Telamon wrote:
In article .com,
"Les" wrote:

I had an "original" black faced R-390A in that same CY-979B cabinet
several years ago.



http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...5761820 560&r
d=1&ssPageName=WDVW

What was it P. T. Barnum said?????????

Wow! The case actually shines. The unit looks brand spanking new.

I wonder if it is as nice on the inside as it is on the outside?

Over $3K though ouch!

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

The auction has since been stopped and closed.

But, you might want to read this:


R-390 folks,


This is a followup to the thread:
"Big bucks blackface 390A on the e-place"
about Item 5761820560, and is the story as I know it.


I got a call this morning from Howard Mills. He's the person I
referred to
in my post to the R-390 list:


" ... A well known restorer of "black Collins" radios did a batch of
black
R-390A panels not too long ago. I wonder if this is one from that
batch. ... "


In fact, it is. Howard shared with me some of the background on the
situation and suggested that I post the information here. This is the
story
as I know it.


About a month ago Gary Baker, W3OG, had an R-390 and sold it to the
seller
of Item 5761820560, Dr. Jan C. Robbins, N0JR. Dr. Robbins wanted a
black
faced radio, apparently because he had a black cabinet, so Gary took
the
radio to Howard. Howard noticed the following:


1) The front panel was bent in the upper right corner.
2) The radio played well.
3) The nomenclature tag on the panel was a reproducton Collins tag of
the
more common short size.
4) The PTO was a COSMOS unit, and the name tag on it had scuff marks
and
scrapes.
5) The radio interior was moderately clean but by no means pristine.
6) The meters were of the type that do not have separate front covers.
7) He did not determing what the manufacturer of the radio was. He did

not
remove any modules although it appeard to him that the modules in the
radio
were from various manufacturers, as is typical of many R-390A's that
have
seen service and periodic depot maintenance.
8) He did not do extensive electrical or mechanical restoration of the
radio, alignment, or cleaning, other than replacing the panel, knobs
and
frequency readout escutcheon.


There was a discussion between Howard and Gary about Dr. Robbins'
desire to
have the radio sent to another well known restorer of R-390A's and
keeper
of an extensive web site on the subject. It was Howard's opinion that
the
radio performed well and since it was moderately clean to start with,
the
value added would not be worth the cost. The well-known restorer was
offered the job but delined it.


Howard accepted the job of installing a refinished black front panel,
knobs
and frquency readout escutcheon. The panel he installed was of the
type
that uses a longer nomenclature tag. The tag on the replaced panel was



from Motorola. The panel, knobs, and frequency readout escutcheon had
been
refinished with black satin powercoat paint. The charge for the panel
was
adjusted upwards to account for the need for metal restoration work on
the
exchange panel.


He re-installed the original meters without refinishing them. The
powder
coating process he uses involves baking at over 500 degrees F and only
meter fronts that are separate from the meters can be refinished this
way.
The heat would ruin the whole meter.


The now-blackfaced radio was shipped by Gary to Dr. Robbins within the
last
few weeks. Dr. Robbins posted Item 5761820560 on Ebay on March 20,
2005.


A background note on black faced R-390A's: Howard bought an R-390A with



a black panel at a hamfest about five years ago, and still has it.
The
panel is black *anodized* aluminum, not painted, and appears to be the
original panel. Visitors to Howard's shop commented on the black radio

and
so Howard refinished a batch of panels in black satin powder coat
paint. He now offers these panels on an exchange basis for $150.00.
Meter
covers, knobs, and frequency readout escutcheons are available
also. Reports have been heard from time to time about black faced
R-390A's
and the government agency that is supposed to have used them. I don't
have
any good information from people who were "there at the time". It
appears
that at least one batch of R-390A'a was built with black anodized
aluminum
panels. The panels, knobs, etc., that Howard offers are black satin
power
coated.


I summarize the situation.
The quotes are from Ebay's auction Item 5761820560.


1) "This is my carefully collected, thoroughly restored,
intelligence-agency-black R-390A."
- Gary shipped a black-faced R-390A to Dr. Robbins within the last
few
weeks. That radio had not been recently restored except for newly
refinished panel, knobs, and frequency readout escutcheon. The finish
used
was black satin powder coat.


2) "...the radio has been perfectly aligned."
- No alignment was done recently to the radio shipped to Dr.
Robbins. That radio was working well and apparently not in need of
alignment. No thourough testing for such things as sensitivity, IF
alignment, BFO calibration, PTO endpoint errors, HF crystal oscillator
peaking, or the like had been done on it.


