[R-390] Unusual ? Front panel

[Tom Bridgers]

These panels are the result of Columbia Electronics work in
updating and restoring R-390A's for certain 3-letter  US govt.
agencies and for a few Latin American countries.  I have 
several of the Columbia Electronics nameplates that I 
purchased from Dick Walser who was the prime sub-
contractor doing the work..
 
He and his business partner designed the module that is an
add on to the IF deck which produces the capability to switch
from Lower SSB and Upper SSB.  Somewhere in my files, I 
have a circuit drawn by Dick, but it is also available in PaoloViappani's book, R-390-URR - R390a-URR handbook.The book, written in Italian,  appears to be available from: Amazon.co.uk.
 
I also have one of the panels designed by Dick with the 
nomenclature you describe.
 
Dick Walser, in North Hollywood, CA, was the subcontractor
in that work.  His company was named Airborne Electronics.
 
I visited Dick about 15 years ago, and spent a delightful two
days with he and his lovely wife, Dede, talking about the old days and looking over his incredible collection of R-390A parts.
 
Until his death about 5 years later,  I was one the phone with 
Dick several times a month seeking his advice on this or that 
problem I was having trying to restore a R-390A.  He had an 
encyclopedic knowledge of the R-390 and R-390A, and was a genuine pleasure to have a conversation with.
 
Another person on this list had the great fortune of purchasing all
of Dick's parts, most of which unfortunately were lost in a shipping
disaster when they were shipped to his new home in Texas.
Best,
-Tom

 
> Date: Thu, 13 Jun 2013 18:46:37 -0400
> From: k2cby at optonline.net
> To: R-390 at Mailman.qth.net
> Subject: [R-390] Unusual ? Front panel
> 
> What R-390A version/contract had the words "UPPER"  "BFO"  "LOWER"
> stenciled where the BFO frequency normally appears and the words "AM"  "CW -
> SSB" stenciled where "BFO OFF-ON" normally appears on the front panel? Was
> this an "after-market" conversion? Who were these units sold to? Foreign?
> Spookdom? How many were produced? Does it indicate that the BFO was
> crystal-controlled? Was there a product detector included? Has anybody got a
> print?
> 
>  
> 
> Miles B. Anderson, K2CBY
> 16 Round Pond Lane
> Sag Harbor, NY 11963
> Tel.: (631) 725-4400
> 
> Fax.: (631) 725-2223
> e-mail: k2cby at optonline.net 
> 
>  
> 
> 
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