[R-390] Interesting Radio

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

On Tue, Apr 19, 2016 at 10:37 PM, Charles Steinmetz <csteinmetz at yandex.com>
wrote:


> Finally, "It was widely used in Desert Storm, when many of the newer solid
> state receivers would not function reliably."
>
> Does anyone here have actual, documented (i.e., NOT anecdotal, "my cousin
> was there and he said...") data on this?  I wouldn't be surprised if a few
> were used here and there (particularly in some of our ships that haven't
> had their HF comms upgraded in decades), but I'd be extremely surprised if
> they were deployed to any extent that could even remotely be called
> "widely."
>

He's repeating a mix of stories he's heard, or nonsense he's read on ebay
posted by the R-390A expert with candy-coated descriptions gleaned from
stories and photos he googles or his cousin's friend's neighbor tells him,
like 'black agencies used radios with black panels'  and similar bovine
scathology. Think 'used car salesman' in a very stereotypical way. It's all
about the hype.

The Desert Storm story does have a shred of truth to it. Sand storms in the
Middle East bring along with them some pretty intense static discharges,
which wreaked havoc on the new gear along with the fine, almost-dust-like
sand that clogged air filters, plugged heat sinks, and so on. But rather
than vast numbers of R-390As, it was primarily the FRC-93 equipment that
was yanked from storage and being reconditioned for service* when the
action ended a little sooner than expected. Just as well - along with lives
saved, the equipment wasn't completed. You can bet the 60s-70s vintage gear
would've been left in place and not hauled home afterward. Instead, it got
auctioned off and appeared through numerous surplus dealers like Davilyn in
California. Still have one of their catalogs from the mid-late 90s showing
KWM-2As, 30L-1s and so on. Fodder for the fast-rising collector tide on
ebay that was just around the corner.

There doesn't appear to be similar evidence for the R-390A and some
speculate that the story was put out there to help sell new cabinets being
produced some years back by an enterprising individual who either got a
hold of a set of original dies or had some made up. No idea. After all,
having a separate receiver would require a separate transmitter. Didn't
hear similar stories about T-368s being called back to active duty. The
Fowler foul up was the last instance I'm aware of where the R-390A is
documented in a gov't spec of any kind.

Then again, I'm no expert.  I leave that and the non-A nonsense to Prof
Locklear to sort out. He's better at it, no doubt having something to do
with his superior SCR (Sangria Consumption Ratio) that retirement allows.
(o:

de Todd/'Boomer'  KA1KAQ/4


* Western Nebraska Electronics operated by Dennis Brothers, a former
Collins tech, was one of the companies contracted to bring the FRC-93 gear
up to spec for use. Possibly others, he's the only one I recall who has
confirmed this.