I came home from work today to find that a guy that I had fixed a radio
for a few months ago had dropped off another radio. I called him to ask him
what he wanted done to it and he told me that it was for me...if I wanted
it. Of course I wanted it....it's a National NC-2-40CS. That thing is huge
!!! It weighs a ton too. Other than being dirty as heck...it looks to be in
pretty good shape. Has anybody here ever had one of these before ??
Ben

Ben,

My first "real" receiver, as a Novice ham in the late '50s, was an
NC-2-40D (you're right, Ben, there are hyphens in two places if you
want to be picky). The 240C--oops, 2-40C--was its predecessor,
obviously. Both receivers had a coil catacomb beneath the chassis that
slid on rails when the bands were changed. That technique, which I
believe was the brainchild of the legendary James Millen, minimized
lead length by placing the appropriate coil sets directly next to the
RF and oscillator stages, and maximized isolation by keeping the other
coils at a distance. The kerchunk-kerchunk as the cast-metal catacomb
moves from detent to detent down the chassis when you switch bands is
way cool, and the Deco design of the 200 series (there was an NC-200,
single hyphen) gives it a special look. (I hope yours came with the
stepped feet.) Others seem to agree--Fred Osterman made the 2-40D one
of his cover radios for his invaluable "Shortwave Receivers Past and
Present: Communications Receivers 1942-1997," which actually includes
lots of radios from the '30s. You can find info at

http://www.io.com/~nielw/nat_list/nat_list.htm

The main difference between your C model and my D is that the C was
strictly a SW receiver, with six bands. The D added the four HF amateur
bands--80, 40, 20, and 11/10 meters--spreading them over four separate
scales of their own.

The 2-40D was the final model in a line of National receivers that used
the sliding coil box. The complete series is at

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.r...5a806cf08966a9

Many years later, I missed my 2-40D and now have two of them, both
awaiting a bit of restoration. The audio is also terrific, with
push-pull 6V6's in the output stage.

Manuals are readily available.

Enjoy your new baby! Did it come with the speaker? Does it work at all?

Avery W3AVE
Potomac, Md.

P.S. I should have mentioned that the "S" after 2-40C means an
additional band, from 200-400 kHz, and I don't think the S model covers
the entire broadcast band--just 1000 kHz and up. I don't think there's
much down in the LF band these days except for a couple of utility
stations, but maybe I'm wrong.

"Avery W3AVE" wrote in message
oups.com...
P.S. I should have mentioned that the "S" after 2-40C means an
additional band, from 200-400 kHz, and I don't think the S model covers
the entire broadcast band--just 1000 kHz and up. I don't think there's
much down in the LF band these days except for a couple of utility
stations, but maybe I'm wrong.


Avery,
Thanks for all the info on the radio. I greatly appreciate it.
No...it didn't come withthe stepped feet you asked about. It does have a
gov't tag on it saying it was made for the FCC or something like that. As
far as working condition...that's still unknown. I Haven't taken a good
close look at it yet. After I have...I'll fire it up slowly on my variac
since I have no idea how long it's been since it's been powered up. I'll
give an update on it when I get it going.
Ben

Suh-WEET! Looks like a great receiver, based on what I read in the books.
Take it easy on that bad boy. You might want to sub out the electrolytics in
the power supply before applying juice, or just do a complete recap (hint:
take notes) and then power up.

If you haven't already found it, here's a manual to download:

ftp://bama.sbc.edu/downloads/national/nc240cs/

Regards,

Phil Nelson
Phil's Old Radios
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html

Probably used at one of the FCC monitoring stations rather than made
for the FCC. If the plastic dial face is yellowed or cracked, by the
way, Doyle Roberts makes a perfect replacement at a reasonable price. I
don't have contact info handy, but he sells on Radio Attic and you can
find his email there.

Avery

"Avery W3AVE" wrote in message
oups.com...
Probably used at one of the FCC monitoring stations rather than made
for the FCC. If the plastic dial face is yellowed or cracked, by the
way, Doyle Roberts makes a perfect replacement at a reasonable price. I
don't have contact info handy, but he sells on Radio Attic and you can
find his email there.

Avery

Thanks for the info on the dial face...yes it could use a new one.
I'll get ahold of him right away.
Ben