Hi all,
I own a tube type racal unit whose nameplate says : RECEIVER FINE
TUNING UNIT -
MODEL MA161. It has the usual look as other vintage Racal equipment,
is for rack-mount and is two rack units high.
I' ve found no reference anywhere. Does anybody out there know what is
it?
Thanks,
Antonio I8IOV

Antonio Iovane wrote:
Hi all,
I own a tube type racal unit whose nameplate says : RECEIVER FINE
TUNING UNIT -
MODEL MA161. It has the usual look as other vintage Racal equipment,
is for rack-mount and is two rack units high.
I' ve found no reference anywhere. Does anybody out there know what is
it?

If it is what I think it is, it's an antenna distribution device with a
calibration oscillator that creates markers every 100KC.

Which brings to mind... anybody have schematics or docs for the Racal
MA937 or MA926 power supplies?
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

On 16 Nov, 17:13, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
Antonio Iovane wrote:

Hi all,
I own a tube type racal unit whose nameplate says : RECEIVER FINE
TUNING UNIT -
MODEL MA161. It has the usual look as other vintage Racal equipment,
is for rack-mount and is two rack units high.
I' ve found no reference anywhere. Does anybody out there know what is
it?

If it is what I think it is, it's an antenna distribution device with a
calibration oscillator that creates markers every 100KC.

Which brings to mind... anybody have schematics or docs for the Racal
MA937 or MA926 power supplies?
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Thanks Scott, but I think it isn't what you think it is. I guess it
should belong to the family of external local oscillators that were
used in substitution of internal LO. It is tunable within +/- 500 Hz
with marks every 10 Hz. It has only one output connector and no input
whatsoever. Basicly what I would like to know is what receiver it was
meant for, what of the local oscillators it would substitute, and
whether anybody have any reference to point me to.
Regards,
Antonio

In article .,
Antonio Iovane wrote:

On 16 Nov, 17:13, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
Antonio Iovane wrote:

Hi all,
I own a tube type racal unit whose nameplate says : RECEIVER FINE
TUNING UNIT -
MODEL MA161. It has the usual look as other vintage Racal equipment,
is for rack-mount and is two rack units high.
I' ve found no reference anywhere. Does anybody out there know what is
it?

If it is what I think it is, it's an antenna distribution device with a
calibration oscillator that creates markers every 100KC.

Which brings to mind... anybody have schematics or docs for the Racal
MA937 or MA926 power supplies?
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Thanks Scott, but I think it isn't what you think it is. I guess it
should belong to the family of external local oscillators that were
used in substitution of internal LO. It is tunable within +/- 500 Hz
with marks every 10 Hz. It has only one output connector and no input
whatsoever.

Ah. In that case it's an add-on feature to make a 1kHz resolution
synthesized receiver into a free-tuning one.

Basicly what I would like to know is what receiver it was
meant for

No idea, except that it will *not* have been anything cheap, and
possibly not a commercial item. Maybe Naval or long-haul short wave
communication links? COMCAN? Expect something huge and rackmounted.

what of the local oscillators it would substitute, and
whether anybody have any reference to point me to.

Google fails to find anything, unfortunately.

Chris.

--
"...I've seen Sun monitors on fire off the side of the multimedia
lab. I've seen NTU lights glitter in the dark near the Mail Gate.
All these things will be lost in time, like the root partition last
week. Time to die..." -- Peter Gutmann, posting in a.s.r.

On 16 Nov, 22:09, (Chris Suslowicz) wrote:
In article .,

Antonio Iovane wrote:
On 16 Nov, 17:13, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
Antonio Iovane wrote:

Hi all,
I own a tube type racal unit whose nameplate says : RECEIVER FINE
TUNING UNIT -
MODEL MA161. It has the usual look as other vintage Racal equipment,
is for rack-mount and is two rack units high.
I' ve found no reference anywhere. Does anybody out there know what is
it?

If it is what I think it is, it's an antenna distribution device with a
calibration oscillator that creates markers every 100KC.

Which brings to mind... anybody have schematics or docs for the Racal
MA937 or MA926 power supplies?
--scott
--
Thanks Scott, but I think it isn't what you think it is. I guess it
should belong to the family of external local oscillators that were
used in substitution of internal LO. It is tunable within +/- 500 Hz
with marks every 10 Hz. It has only one output connector and no input
whatsoever.

Ah. In that case it's an add-on feature to make a 1kHz resolution
synthesized receiver into a free-tuning one.

Basicly what I would like to know is what receiver it was
meant for

No idea, except that it will *not* have been anything cheap, and
possibly not a commercial item. Maybe Naval or long-haul short wave
communication links? COMCAN? Expect something huge and rackmounted.

what of the local oscillators it would substitute, and
whether anybody have any reference to point me to.

Google fails to find anything, unfortunately.

Chris.

Not so huge, rack mounted but only two rack units, four valves, a
small crystal oven with two crystals, a tuning knob with dial, a
rotary switch which says: NORMAL, NORMAL +/- dF, FSK, FSK +/- dF.
My unit has serial number N00016. Probably only very few units were
ever made. No track anywhere. Probably this unit of mine is the sole
survivor today.

