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  #1  
Old 06-01-2003, 05:08 PM
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Lefty Lefty is offline
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Vintage Shortwave recommendation sought

Hi Gang;

I can't seem to kick the need to once again aquire a vintage shortwave radio. I presently have a Sony ICF-2010 that I bought new many years ago, I have never 'warmed up' to it's digital nature. It just isn't fun to operate if you know what I mean. I miss the more traditional knobs and lights of the more classic receivers. I guess I thought it's portable capablities and great reputation would fix my occasional SW needs, but alas I don't turn it on more then once or twice a year.

So far I've looked and researched for over a year now and still can't decide for sure. For a while it was going to be one of those monster Collins R-390/(A) built for the CIA, but they are just too hugh, lack a product detector and are a little too pricey in restored condition for the causal use I plan.

Collins made many fine commerical ham and shortwave receivers but collectors have pushed this brand past the price/performance curve I seek.

So far my choice has narrowed to one of the Drake R-4 series receivers. These are primary ham receivers but when the proper optional crystals are installed they should work fine on SW bands. I would rather not have a tubed radio but have yet to find anything newer that has the price/performance that I'm looking for.

So any brand/model recommendations out there? As I said I'm more impressed with performance then looks. I would like to keep it in the $300 or less range but am flexible in price if it really lights my fire so to speak. Not sure anything made before the 60s would work for me but I'm willing to listen to opinions and then do some more research.

So what have you got for me?

Lefty
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  #2  
Old 06-03-2003, 12:49 AM
millerdog
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Poor Lefty,
I would go with any ham gear, just make sure you get a good speaker and good antenna tuner!
what were you thinking about an antenna? I ran an inverted V dipole when I was into ham radio.
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Old 06-03-2003, 01:41 AM
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Kamakiri Kamakiri is offline
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I would personally look towards Zenith "Royal" series Transoceanics, the 3000 is TOTL, heavy for what it is, and very selective:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...3&category=932
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Old 06-03-2003, 02:10 AM
millerdog
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Yeah the Transoceanics......man, those are to die for!
You got one Kama?
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Old 06-03-2003, 05:01 AM
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Punker X Punker X is offline
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Lefty - although not in the same leage as a R-390.. I'm not sure if your looking for something that does sideband, fsk, and cw like an R-390.

I have this Telefunken that I could probably be talked out of. Just serving as FM tunes for the Garage right now. Fidelity is pretty good out of it.

X
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Old 06-03-2003, 06:07 AM
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Kamakiri Kamakiri is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by millerdog
Yeah the Transoceanics......man, those are to die for!
You got one Kama?
I had one just like the one in that eBay auction that I paid $5 for at an estate sale, in mint shape. Sold it for $85 back in 95. I've had a few of the 40s tube-type, but they did get a bit tempermental at times. Time to invest in another in the fall.
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Old 06-05-2003, 01:55 AM
millerdog
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Lefty,
Just a thought since you don't want tubes...do a search for Kenwood, Yaesu or Icom on ebay...If I'm not mistaken, when I got my Kenwood transciever all of the above were putting out recievers too. I would look for one with a built in antenna tuner, depending on what kind of antenna you plan to run.
Punker's Tele looks good too, but if it's vintage it won't give you the full frequency spectrum.
My Kenwood TS-430 gives me 0-30megs to play around with. Last time I looked it was selling for between $200-$300. Plus if you ever feel the need to key down, it's rated at about a 100w output
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Old 06-20-2003, 11:08 AM
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Charlie Charlie is offline
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This would make a good set for listening... ITT Mackay Marine 3021A from the old WW2 T-2 tanker ship I used to work on. I saved this receiver from going into Davy Jones' locker a few years back. The RO and all the gear was replaced by GMDSS, so they gutted the radio room to make an office out of it. The receiver and transmitters were all going to be chunked at sea, but I talked the captain into letting me bring it home. I just couldn't see this stuff being thrown away... it all worked perfectly.

The big transmitters are out in my garage, and the receiver (1975 vintage) stays in the house. Pretty neat gear from '75... has electronic tuning and digital readout. Tunes 0-30 megs. When i first brought it home, I connected an antenna to it and listened occasionally, but soon found that it just wasn't for me. Seems like all the hams on the air were either talking about weather, or comparing what kind of gear they were using.
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Old 06-20-2003, 06:45 PM
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Kamakiri Kamakiri is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by Charlie
Seems like all the hams on the air were either talking about weather, or comparing what kind of gear they were using.
No kidding.....

I've been a licensed ham since 1990 and dropped my rig from the airwaves for exactly that reason. I always thought the whole idea of contesting was pretty dumb as well.

Man I would love to have that receiver of yours though
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Old 06-20-2003, 08:22 PM
Rob Rob is offline
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I agree with Tim. As someone who spent over a decade spending a personal fortune on 20 meter class dish antennas and custom building cryogenically cooled receivers and support instrumentation as a (the) Canadian SETI pioneer I just don't see the fun, or challenge(?) of buying a store bought radio and hooking it up to a store bought antenna. You KNOW you're gonna hear chatter even before the antenna jack touches the antenna feed. Then you participate in a 'Contest' and try to duplicate that which has been done a zillion times before. Now that's a challenge eh!

Rob
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  #11  
Old 06-28-2003, 07:23 PM
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Lefty Lefty is offline
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Well I did the deed and made a last min snipe for a Drake R-4A receiver. Poor fellow bidders never knew what hit them.....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ME:B:EOAB:US:6

Local seller (under 100miles anyway) so no shipping costs. These usually go for $150 or better and never fail to sell. I have found tons of links for manuals and adjustment procedures, etc. Should be a fun project to fool with. Seller is a ham and generally hams are pretty good at being fair and honest with fellow hams, it's a rule ;-)


Should be fun getting into tip top shape and then maybe think about some hacks for it.

Big problem with the newer decent solid state receivers is that one can't really work on them as far as repairs and upgrades, they are just are too small with those SMD sized devices and custom microprocessor controllers. I decided I wanted something I could fool with without worrying about destroying the thing.


Lefty
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Lefty:
Cables? I don't got to show you no
stinkin' cables

038° 00' 58.68" -122° 15' 39.54"
134.84 ft
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