I want to thank everyone for your feeback. It was informative and
appreciated.

I decided not to buy the receiver, even though the price I guess was right
a tad over 500.00? The seller said it was in perfect working condition even
though none of the pics I had showed the unit running.

I'll wait and look for a Harris or a Racal. There is a Harris on Ebay now
that's not working. Something about the " frequency standard module
defective".

Thanks again.
Rick



"Mark S. Holden" wrote in message
...
Rick wrote:

Mackay 3041A
Does anyone one know anything about this receiver? I have a chance to
buy
one and wanted anyones opinion on what they are like. I couldn't find
much
online about it.

--
73's
Rick

Drake R8 R8B
ICOM R75
Yaesu 7700
Hammarlund SP-600-JX-17

"When in doubt, mumble."

A friend has the 3031a.

The audio is harsh, but I suspect he could fix that easily enough if he
replaced the audio caps.

He has a variety of radios, and uses his 3031a primarily for RTTY. He
feels it's exceptionally well suited for that. (He uses a WJ for AM, and a
Harris 550 for sideband, and a Cubic 3030 to fill a hole in the HF rack.)

Build quality is quite good, and it's very stable.

The Mackay was apparently used primarily on ships.

As a general rule, it does make sense to get a service manual when you buy
a rack mount radio. The ones I have for my Harris and WJ equipment are good
enough that someone with a very basic understanding of electronics could
perform just about any repair
if they had the right test equipment. My experience with the service
manual for the Racal 6790 wasn't as good. I don't know if my friend has a
manual for his Mackay so I can't comment on how helpful it might be.

Regards,

Mark