Antonio

On Fri, 16 Nov 2007 15:01:25 -0800 (PST), Antonio Iovane
wrote:


Not so huge, rack mounted but only two rack units, four valves, a
small crystal oven with two crystals, a tuning knob with dial, a
rotary switch which says: NORMAL, NORMAL +/- dF, FSK, FSK +/- dF.
My unit has serial number N00016. Probably only very few units were
ever made. No track anywhere. Probably this unit of mine is the sole
survivor today.

Rinus Jansen's book lists the MA161, but merely describes it as
a Fine Tuning Unit but no further details alas. Other units in
the MA1xx range are for the RA-17 or RA-117.

--
Cheers,
Stan Barr stanb .at. dial .dot. pipex .dot. com
(Remove any digits from the addresses when mailing me.)

The future was never like this!

In article .,
Antonio Iovane wrote:

On 16 Nov, 22:09, (Chris Suslowicz) wrote:
In article .,

Antonio Iovane wrote:

...but I think it isn't what you think it is. I guess it
should belong to the family of external local oscillators that were
used in substitution of internal LO. It is tunable within +/- 500 Hz
with marks every 10 Hz. It has only one output connector and no input
whatsoever.

Ah. In that case it's an add-on feature to make a 1kHz resolution
synthesized receiver into a free-tuning one.

Basicly what I would like to know is what receiver it was
meant for

No idea, except that it will *not* have been anything cheap, and
possibly not a commercial item. Maybe Naval or long-haul short wave
communication links? COMCAN? Expect something huge and rackmounted.

what of the local oscillators it would substitute, and
whether anybody have any reference to point me to.

Google fails to find anything, unfortunately.

Chris.

Not so huge, rack mounted but only two rack units, four valves, a
small crystal oven with two crystals, a tuning knob with dial, a
rotary switch which says: NORMAL, NORMAL +/- dF, FSK, FSK +/- dF.
My unit has serial number N00016. Probably only very few units were
ever made. No track anywhere. Probably this unit of mine is the sole
survivor today.

The complete installation *will* have been huge - probably a rack full -
as that's almost certainly off something like the COMCAN long-haul
teleprinter network.

Unfortunately, it's too recent to appear in Wireless for the Warrior,
but I'd expect the complete installatiopn to consist of two receivers
with diversity switching, "Racalator" or similar synthesized tuning
to 1 kHz resolution followed by the MA161 to take it down to 10 Hz,
ISB and FSK adaptors, and possibly the "front end protection unit"
if there were high powered transmitters at the same site.

Another possibility is that it's part of something like the RTA-191
which was a modular receiver that filled a 6-foot rack...

You need someone with experience of COMCAN or the Defence Teleprinter
Network, I suspect.

Best,
Chris.
Chris.

--
What happened to the testers of Preparation A through G?

The MA-161 belonges as far as I know to the range of RA-17 and/or RA-117
receivers. I own one myself (serial number N1) but also do not know much
about the unit. Unfortunately also no documentation available....

Cheers,
Johan (PE1RHC)

"Chris Suslowicz" schreef in bericht
...
In article
.,
Antonio Iovane wrote:

On 16 Nov, 22:09, (Chris Suslowicz) wrote:
In article
.,

Antonio Iovane wrote:

...but I think it isn't what you think it is. I guess it
should belong to the family of external local oscillators that were
used in substitution of internal LO. It is tunable within +/- 500 Hz
with marks every 10 Hz. It has only one output connector and no input
whatsoever.

Ah. In that case it's an add-on feature to make a 1kHz resolution
synthesized receiver into a free-tuning one.

Basicly what I would like to know is what receiver it was
meant for

No idea, except that it will *not* have been anything cheap, and
possibly not a commercial item. Maybe Naval or long-haul short wave
communication links? COMCAN? Expect something huge and rackmounted.

what of the local oscillators it would substitute, and
whether anybody have any reference to point me to.

Google fails to find anything, unfortunately.

Chris.

Not so huge, rack mounted but only two rack units, four valves, a
small crystal oven with two crystals, a tuning knob with dial, a
rotary switch which says: NORMAL, NORMAL +/- dF, FSK, FSK +/- dF.
My unit has serial number N00016. Probably only very few units were
ever made. No track anywhere. Probably this unit of mine is the sole
survivor today.

The complete installation *will* have been huge - probably a rack full -
as that's almost certainly off something like the COMCAN long-haul
teleprinter network.

Unfortunately, it's too recent to appear in Wireless for the Warrior,
but I'd expect the complete installatiopn to consist of two receivers
with diversity switching, "Racalator" or similar synthesized tuning
to 1 kHz resolution followed by the MA161 to take it down to 10 Hz,
ISB and FSK adaptors, and possibly the "front end protection unit"
if there were high powered transmitters at the same site.

Another possibility is that it's part of something like the RTA-191
which was a modular receiver that filled a 6-foot rack...

You need someone with experience of COMCAN or the Defence Teleprinter
Network, I suspect.

Best,
Chris.
Chris.

