♫ Saturday October-19 ♫ New England FALL FrankenFest 2019, Sutton, MA

[w1jim]

Can you imagine the service guys seeing one of these on their schedule back in the day? Lots of sick calls when that thing shows up! I don't know if the two big cylinders in the middle are power supply caps or transformers but they are damn near the size of the big Maxwell House coffee cans...unbelievable!

Those 2 cylinders are the transformers - one per channel - for the power amp.
The receiver weighs 92 pounds - but it can be split into 2 parts by removing 2 bolts on either side.
I was fortunate to have some assistance last night bringing it back upstairs.
I also took the opportunity while it was out of the system to separate the halves and bring the front end into the shop to deoxit the switches and pots and general cleanup.

The G22000 is truly an outstanding receiver, as is the G33000 (300 watts and 101 pounds). Can one do better for the current market price of these? Yes, I'm sure you can; but these are clearly a site to behold.
I'm glad I could share it with the group.

Now the question is what to bring to the next event? I'm thinking a junque yard dawg system.

 

[GD70]

Those 2 cylinders are the transformers - one per channel - for the power amp.
The receiver weighs 92 pounds - but it can be split into 2 parts by removing 2 bolts on either side.
I was fortunate to have some assistance last night bringing it back upstairs.
I also took the opportunity while it was out of the system to separate the halves and bring the front end into the shop to deoxit the switches and pots and general cleanup.

The G22000 is truly an outstanding receiver, as is the G33000 (300 watts and 101 pounds). Can one do better for the current market price of these? Yes, I'm sure you can; but these are clearly a site to behold.
I'm glad I could share it with the group.

Now the question is what to bring to the next event? I'm thinking a junque yard dawg system.

I'm thinking next time to bring my Scott LK-72 and KLH Sixs with a TT, Mitchell Cotter SUT and my usual iPod.

 

[LexDM3]

In case you weren't in the parking lot when Jim arrived and left, here's his secret device to load and unload that mega Sansui. Check out the video.
https://bespokemortuary.com/automatic-one-man-loader

Normally the item that's loaded and unloaded with one of these has a channel out...

 

[ra.ra]

...Maxwell House coffee...

Mmmm.....Maxwell House coffee. And that solid section between the rear heat sink fins houses a fan to cool everything down when called upon. I'd never seen anything like this before - - and these pics do not show it very well, but this receiver is bolted together in two parts - - look closely and you can see the seam. And today at the MIT flea market, I was discussing this with AdamAnt316, and we agreed that the rear section was probably all power amp, but he was telling me that the front section was offered in various configurations.

 

[Sandy G]

Wish I could make it to ONE of y'alls' Shindigs...I'd LOVE to try & bring one of MY toys-No, NOT Major Uzi, but my 1955 Collins R-390A... It is to Shortwave receivers what a G33K is to Stirreohs..(Grin) It was, & to a lot of us, STILL still IS the finest device ever made for picking "Angel Modulation signals from far away on the other side of the world.. Don't SOUND too well, but that's NOT what its for..

 

[w1jim]

Ooh, I just love it when my threads go off topic.

Because these are so humongous they may not fit or be too heavy for your shelf so they're designed to split.
Also, for shipping purposes it addresses weight limitations
.
The tuner preamp of the G22000 and G33000 are internally identical - just the labeling is different.
The amp sections are 220w or 300w per channel output - the larger one weighs #10 more.
The only functional difference between the two is 80w/channel additional power - and the G33000 goes for more than twice the dough.

Mines a keeper!

 

[w1jim]

Wish I could make it to ONE of y'alls' Shindigs...I'd LOVE to try & bring one of MY toys-No, NOT Major Uzi, but my 1955 Collins R-390A... It is to Shortwave receivers what a G33K is to Stirreohs..(Grin) It was, & to a lot of us, STILL still IS the finest device ever made for picking "Angel Modulation signals from far away on the other side of the world.. Don't SOUND too well, but that's NOT what its for..

The Collin’s are nice - but I’m fine with my Yaesu FT-990 .

 

[Sandy G]

Yeah, but, W1jim, you won't need a heater in yr Shack durin' the Winter w/an R-390A... Nor a light...You'll have a nice orangy-red illuminating the whole place...Hehehehehehehe..

 

[Bucky Badger]

Well I had a good time for sure and picked up some good vinyl to bring back home with me.
It was also good to finally meet some of you guys and put faces to names.
A big Thank You to Jim and others for putting this together and thanks to all of you for making me feel welcome.
Your a good group of guys.
I will post a few pics when I get home.

 

[AdamAnt316]

That was an interesting piece...didn't notice the remote at the fest but now it makes more sense...

Yeah, the Accutrac 4000 was probably the first remote-controlled turntable ever introduced. Being so early, the remote uses old-fashioned ultrasonic technology like early TV remotes, instead of infrared as with pretty much all remote controls introduced since the late '70s/early '80s. Reception range seems to be fairly short, which is why the 'receiver module' (the ball-shaped doohickey) is on a long cable, intended to be placed near the user's chair. I'm not sure if the Accutrac remote is susceptible to jingling keys like the old Zenith Space Command tv remotes from the '50s-70s, but it seemed to work fairly well at the show, and I didn't notice any false triggering. Here's a close-up shot of the Accutrac receiver and transmitter:

And today at the MIT flea market, I was discussing this with AdamAnt316, and we agreed that the rear section was probably all power amp, but he was telling me that the front section was offered in various configurations.

