be the received frequency to beat with it. This couldn't have been  
accomplished with the tecnology of the times in a small box like  
that... My feeling that they may be crystal marker generators for  
getting quick calibrated reference points on the receiver tuning chart  
(no direct frequency readout on the RAK/RAL).
BTW I have both in my collection and the RAL (the HF one) is quite a  
good performer on the ham bands. It's sensitive, stable and has very  
low internal noise level. It has a fabulous tunable audio filter which  
makes it easy to tune around the crowded ham bands.
If anyone has experience with "direct conversion" receivers, the audio  
sounds somewhat similar, with extremely quiet between signals when the  
regeneration is set just right.

73, Meir WF2U
Landrum, SC


Quoting Don Heywood <wc4g at knology.net>:

> A fellow submarine sailor from the diesel boat days seems to remember that
> those receivers did not have a BFO so there was an outboard one used. He
> thinks the small box may be an outboard BFO....He admits it was a long time
> ago and he may be mistaken...
>
> My first boat had an R-390A, BRR-3, SRR11, 12,
> 13 and a RED for UHF...(1963)
> 73
> Don WC4G
> Charleston, SC
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Roy Morgan" <k1lky at earthlink.net>
> To: "R-390 LIST" <r-390 at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Friday, March 20, 2009 11:49 AM
> Subject: [R-390] RAL/RAK installation
>
>
>> Anchorites,
>>
>> At this link:
>> http://www.virhistory.com/ham/trip-07/p1010048.jpg
>> the RAL and RAK are shown with a little box mounted on top.
>>
>> Does anyone know what they are?
>>
>> Roy
>> RAL/RAK owner
>>
>>
>> Roy Morgan
>> k1lky at earthlink.net
>> 529 Cobb St.
>> Groton NY, 13073
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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