Hi Claudio, I cannot be sure about this, but I seem to recall that the "N" was for NATO and some the filters were optimized (BW) for Piccolo...Peter

@@vk4gxc thanks Peter... Have a nice day... 👍👍👍👍👍👍

Hi Carl, I am using 2 magnetic loops in an orthogonal plane, the switch allows me to select North South or East West or both. The loops of a product my company is developing. I personally am very impressed with well designed magnetic loops. wideband , sensitive and very versatile, almost little to no electrical interference.

awesome, Which company manufactures the swirch? @@vk4gxc

Thanks again Mike, The R220 was something I have been trying to pick up for a while. The 220 was in nice condition but boy did it have a lot of issues. just about every mica mold was leaky and a fe other electro mechanical issues and finally a shorted ceramic cap in the FE which was a nightmare to take apart and re synch. Pete

Thank you for the Kind words Mike , its been a while great to hear from you. The R390 has to be my favourite. I have an R&S device monitor here with automated Sensitivity test. The R390 was 6-10dB better than anything else here, ( i know sensitivity isn't the only parameter to be concerned when measuring HF parameters but i was surprised how sensitive it was. )

Hi Again Peter, you mentioned that the Front panel was in bad condition and that it was repainted etc. Did you repaint or Powdercoat the front panel of your R390, yourself, or did you get it done by another company as it looks excellent. I would like to get the same done to the front panel on my R390. Cheers Mike@@vk4gxc

HI Mike, The panel was in pretty poor shape when i got it, it even had some mild pitting. But before stripping it back I took it to my local Auto paint company and had then do a colour match and make up a single use spray can up. When doing the colour match he rubbed back the upper coating a bit to get to some un oxidised paint. I then stripped the front panel ( I taped up the rear to prevent ant paint being disturbed as there was lettering for pots and cables etc). Once the panel was stripped. Gave it a light etch with soda powder then made up a very small amount of filler and filled the bad areas, luckily it wasn't near the engraved text. I ran a primer etch over the whole front panel and rubbed it down with 1000 wet and dry, you have to be carful not to put in too much primer/paint on or rub too hard or you will loose edge definition on the engraving. Once done I sprayed the panel evenly with the made up colour can. Paint I used was a Lacquer based paint (restored a few cars in my time). Once all hardened off I used a White Lacquer pen. ( they are on ebay from US) you rub the pen over the engraved areas being careful to fill but quickly removing the excess with a rag. It was slow going at first but got better as time went on. Once finally done, I gave a final light all over cut and polish. That was 5 years ago, that R390 sits next to my office table and still looks great, really happy with the finish. I would note that the final colour seems a little darker grey (Maybe a hint of Blue gray/green) than other R390(a)s that I have here so I am not sure if all the others have "oxidised' or this was the original colour?? However I do like the the colour as it goes well with the black knobs, (I used same process, on knobs of stripping and etch and satin black, from supercheap). I have handled the knobs a lot and the still seem good). Apologies for long answer but just went though it as it was. If your feeling confident I would go for it. Note it must be an engraved panel, I seem to think all original 390 non A are engraved anyway.

Hi Timmotel, At the time i was using a short whip and Mast head amplifier, about 18dB gain and approx 1dB NF, hope that helps... regards Peter

@@vk4gxc Thank You. Very interesting post. Best Regards

Why ?

I hear ya wont be long before I join ‘Radio collectors anonymous’ and have my addiction fixed!!

@@vk4gxc hmm iam truly addicted fo a long time I live it how eve r

It surprised me too, how ‘crisp’ it was..

Thanks Claudio

Hi, I haven't seen or worked on this particular receiver but it does look like it would be worth a go restoring it, its a Synthesised set which could make it tricky without documentation but not impossible. Not sure if you parted it out that there is much value in parts alone ( unless it may repair another persons RX ). You could put it up on Ebay and see what happens?? Good luck with it... Pete

Hi Terry, love the idea, been looking for one for years! Maybe one day…

Thanks Claudio

Hi Bob, I didn't have any extenders or schematics. I basically did a visual inspection of each module. They use the a box header with pins and coaxial inserts. I would of imagined these modules were probably tested in 'jigs' in the factory. I was pretty lucky that the main issue was the PSU which i basically reverse Eng and replaced some of the semiconductors and capacitors ( electrolytic). the main issue elsewise was connector mating which I cleaned and mated a couple of times. There is still a connector intermittency which pops up occasionally on the synth module. I am hoping that at some time in the future the schematics may become available. Build and quality and components are all hi reliability, logic is all 54LSxx in ceramic dips.

Used them at Clark, Misawa, and on the USS Midway... I believe the Sterett also had 390s. Spinning and grinning through a few LONG IO deployments!!!

Andrew L - 👍