It is a rather difficult to use and maintain receiver that is really
dated in comparison to modern tabletop receivers. A rack mount radio
of that size and weight seems a little silly today. But to each his
own I guess.

Not true. having owned and operated both the R390 and R390A for years,
they are very simple to align and operate. All you need is a a manual
and a signal generator. Try that with a R75 or AOR flavor of the week.
As far as performance is concerned check out:

http://www.sherweng.com/table.html

pretty heady company for an old boatanchor

It's a long listing of receivers sorted by narrow dynamic range and the
R390A is beaten out on that measure by several smaller, much lighter
and more versatile receivers. I would think that if the R390A were
still a receiver that could perform it's intended task it would not
have been put out for surplus by the numerous government agencies that
once used it and Collins would still be manufacturing it.

I'm not saying that the R390A doesn't offer good receiving performance,
because it clearly does. The old rigs like the R390A and National
HRO500 are electro-mechanical wonders that I get pleasure from by just
watching everything mesh together. But their shortcomings are
substantial when compared to more modern gear.



I would not use the word substantial.

There are I'm sure several reasons that caused the government agencies
to surplus and part out those large monitoring receivers. Those same
agencies are still very much in the business of listening and
communicating, but with more versatile equipment. A military
communications engineer I'm acquainted tells chuckles a bit when
telling stories about the older comm guys and MARS operators who are
fascinated with the R390A.

You clearly have never had the
pleasure of operating one of these receivers that was at its peak
performance level. The r390 series offers outstanding performance and
maintenance potential.

I agree, there certainly is a potential for a lot of maintenance on
that old tube radio. And there is the problem...keeping those old
boatanchors at a steady state of performance. I'm not sayng it isn't a
radio capable of high performance - clearly it is. But there are
several less cumbersome and more versatile receivers that will also do
what the R390A does, which is catch signals under difficult
circumstances.

Go out and buy one of these high priced modern
receivers. When it breaks toss it in the trash because they were never
meant to be serviced.

There must be at least one good reason all of those 90 pound monitoring
receivers were sold off at auction by their original governmental
owners. What do you suppose that reason could be.


It's just like anything else. They get replaced by modern technology.

As with solid beam axles, drum brakes and carburetors in automobiles
new technology in radios results in an improved product. It will be
different than the old, but generally better at doing the intended job.


The problem with the new technology it that to get the same level of
performance you have to spend big bucks.

But the military, CIA, DIA, NSA, Embassies were also spending big bucks
for the receivers and their maintenance.

You aren't going to get that
kind of performance from a tecson or degen.

The R390A was never targeted at recreational listerns who would use a
Tecsun or Degen receiver. I don't understand the comparison. For
casual listening a DE1103 will run circles around a R390A.

Also, you can't repair the
stuff yourself.

You could say the same thing about the R390A when in service since it's
operators as a group were not repair people either.

Most folks aren't going to have the special test bench
that they need to create an effective repair. If they did, they won't
be able to get the proprietary components that they need. I have the
ability to fix just about anything that goes wrong with this radio.

And that's fine - if you enjoy and want to spend hours repairing the
R390A that's ok. But most folks don't have the interest - they would
rather listen with something more reliable and flexible. It's kinda
like cars - there are guys who get immense pleasure from tinkering with
their set of wheels.



Do you realize that the radio was still being used during the gulf
war?

Not surprising, since phase outs don't happen all at once and it was
last produced in 1986 or so. And I'm sure there are MARS operators
somewhere still using it. It is clear the receiver does not have a
place in modern communications since the original owners of the R390A
series have abandoned it for more up to date equipment and modes of
communication.