Hi experts,

I was able to buy a Drake R7A in the market near by.
I don’t have any knowledge about this (I don’t have any understating
in Radio).
I simply bought it because I assumed it might be worth more than I
paid.

Anyway, when connecting it to power I see the display (I guess it’s a
good indication…).

How can I tell if it really works? Do I need to hear some noise?
Anything else I can do to check that it is working?

I would appreciate any tip you can give me.
I might try to sell it later on when I better understand the condition
of the unit I have.

Thank you!

wrote:
Hi experts,

I was able to buy a Drake R7A in the market near by.
I don’t have any knowledge about this (I don’t have any understating
in Radio).
I simply bought it because I assumed it might be worth more than I
paid.

Anyway, when connecting it to power I see the display (I guess it’s a
good indication…).

How can I tell if it really works? Do I need to hear some noise?
Anything else I can do to check that it is working?

I would appreciate any tip you can give me.
I might try to sell it later on when I better understand the condition
of the unit I have.

Thank you!
It's probably broken. I'll give you $50.

Hook about thirty feet of wire up to it and throw the wire out the
window.
Make sure the wire isn't near electrical appliances or touching the
ground.
and has a " good view" of the sky

Then tune around.



On Jul 14, 8:22*am, wrote:
Hi experts,

I was able to buy a Drake R7A in the market near by.
I don’t have any knowledge about this (I don’t have any understating
in Radio).
I simply bought it because I assumed it might be worth more than I
paid.

Anyway, when connecting it to power I see the display (I guess it’s a
good indication…).

How can I tell if it really works? Do I need to hear some noise?
Anything else I can do to check that it is working?

I would appreciate any tip you can give me.
I might try to sell it later on when I better understand the condition
of the unit I have.

Thank you!

Did it come with a user's manual? If not try downloading one from the
internet or purchasing one from drake.
wrote in message
...
Hi experts,

I was able to buy a Drake R7A in the market near by.
I don’t have any knowledge about this (I don’t have any understating
in Radio).
I simply bought it because I assumed it might be worth more than I
paid.

Anyway, when connecting it to power I see the display (I guess it’s a
good indication…).

How can I tell if it really works? Do I need to hear some noise?
Anything else I can do to check that it is working?

I would appreciate any tip you can give me.
I might try to sell it later on when I better understand the condition
of the unit I have.

Thank you!

wrote in message
...
Hi experts,

I was able to buy a Drake R7A in the market near by.
I don’t have any knowledge about this (I don’t have any understating
in Radio).
I simply bought it because I assumed it might be worth more than I
paid.

Anyway, when connecting it to power I see the display (I guess it’s a
good indication…).

How can I tell if it really works? Do I need to hear some noise?
Anything else I can do to check that it is working?

I would appreciate any tip you can give me.
I might try to sell it later on when I better understand the condition
of the unit I have.

Thank you!

May I ask how much you paid for it ?

First of all, get ahold of the owner's manual............this is available
as a free download at a few sites. Google will find them for you.
You mentioned that the display works.........does the display stay locked on
the frequency that you are tuned to, or does it run in a free-run mode. If
the display doesn't give a stable reading, odds are that the electrolytic
caps in the 24V power supply that supplies the VCO tune voltage are bad.
If the display works, tune the receiver to 8888.8kHz; this way, you can see
if any of the display segments are burned out (a common problem, since Drake
ran these devices at too high of a current).
Next, do some internet research and find out what frequencies are in use at
the time of year. As a quick and dirty test, tune the radio to the MW band
and see if you can clearly hear any stations.
I could go on and on and on........................but, if you really want
to check it out, send it to John Kriner, over at R.L. Drake and have hime
check it out. I don't have the time to do this kind of stuff
anymore..........too many projects of my own. I think his rate is about 100
dollars per hour.
If the receiver has all of the optional I.F. filters and it works properly
on all ranges, it is worth about 1200 dollars, plus or minus market demand.
Basically, it is the same receiver as the later versions of the R7 receiver,
with the exception that it adds a CW filter, a noise blanker, and a resistor
across one of the unused filter slots so the the bandwidth is determined by
the roofing filter.
Electrically, they are the same. Now, the older R7 receivers used eight
1N4148 diodes in a ring for the 2nd mixer, while later R7s (including this
one) used four 1N4148s, with a resistor in series with each of the diodes.
This configuration gives slightly better IMD response, but the NF is
slightly degraded.
Better to dump those 1N4148s and replace them with 1N5711 hot carrier
diodes.
Not a bad receiver, as long as you know how to repair them.
Now, if you have a good RF signal generator with an accurate calibrated
output attenuator, you will be able to measure the sensitivity. If the
receiver is working properly, you should be able to easily hear a -127dBm
signal across the whole tuning range.
I have had mine for a couple of years, and after upgrading the 1st and 2nd
mixers, mine is a keeper!

Pete

Pete
wrote in message
...
Hi experts,

I was able to buy a Drake R7A in the market near by.
I don’t have any knowledge about this (I don’t have any understating
in Radio).
I simply bought it because I assumed it might be worth more than I
paid.

Anyway, when connecting it to power I see the display (I guess it’s a
good indication…).

