Vanity (question about collins R390/URR

[Charlespg]

I have a collins R390a/urr

that was given to me by a eldery vet for chistmas

I have contacted a Chuck Rippel in VA

but he said did not have the time to repair it

I am posting this because free republic has good info and maybe someone knows how I could repair this

it sat for a long time in a enclosed garage and needs cleaning as well as minor repairs( at least I hope)

[mylife]

Collins Radio is still in business in Richardson Tx

[redpoll]

no offense

but the e.e. cummings

style

is hard

on the

e
y
e
s

[mylife]

http://www.rockwellcollins.com/about/locations/index.html

[mylife]

There are a ton of places that service Collins radios

[NormsRevenge]

http://www.radioera.com/mall/RareMINTCollinsBuiltR390A.asp

a piece of work, that one..

good find and good luck!

[1066AD]

Might try the other name here.

How long since it's been turned on, any idea ?

[DB]

Lucky guy!

[Red_Devil 232]

I have a Collins KWM-2A (military) with the power supply and two full sets of crystals. My father brought this back to the States when he retired from his 10 years in Laos with the State Department in 1973. This was a back up to the KMW-2A we had in our house and this one is still in the original military type packaging and box. Wonder what it is worth?

[xcamel]

Parts/Manuals here too..

http://www.surplussales.com/Collins/CollR390-A.html

[DelaWhere]

WOW, I spent many many hours turning the dials on one of those back during the '60's... Great Radio!
You are going to have trouble finding some of the tubes - no transistors just lots of tubes...
The number of people who work on them is dwindling fast...
Good Luck!!

[mylife]

Believe it or not that is the first radio I ever worked on.
Its been 25 years since I touched one though.

Darn sensative receiver.

[mylife]

Lots of mechanics too

[Red_Devil 232]

See my post #9. I have the manuals also.

[Charlespg]

How long since it's been turned on, any idea ?

I would say over ten years I had somebody tell me that it would probably still work,but I'm concerned about doing major damage to the unit

Right now it just needs new fuses and some minor parts

[Red_Devil 232]

See post #9

[Myrddin]

It's a great radio. At this point in time, I would be looking for suppliers for the fire bottles (tubes) and carefully inspect any electrolytic capacitors for cracks and/or leakage before powering it up. It was an old, but well liked receiver when I started in ham radio in 1976. The KWM-2A is nice rig as well. It was rarely seen at ham swap meets and always priced well beyond my means as a young ham.

[MindBender26]

Having a working R390/URR is like having a good 57 T-Bird, a 66 Vette (small block!) a 50s Gull Wing Coupe, a A model Bonanza, an original flush deck Trumpy yacht (or, at my age, 20 minutes with Pamela Anderson.)

Anything you spend will be double worth it in pride of ownership and resale.

[backhoe]

You already have some good advice, but I’ll weigh in— I had a 390A, and a 51J4 in my shack ( which I dearly regret selling in the last move ) and when I had mechanical or electronic problems I couldn’t solve, I took them to an avionics technician at the local airport. I “think” he was an old Navy or Air Force man, but he was a wiz with diagnosis and repairs.

[USN40VET]

These are nice receivers. I spent nearly 4 years behind a bank of at least 4 and sometimes 6 of them. If you are not technically inclined, I would not power the unit up to test it. Although it is not as old as the pre-WWII Hallicrafters I like to work on, it is always best to power up an old tube receiver slowly with a variac (variable voltage source)if it has not been energized for a long time. I have seen many old receivers with blown RF coils caused by a short circuit after someone powered them up to see if the radio would play.