--
What happened to the testers of Preparation A through G?

On 17 Nov, 17:17, "J. Heijboer" wrote:
The MA-161 belonges as far as I know to the range of RA-17 and/or RA-117
receivers. I own one myself (serial number N1) but also do not know much
about the unit. Unfortunately also no documentation available....

Cheers,
Johan (PE1RHC)

"Chris Suslowicz" schreef in ...



In article
.,
Antonio Iovane wrote:

On 16 Nov, 22:09, (Chris Suslowicz) wrote:
In article
.,

Antonio Iovane wrote:

...but I think it isn't what you think it is. I guess it
should belong to the family of external local oscillators that were
used in substitution of internal LO. It is tunable within +/- 500 Hz
with marks every 10 Hz. It has only one output connector and no input
whatsoever.

Ah. In that case it's an add-on feature to make a 1kHz resolution
synthesized receiver into a free-tuning one.

Basicly what I would like to know is what receiver it was
meant for

No idea, except that it will *not* have been anything cheap, and
possibly not a commercial item. Maybe Naval or long-haul short wave
communication links? COMCAN? Expect something huge and rackmounted.

what of the local oscillators it would substitute, and
whether anybody have any reference to point me to.

Google fails to find anything, unfortunately.

Chris.

Not so huge, rack mounted but only two rack units, four valves, a
small crystal oven with two crystals, a tuning knob with dial, a
rotary switch which says: NORMAL, NORMAL +/- dF, FSK, FSK +/- dF.
My unit has serial number N00016. Probably only very few units were
ever made. No track anywhere. Probably this unit of mine is the sole
survivor today.

The complete installation *will* have been huge - probably a rack full -
as that's almost certainly off something like the COMCAN long-haul
teleprinter network.

Unfortunately, it's too recent to appear in Wireless for the Warrior,
but I'd expect the complete installatiopn to consist of two receivers
with diversity switching, "Racalator" or similar synthesized tuning
to 1 kHz resolution followed by the MA161 to take it down to 10 Hz,
ISB and FSK adaptors, and possibly the "front end protection unit"
if there were high powered transmitters at the same site.

Another possibility is that it's part of something like the RTA-191
which was a modular receiver that filled a 6-foot rack...

You need someone with experience of COMCAN or the Defence Teleprinter
Network, I suspect.

Best,
Chris.
Chris.

--
What happened to the testers of Preparation A through G?- Nascondi testo tra virgolette -

- Mostra testo tra virgolette -

Thanks to all. Meantime I've uploaded some pictures at

http://fotoalbum.alice.it/iovane

The unit has been cleaned just enough to take pictures, and needs more
accurate cleaning. Anyway I've powered it up for a couple of hours and
it seems to work, as it delivers a tunable RF signal around 1700 KHz.
All the best,
Antonio

On 17 Nov, 12:38, (Chris Suslowicz) wrote:
In article .,





Antonio Iovane wrote:
On 16 Nov, 22:09, (Chris Suslowicz) wrote:
In article .,

Antonio Iovane wrote:
...but I think it isn't what you think it is. I guess it
should belong to the family of external local oscillators that were
used in substitution of internal LO. It is tunable within +/- 500 Hz
with marks every 10 Hz. It has only one output connector and no input
whatsoever.

Ah. In that case it's an add-on feature to make a 1kHz resolution
synthesized receiver into a free-tuning one.

Basicly what I would like to know is what receiver it was
meant for

No idea, except that it will *not* have been anything cheap, and
possibly not a commercial item. Maybe Naval or long-haul short wave
communication links? COMCAN? Expect something huge and rackmounted.

what of the local oscillators it would substitute, and
whether anybody have any reference to point me to.

Google fails to find anything, unfortunately.

Chris.

Not so huge, rack mounted but only two rack units, four valves, a
small crystal oven with two crystals, a tuning knob with dial, a
rotary switch which says: NORMAL, NORMAL +/- dF, FSK, FSK +/- dF.
My unit has serial number N00016. Probably only very few units were
ever made. No track anywhere. Probably this unit of mine is the sole
survivor today.

The complete installation *will* have been huge - probably a rack full -
as that's almost certainly off something like the COMCAN long-haul
teleprinter network.

Unfortunately, it's too recent to appear in Wireless for the Warrior,
but I'd expect the complete installatiopn to consist of two receivers
with diversity switching, "Racalator" or similar synthesized tuning
to 1 kHz resolution followed by the MA161 to take it down to 10 Hz,
ISB and FSK adaptors, and possibly the "front end protection unit"
if there were high powered transmitters at the same site.

Another possibility is that it's part of something like the RTA-191
which was a modular receiver that filled a 6-foot rack...

You need someone with experience of COMCAN or the Defence Teleprinter
Network, I suspect.

Best,
Chris.
Chris.

--
What happened to the testers of Preparation A through G?- Nascondi testo tra virgolette -

- Mostra testo tra virgolette -

Indeed I purchased three of these units along with two huge Racal KHz
synthesizers, in the 70's.
I dismantled the synths and one MA161 at that time. Probably they were
parts of the same setup.
Antonio