Collins R390A Demo

[RadioCarl2011]

I used to have one of these R-390A radios.I had to sell it because I badly needed the cash.I wish I could have kept it.But when I ended up moving from Oklahoma to Tennessee,it would have been a bugger to move.

[kn9ioutom]

MY R390A STILL NEEDS SOME WORK 73 DE K9IOU

[44terryberry]

I had a 390 for years....put it out to the trashman last year

[emwavemhz]

@44terryberry oops not a good move. The R390 had a good set of IF filters. But hey I have been a Ham since 1971 and have let go of too many great pieces of gear as well some great cars. Oh-well! LOL!!

[hamrad88]

I have two of these beauties.

[chg657]

Nothin' much on to listen to anymore but rabid crazy preachers, & right & left wingnuts..Buncha BS...I hook mine up to a KIWA MW loop & it is ASTOUNDING...especially in the winter...Wish we had a planet we could send all the preachers 'n' kooks to, where they could blast each other all day to their hearts' content, & leave the rest of us ALONE...

[deltadeltakilo]

Astonishing!

[bopditty]

I fondled one of those for many years.

[usm7j]

@bopditty Yeah there was a nice "feel" to a well maintained R390. I can still copy 20 gpm with a few days practice!!!

[smeuse]

Hey, I think that's my receiver :)

[queefbreeze]

I feel bad. I had one of these about 10 years ago. Only had a base station antenae hooked to it and got bored with it and took it to the scrap yard.

[rbratcherjr]

I love using my R-390A Great reciever!!

[292x1]

ahh the R390! Loved that receiver. Worked really well along with an ANFLR-9 antenna outside on the hill. RAF Chicksands...66-68. USAF vet.

[clagwell]

In 1958, the US Naval HAM station KX6BY (Bikini Atoll) used this model of reciever. Nice video. Thanks for posting and 73's !

[eogg25]

this looks similar to the angrc19 reciever i used in the army. i'm not sure it is but it was made by collins and the transmitter and receiver cost the government 6000 dollars, tried to listen for the russian sputnik on it. while in germany. heavy but nice

[supplysarge]

Best damn receiver ever made!

[MrGramophone]

This is certainly a swell wireless receiver. One of the all-time greats. This one will still be around when all of to-day's solid-state receivers are land-fill. We have one here in Australia, and it's not for sale!

[whstark]

HI, Nice old reciever.

Makes me feel old, I was trained at Keesler AFB to tune up and fix the R390, even had one at MacDill to check our transmitter output on our Collins URG 208u3 and 10s, But it was old in 71, It was a tank of a reciever. I still fix tube radios, these things never die.reciently a 1937 car radio, the tubes still worked fine.

[n1ti]

Thanks for the comments. To think, hundreds of these were crushed for scrap! A marvel of engineering...especially for the era! 73 de N1TI

[catman351]

N1TI, you will make me have nightmares tonight! Crushed for scrap??? I'm putting my Motorola R-390A under lock and key!

[292x1]

@whstark Saw your comments on Youtube concerning the Collins R-390. I also trained at Keesler AFB November 65-March 66. Morse intercept op. Went to class at Thompson Hall next to the flight line. When I got to my first overseas assignment at RAF Chicksands in April of 66 we had an abundance of R-390's to work with, and it also included the ANFLR-9 Elephant cage. The R-390 could take punishment and still keep on ticking. Regards, Sgt. USAF Secrutiy Service 65-69 England/Thailand

[Rehdman6444]

@Mequon66 I also arrived at RAF Chicksands in April, '66. I was a 20351 on Baker flight until I left in '67 for a remote tour at Det 3-2 in Samsun, Turkey. Maybe we met. I still have fond memories of the ET crew at Samsun patching the audio and video frequencies from Soviet television through an ocilloscope so we could watch TV.

[radioam232]

Beautiful Collins radio!

[hrbear]

I always had this question, are tube receivers more sensitive than solid state receivers, like tube audio amplifiers produce sound of a higher quality than solid state ones. And an other question is while so many people over the world asks for these devices and tubes, why don't you make a tube factory in the U.S which could serve the needs for radio/audio tubes and radio receivers/audio amplifiers? Does this have to do with the tube copyrights from the old manufacturers (RCA, Philips, etc)?

[breehound]

HRBear, there were gazillions of tubes produced for very many years. That is a misconception that some think, that there aren't many tubes around or they're on the endangered list. Plenty of tubes, can't see them running out for another 50 yrs. or more. Thank God.:-)

[hrbear]

So, keep the electrons flowing and the tubes glowing. :-)

[HobieTyourtube]

Quality-----is eternal.

Wonderful receiver--------if you have the schematic circuit-post it on YouTube.

I know it will take about 7 minutes to scan the circuit-BUT!!-this set is getting to the last bastion of linear design?-regarding tube technology.

Lets face it!-in the Winter time it can double as a electrical heater?-hahah

I must weigh at least 60 pounds?

BUT!!-as "old "as it is-was-perfection in it's day.

I bet you don't need a magnifier glass to see the components?

Regards.

[Jugheadr2]

Glow in the dark technology. Gooood Stuff

[avcomth]

Does that thing supports 3.5G? Would be nice to use it as a highspeed modem for you laptop.

[Msagro5]

I'd like to see the inside of the rig too. Collins construction was always top cabin. Just seeing the front panel is a bit boring. How about a follow-on video?

[n1ti]

Good suggestion...but I'm not that much of a perfectionist.

[W3Radio]

May I suggest connecting the receivers that you review directly to your camcorder's input? If it has only a mic level input, a 10db attenuator pad will minimize the pumping and distortion created by the camcorder's AVC. As it is, you (and we) are missing most of the excellent audio quality available from the R390A on AM.

[jstrunck]

Awesome 390A!

Keep spinning that dial!

John

[richintalent]

What a beast- I saw one for sale in Fair Radio SAles catalog for a princely sum of $500, weight was 90 lbs- not exactly a mobil rig hi hi

[n1ti]

The radio was sold so not longer have this capability. Thanks...

[Navships]

Could you do a second video demonstrating the mechanical filters on CW?

[emph]

I picked up three R390a's about 12 years ago from a surplus dealer. Had to climb up in a loft of a barn and carry them down a ladder; not an easy task. My goal was to get two working, got all three working. My fav one was put away 10 years ago after re-tubing. Just pulled it out again and fired it up; still works like a champ

[Biffbradford]

I can hear local signals on the wrong antenna with any receiver. Put the right antenna on it and show us what it can do! Let's hear Saudi Arabia on the AM BC band, Ouagadougou on the 120 meter tropical band, North Korea on shortwave. If it's a great receiver, then let's hear some great things in your next video! :^] de k9rzz

[k4nbc]

N1TI de K4NBC...Great receiver! I have a Magnavox version made in 1967. An amazing piece of 'machinery'.

[rnr04jul79]

They dont make em like that anymore.One of the best recievers ever made.Great audio.73 VO1XH

[ik2gsr]

I love my EAC R-390A by Rick Mish, 73 Matteo ik2gsr

[GammatronTriode]

love my MOTOROLA R-390A

its at its best on cw and am

only so so on ssb

[catman351]

Thanks for showing this video. I have one that I'm rebuilding along with a CV-591. 73.

[nwlorax]

Wow. Takes me back to my days with a Wullenweber array and a bank of these.

[fernblatt]

Love the 390 and 390A

[KF4QKR]

I love the old Collins equipment , very good video 5 stars and faved.

[n1ti]

You're welcome...I hated to see it go but it's in a new how now.

[MarksCoffeehouse]

One of the greats. Thanks for showing this. 73