Actually, I was referring to the Mitsubishi DA-line of separates modules. You had the DA-A series of power amp modules, plus various add-ons for the front like the DA-Cxx tuner/preamp modules, DA-Pxx preamp modules, or DA-Mxx meter modules. Pretty ingenious, really.

Yeah, but, W1jim, you won't need a heater in yr Shack durin' the Winter w/an R-390A... Nor a light...You'll have a nice orangy-red illuminating the whole place...Hehehehehehehe..

I myself am quite aware of the heating potential of communications receivers. Don't have any EK-07s, but I've been known to anchor a boat or two:

 

[jblnut]

It was another great event and I went home with a nearly full wagon. Thanks again Jim and everyone else who pulled together to make this event a success! Looking forward to Spring in West Boylston....

jblnut

 

[Sandy G]

Yeah, the Accutrac 4000 was probably the first remote-controlled turntable ever introduced. Being so early, the remote uses old-fashioned ultrasonic technology like early TV remotes, instead of infrared as with pretty much all remote controls introduced since the late '70s/early '80s. Reception range seems to be fairly short, which is why the 'receiver module' (the ball-shaped doohickey) is on a long cable, intended to be placed near the user's chair. I'm not sure if the Accutrac remote is susceptible to jingling keys like the old Zenith Space Command tv remotes from the '50s-70s, but it seemed to work fairly well at the show, and I didn't notice any false triggering. Here's a close-up shot of the Accutrac receiver and transmitter:

Actually, I was referring to the Mitsubishi DA-line of separates modules. You had the DA-A series of power amp modules, plus various add-ons for the front like the DA-Cxx tuner/preamp modules, DA-Pxx preamp modules, or DA-Mxx meter modules. Pretty ingenious, really.

I myself am quite aware of the heating potential of communications receivers. Don't have any EK-07s, but I've been known to anchor a boat or two:

 

[Sandy G]

Be STILL my Throbbin' Heart over that GORGEOUS bunch of "Creme De La Crème" boatanchors....

 

[Bill Beausol]

Looking to contact Bill who had the Crown DC 300 & EPI's.

 

[AdamAnt316]

Be STILL my Throbbin' Heart over that GORGEOUS bunch of "Creme De La Crème" boatanchors....

Yep, they're wonderous hunks of iron and aluminum. By my count, those seven pictures represent the use of 137 tubes and a combined weight of 420lbs, 139 tubes and 480lbs if you count the outboard power supply for the BC-779! Getting back to audio-related subjects, I have used my R-390A and (briefly) R-392 receivers as glorified tuners with my audio system, deriving a line-level signal from the detector section at the "diode load" test point. Here's a (lousy) photo from the testing phases, with the R-390A feeding my Advent 420S mini receiver:

 

[Sandy G]

Who made yr 392 & 390 ? Izzat a 390 or an "A" ?!?

 

[AdamAnt316]

Who made yr 392 & 390 ? Izzat a 390 or an "A" ?!?

The R-390A (don't have a 'non-A' as of yet, sadly) was made by Electronics Assistance Corporation (EAC) as part of the massive 1967 contract. The R-392, however, is a gen-yoo-wine Collins, part of the original 1951 contract. I picked up a Stewart-Warner T-195 transmitter a couple of years ago to go with it as part of the AN/GRC-19 set, though I have yet to power it up. One thing I'm missing from the set is the Jeep to go with it, as seen at NEAR-Fest in Deerfield, NH several years back:

 

[Sandy G]

Hehehehehe... LUV how the T-195/R-392 combo makes the Jeep kinda "Squat", a bit... I got a T-195/392 combo, too, along w/the "Plate" you put 'em on.. 392 make nice, toasty "Campstools", even if they aren't too "Cushiony" to sit on...

 

[Sandy G]

My 1st R-390A is a Dittmore-Friemuth, 1968 contract, I got it from Rick Mish. The 2nd one is a 1955 Collins that I Basically STOLE from under the nose of Phil Sellati at Fair. My 390, 391, 389 came from Rick, who reworked them, as he did the '55 Collins. He tried to buy it from me for $5k, or 2 of his "Museum grade" restos.

 

[AdamAnt316]

My 1st R-390A is a Dittmore-Friemuth, 1968 contract, I got it from Rick Mish. The 2nd one is a 1955 Collins that I Basically STOLE from under the nose of Phil Sellati at Fair. My 390, 391, 389 came from Rick, who reworked them, as he did the '55 Collins. He tried to buy it from me for $5k, or 2 of his "Museum grade" restos.

Cool! That Dittmore-Freimuth is essentially a relabeled '67 EAC, as I understand it. EAC made well over 15,000 of them for that contract. Other than occasional issues with the Cosmos PTO, which mine hasn't experienced yet, they're fairly solid units.

I have a similarly crazy story about my R-390A and R-392. Both of them, along with an R-48/TRC-8 VHF receiver, spent 20+ years sitting in the back room of my high school's electronics shop after having been brought there by a past instructor. There'd apparently been a couple other R-390As as well, but they'd 'disappeared' over the years, leaving behind the two that didn't work. I barely knew what the R-39x receivers were at the time, but the 'digital' tuning and complexity intrigued me. I asked my instructors if I could play around with 'em, but was told to leave them alone.

Two years after I graduated, I told a friend about what I'd seen in the shop, and he said something to the effect of "go back there and get them NOW!" I started visiting my old shop, and found that they were being moved to another part of the building. I started dropping hints with my old instructor, and after a few more visits, he finally asked me, "Hey Adam, you want these old radios?" A friend and I loaded them in my car, and the rest was history.
-Adam