[R-390] R-391 Set-up

Paul Anderson paul at pdq.com
Sat Mar 1 06:47:28 EST 2014


Be aware that the grease in the autotuners turns to glue after a very
long time. I'd be extremely cautious apply 28VDC motor power to them
without significant cleaning and re-lubing effort.

The main thing is that there is a slip clutch that allows the motor to
spin when the tuner is at an end stop. If the slip clutch doesn't
slip, you break fragile irreplaceable stuff inside.

If you have the tuning knob locking pins loose when autotuning, you
lose autotune synchronization, not the rest of the RF geartrain. The
process for re-synchronizing the autotune is in the manual and is
confusing, but is doable. You also need a different spline wrench -
maybe .111 instead of .096 to do the line shaft adjustments.

In normal FRR-33 use, the C-974 controls the R-391's in parallel, so
you dial in a new channel, and it puts out the right signal on the
autotune cable.

IIRC, the cable has a common ground, and one of the other pins is
grounded, indicating that channel is selected. So you should be able
to do an external rotary switch to control it. Check the wiring
diagram to be sure.

My R-391 had bad brushes in the motor, which were hardware store items
(though probably the HW store brush material was harder than original
and thus harder on the commutator).  After replacing those, cleaning
the tuner units carefully (soaking in kerosene for a week), etc, then
re-aligning the autotune mechanism, I was able to make it all work. It
is a sight to behold. The brush caps on the motor are fragile - be
very careful with them.

You can think of the autotune mechanism is sort of an overlay on the
base R-390, and has nothing in common mechanically or electrically
with the RF/IF/LF decks. The sole mechanical exception, IIRC is that
the RF deck has a megacycle indent mechanism that I think is different
for the R-391 (I could be wrong about this - searching this list may
get more details on that). I seem to remember it was so the motor
could turn the megacycle shaft a little easier.

Paul


On Wed, Jan 22, 2014 at 12:05 PM, Rick Popovich <RickP at uei.csus.edu> wrote:
> Thanks again Paul,
>
> Yes, I have been reading a number of pieces on the chaos that can occur
> if the Auto tune is activated and knobs are not locked down. I have
> printed the manual section on "Presetting the Frequency Channels". I've
> done the RF deck sync on a R-390 before and I'm not looking forward to
> doing it again.
>
> As one mentioned yesterday setting the presets can be somewhat confusing
> at times, but if I take it slow & double check each step I'm sure
> everything will be OK.
>
> I want to set it all up in a small rack enclosure I have so I can also
> use it with other related pieces I have.
>
> I will let the group know when I have given it a try.
>
> Thanks again to all,
>
> Rick Popovich
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Paul [mailto:w2ec at arrl.net]
> Sent: Wednesday, January 22, 2014 5:36 AM
> To: r-390 at mailman.qth.net
> Cc: Rick Popovich
> Subject: RE: R-391 Set-up
>
> Good morning Rick,
>
> Glad you found what you needed. I forgot about BAMA probably having a
> copy.
>
> One thing!!!! Under no circumstances do you want to activate the
> autotune unless you have the MC and KC dials locked down with the
> retaining wing nuts. If you leave them loose and the dials start
> spinning, you will probably get the gear train out of synch and then you
> will need to become a real expert on how to realign an R-391!
>
> Check out my website www.w2ec.com/W2EC.html and scroll down to my R391
> entry. The video links for the R391 and ATC/ART-13 shown a little
> further down the list are broke so you can't view the videos of the R391
> and
> ATC/ART-13 in actual operation directly from this web page. Instead,
> look at www.w2ec.com/R391.wmv and www.w2ec.com/ART13.wmv to see these
> radios in "autotune" operation.
>
> 73, Paul W2EC
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rick Popovich [mailto:RickP at uei.csus.edu]
> Sent: Tuesday, January 21, 2014 20:16
> To: Paul
> Subject: RE: R-391 Set-up
>
> Hi Paul,
>
> Yes, the manual is the magic link, I got a link to the full manual in
> PDF form on the BAMA site and will be printing selected passages.
>
> Thanks for your help !
>
> Rick Popovich
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Paul [mailto:w2ec at bmjsports.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, January 21, 2014 5:11 PM
> To: r-390 at mailman.qth.net
> Cc: Rick Popovich
> Subject: RE: R-391 Set-up
>
>>Time to tap the collective's knowledge and experience again - I am in
>>the
> process of setting up my R-391 and PP-629 and need to know what the
> other connector marked "Auto Tune" on the back panel of the R-391 is for
> ?
>>Am I missing another piece of the pie ? Also, where is the best spot
>>for me
> to find a copy of the manual for this receiver ?
>
>
> Yup, you're missing a couple pieces. The Auto Tune connector on the back
> panel is for the remote channel selection switch cable and the separate
> remote channel switch. I don't recall the nomenclature but they are just
> a cable and a remote control box with a rotary channel selection switch
> similar to what is on the front panel, which allows remote operation of
> the channel selection. That is the purpose of the "Remote-Local
> Autotune" switch on the R391 panel, just below the left hand side of the
> frequency bezel. You use that to select between the panel mounted
> "local" switch and the remotely mounted switch for channel control.
>
> I have a couple versions of the R-391 manual in .pdf format, but they
> are quite huge, even when zipped and I couldn't email them as complete
> documents, too big for an email attachment with my ISP. I could probably
> split them up into four or five sections so I could send them
> individually and you could either merge them together to make a complete
> manual yourself, or just view them as separate files to see the entire
> document.
>
> Let me know if you would like that, or if you are after a paper manual.
> I won't let go of my original manuals so you have to find a paper manual
> elsewhere. If you didn't want an original, just print off the .pdf file,
> a little over 300 pages.
>
> 73, Paul W2EC
>
>
>
>
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