[R-390] Interesting Radio

Wed Apr 20 15:05:52 EDT 2016

Oh - that kind of non A.  I thought you might have been talking about O'Doul's.

73,
Barry - N4BUQ

----- Original Message -----
> From: "Les Locklear" <leslocklear at hotmail.com>
> To: "Todd Bigelow" <ka1kaq at gmail.com>, "Charles Steinmetz" <csteinmetz at yandex.com>
> Cc: r-390 at mailman.qth.net
> Sent: Wednesday, April 20, 2016 2:01:24 PM
> Subject: Re: [R-390] Interesting Radio
> 
> Well, the only thing I know for certain is that the front ends on the RF
> Harris sand state transceivers were lighting up like fireworks displays. I
> don't know if the KWM-2A's and associated ancillary equipment ever made it
> over there. R-390A's more than likely never made the trip either.
> 
> Regarding Nick England's info about R-390A's being installed in ships in the
> mid to late 80's is factual. Had Fowler or the agency (Avondale Shipyards in
> Louisiana) that built the Gunston Hall class of LSD's checked, R-390A's were
> still in stock at various supply depots. But, the U.S. Navy left the
> specification in place after building the originals series of LSD's by
> Lockheed on the West Coast.
> 
> I personally saw two in the crate Amelco marked on the crates at Keesler AFB
> in Biloxi in the early 90's. I have no knowledge if they were NOS or "Depot
> Dawgs." To this day, Keesler still teaches the ground radio course. Prior to
> my retirement at Keesler in January 2009, I visited a classroom in the early
> 2000's and they had Racal 6790's and Harris RF-590's in place. I have no
> idea what they were using after that time frame.
> 
> Sangria and "Non A".....Sangria is correct and good for you. "Non A" belongs
> in a dumpster somewhere or wherever it started probably with some millennial
> that wasn't aware of how damn simple it is to say/write/type. R-390/URR or
> R-390A/URR.
> 
> Presently with an ice cold Yuengling, cooling down after a long morning of
> yard work.
> 
> Les
> 
> 
> 
> > Date: Wed, 20 Apr 2016 11:10:56 -0400
> > From: ka1kaq at gmail.com
> > To: csteinmetz at yandex.com
> > Subject: Re: [R-390] Interesting Radio
> > CC: r-390 at mailman.qth.net
> > 
> > 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.
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