How can I tell if it really works? Do I need to hear some noise?
Anything else I can do to check that it is working?

I would appreciate any tip you can give me.
I might try to sell it later on when I better understand the condition
of the unit I have.

Thank you!

Pete KE9OA wrote:

First of all, get ahold of the owner's manual............this is available
as a free download at a few sites. Google will find them for you.
You mentioned that the display works.........does the display stay locked on
the frequency that you are tuned to, or does it run in a free-run mode. If
the display doesn't give a stable reading, odds are that the electrolytic
caps in the 24V power supply that supplies the VCO tune voltage are bad.
If the display works, tune the receiver to 8888.8kHz; this way, you can see
if any of the display segments are burned out (a common problem, since Drake
ran these devices at too high of a current).
Next, do some internet research and find out what frequencies are in use at
the time of year. As a quick and dirty test, tune the radio to the MW band
and see if you can clearly hear any stations.
I could go on and on and on........................but, if you really want
to check it out, send it to John Kriner, over at R.L. Drake and have hime
check it out. I don't have the time to do this kind of stuff
anymore..........too many projects of my own. I think his rate is about 100
dollars per hour.
If the receiver has all of the optional I.F. filters and it works properly
on all ranges, it is worth about 1200 dollars, plus or minus market demand.
Basically, it is the same receiver as the later versions of the R7 receiver,
with the exception that it adds a CW filter, a noise blanker, and a resistor
across one of the unused filter slots so the the bandwidth is determined by
the roofing filter.
Electrically, they are the same. Now, the older R7 receivers used eight
1N4148 diodes in a ring for the 2nd mixer, while later R7s (including this
one) used four 1N4148s, with a resistor in series with each of the diodes.
This configuration gives slightly better IMD response, but the NF is
slightly degraded.
Better to dump those 1N4148s and replace them with 1N5711 hot carrier
diodes.
Not a bad receiver, as long as you know how to repair them.
Now, if you have a good RF signal generator with an accurate calibrated
output attenuator, you will be able to measure the sensitivity. If the
receiver is working properly, you should be able to easily hear a -127dBm
signal across the whole tuning range.
I have had mine for a couple of years, and after upgrading the 1st and 2nd
mixers, mine is a keeper!

Always a keeper if properly maintained. The R8 series is great, but for the
truly tough dx, the R7 is always in the stable here.

I'm currently making a 'target list' for stuff I want to do this upcoming dx
season ( hey, it's summer, and I've got to cut the grass, and fool with bankers)
when the static subsides and the frost sets in.

dxAce
Michigan
USA

"dxAce" wrote in message
...
Always a keeper if properly maintained. The R8 series is great, but for
the
truly tough dx, the R7 is always in the stable here.

I'm currently making a 'target list' for stuff I want to do this upcoming
dx
season ( hey, it's summer, and I've got to cut the grass, and fool with
bankers)
when the static subsides and the frost sets in.

dxAce
Michigan
USA

The R7 is probably my favorite solid state receiver. Something about that
old time blue-green lighting. Just like the old magic eye tubes. I replaced
the burned out displays with the upgraded ones from Germany, and increased
the value of the current limiting resistors from 36 Ohms to 560 Ohms. This
thing should be running for a long time. It looks good next to the TR7.

Pete

Try the AM broadcast band first (band switch at 1.0 MHz).Set the
RF gain to 3 o'clock. Set the AF at 9 o'clk.Notch at 12 o,clk. PBT and
RIT at 12 o'clock (center) Set selectivity at 4 KHz(or 2.3 in case
if the filter slot is empty) Aux program set for normal. Mute/rec
pushed in.Praamp off(not depressed).AM same.Speaker-has a built-in
monitoring unit, it is MUCH better with an outbord speaker fed from a
standard 1/4inch audio jack (in the back). The bottom row of push
switches such as cal,nb ,agc,count ad rit sre left inoff(not depressed).
Now, plug in the AC power cord and connect to ANY piece of wire over 1o
feet long to an rca jack(in the back) labeled main and set the antenna
switch to position main... You have found
one hell of a radio !!!

It is a very good radio, but why are you having him run the radio with the
RF gain turned down? The AGC in a properly working R7 is very good. Unless,
it is personal preference..........just like the old time radios.

Pete

"HF propagation" wrote in message
...
Try the AM broadcast band first (band switch at 1.0 MHz).Set the
RF gain to 3 o'clock. Set the AF at 9 o'clk.Notch at 12 o,clk. PBT and
RIT at 12 o'clock (center) Set selectivity at 4 KHz(or 2.3 in case
if the filter slot is empty) Aux program set for normal. Mute/rec
pushed in.Praamp off(not depressed).AM same.Speaker-has a built-in
monitoring unit, it is MUCH better with an outbord speaker fed from a
standard 1/4inch audio jack (in the back). The bottom row of push
switches such as cal,nb ,agc,count ad rit sre left inoff(not depressed).
Now, plug in the AC power cord and connect to ANY piece of wire over 1o
feet long to an rca jack(in the back) labeled main and set the antenna
switch to position main... You have found
one hell of a radio !!!