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That radio could have EASILY gone for $750-1K-or more. Clean EAC, no obvious problems...If the seller had been a bit more savvy, he could have done REALLY well...Oh, well, the seller's loss is Clay's gain...Now you need to sign up on the R-390 list...LOTS of helpful info on there, too...You want I should send you a Signal Corps Depot Manual ? Study up on yr new playpretty? The "bugaboo" tube(s) in the 390 is the ballast tube, 3TF7. They are hard to find, but there are ways of getting around them. Similarly, the 2 voltage regulator tubes, 26Z5Ws, can be a BIACH, but again, there are ways around them, too. Biggest thing is they get VERY hot, & cook themselves. R-390As were designed, though, to be turned on & left on 24/7 for years-That's the way the Army ran them. You can expect a year or 2s service out of one if run that way, before a tube goes kerflooey. And THAT'S with 45 year old tubes, that may already have several lifetimes of "civilian" service on them. Another couple of bothers are the funky antenna connector, & the 600-ohm audio output. But what we do in a pinch is to simply stick an antenna wire into the connection, jimmied in w/a paperclip...Ratshak used to have a 1K ohm>8 ohm audio transformer that worked well. And a good, hot R-390A doesn't need much of an antenna-they'll do pretty good w/about 10-12' or so or speaker wire draped over the curtains...Maybe stuck outta the window for good measure...(grin)
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Benevolent Despot
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