Richard Knoppow wrote:
Nomad wrote:
Actually the Collins designed R-388/51J series of receivers was a
predecessor design to the Collins designed R390A. See:

I am curious what you found lacking in the 51J compared to the
other receivers?
--
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles

I had the 51J-3/R388 so I can't speak to the J-4 which has the
mechanical filters.

I always wanted one of these as a mate to my 32V2. I always thought
that they looked like the quintessential boatanchor receiver.

The max bandwidth on mine (6KC) wasn't really wide enough for great
audio on AM
& with no product detector, it was not good for SSB. Compared to my
Super Pro (SP210), HRO's & even the Drake it had the worst audio.

Selectivity choices were limited.

Stability was excellent & that was really the radio's strong point.
Band cruising was a PITA. Lots & lots of knob turning required to get
from the low end of 160 to the high end of 10 meters.

My Drake R4A was much better for SSB, had better selectivity, was
equally stable & had better audio.
My Super Pro has far superior AM audio, a wide bandwidth choice for
HiFi AM & is a better SW bandcruiser. Same for the HRO's + the HRO's
are now my choice as the best looking boatanchor receiver with that big
round dial.

Bottom line the 51J couldn't do AM or SSB as well as my other radios, &
wasn't much fun for SW either. So out it went.

Now the R390A, that's another story entirely. Finally got one of these
recently & i find it to be a great radio. It can hear better than any
radio I've used (noise floor is lowest ever measured I believe -
143db), has 6 levels of selectivity (up to 16kc), mechanical filters,
great stability, & does great audio through the outboard HiFi.
Mechanical digital dial accuracy
& with an add on product detector it does SSB.


Terry
W8EJO