3) "I have compared this receiver on CW, SSB, and AM in hundreds of A/B



tests with my Icom IC-775DSP."
- Comparisons with the radio Gary sent to Dr. Robbins would have been



done in the last week or two.


4) "It is mechanically, electronically, operationally and cosmetically
as
close to perfect as any R-390A you'll ever find anywhere, and
absolutely
beautiful. When you first take it out of the box YOU'LL THINK IT JUST
CAME
FROM THE FACTORY--NO EXAGGERATION (only the rear panel reveals this
receiver has ever been used)."
- The radio recently shipped to Dr. Robbins by Gary had a moderately
clean but not pristine interior, the meters had been removed
(unsoldered)
and replaced in the refinished panel, the COSMOS PTO has scratched and
damaged label, and the modules in the radio appeared to have been a
collection of various modules from normal depot overhaul and
maintenance.


5) "( ... this is the best by far). I have had great pleasure
restoring it
to that highest level, and I do not like to see it go, but I am ageing
and
near retirement ... "
- The radio shipped to Dr Robbins by Gary was not pristine inside and

had
not been completely restored in the manner expected from Howard or the
well
known restorer of R-390A's who declined to work on it.
- It appears that Dr. Robbins is 61 years old.


6) "Third, the receiver comes with a NEW-STYLE SSB CONVERTER that
simply
attaches to "line," "AGC" and ground connections on rear of radio; no
internal mods. "
- In the past a sealed module was offered that attaches to the R-390
in
the same manner that creates audio-derived AGC voltage. An article
appeared in Hollow State News about the module, and reported poor
performance compared to the radio's normal AGC system. The module was
taken
apart and found to consist of one diode, one capacitor and one
resistor,
the values of which were reported. The author may have been Dallas
Lankford. The module reported on was supposed to help in AGC action
while
receiving SSB signals, *not* convert IF signals to audio as other SSB
adapters or internal receiver modifications do.


7) " METERS ARE ALL ORIGINAL(!), a rarity. I wanted to keep them that
way,
so didn't powder coat."
" ...the inside is as clean and neat as the outside, ...."
- It is the sellers opinion that original meters on an R-390A are
rare.
Other workers familiar with the radio find that meter-less radios or
radios
with substitute meters are the less common.
- The meters on the radio shipped recently to Dr. Robbins had no
removable front bezel and so could not be powder coated.
- The front panel of the radio shipped recently to Dr. Robbins had
been
recently refinished in powder coat paint. The interior was clean but
not
pristine.


8) "Cabinet is FACTORY NEW (yes, BRAND NEW!!), a shiny
intelligence-agency-black milspec CY-979A, the only new black one I
have
ever seen."
- In the last couple of years, a number of new CY-979A cabinets were
available from Mac McCullough. It is not clear if any of those were
black. It has been reported that those cabinets came from a military
source. The three at this location appear to be genuine military
equipment
and arrived in new condition.
- The front panel of the radio recently shipped to Dr. Robbins is
black
satin powder coat and would not match a shiny finished cabinet.


9) "NOTE: NOTE: I should have mentioned that Bidder ID is kept private
in
this auction to protect the privacy of honest bidders. A growing number

of
dishonest individuals make it a practice to contact and even harass
those
who bid on someone else's listed items, and I don't intend to help
them. "
- A (possibly growing) number of Ebay sellers make Bidders ID's
private
to allow them to cooperate with someone who dishonestly bids the item
up in
price with no intention of actually buying it. This may entice bidders



from such places as Germany and Japan to become interested in the item,

and
bid more for it than they would if they knew its true condition. The
world
of gambling uses the words "shill" "mark" and "patsy" to describe this
activity.
- Reports have been seen of extreme dissatisfaction among auction
winners
when they asked Ebay to help resolve issues with sellers.
- It is unclear whether a seller of an item with private Bidders ID's

has
access to the bidding information, but a noble step would be to ask all



bidders if they mind revealing that information later and make it
available.


10) "... dishonest individuals make it a practice to contact and even
harass those who bid on someone else's listed items, and I don't intend

to
help them. "
- I belive I am an honest individual, and I certainly would send a
copy
of this to bidders of Item 5761820560 if I could. My intention would
be to
help them understand clearly the nature of what appears to be offered.


That is the situation as I know it.


The persons name who posted this has been deleted.


Les