The Eagle Has Landed - The Gross Radio Eagle That Is

[W1UJR]

Christmas came here in the W1UJR hamshack this year, with a new and most buzzardly addition to the line up. 

A 1933 Gross Radio Company Eagle regen RX, complete with all four coils and documentation.
Think of a National SW-3, with a single coil rather the SW-3's two.
Band coverage is 200 meters down to 15 meters.
A pair of type 32 tubes, and a single 33 in the AF output.

Time has been good to the old gal, she is in very good condition.
Plan to fire her up after the Thanksgiving Day holiday.

Anyone have any additional information about this unit, or Gross Radio Company in general?
I've been researching the history of Gross Radio from NYC, but there is very little out there, what I have been able to hunt up is below.





New Addition to W1UJR

[w8khk]

Bruce, you seem to be able to find the most interesting and unusual rigs, should have lots of fun with this one.  What is the vintage?  early 20s?

The pics were neat, but the cover sheet and schematic were unreadable on my screen.  Could you please post them like you did the photos so we can expand and examine them?  Thanks, and happy Thanksgiving!

73,
Rick

[W1UJR]

Hi Rick,

Yes, they so do, just lucky or blessed I guess!

Vintage, early 1930s, its really a battery set, 2 1/2 volt filament tubes, but I plan to run off a HB supply.

Will go nicely with the Gross TX that used to belong to Bill Orr W6SAI.
Hope to have both on for the AWA Contests this fall --> http://amfone.net/Amforum/index.php?topic=17715.msg122443#msg122443

Sorry about the images, your wish is my command, done, see below.

And Happy Thanksgiving Day to you and yours as well.
Given all that is going on in the world, we've got a good deal to be thankful here in the good old USA.

[w8khk]

Thanks for posting the sheets.  Looks like it should be easy to HB a supply for it.  I am amazed at the condition.  This one does not even need restoration!  Ready to play!   Perhaps you will use it on the AWA event!

[WU2D]

Bruce, you seem to be able to find the most interesting and unusual rigs, should have lots of fun with this one. 
73,
Rick

Rick - "interesting" costs money! 

Mike WU2D

[W1UJR]

Rick - "interesting" costs money! 

Mike WU2D

I think that the answer to that might be, "it depends".

Some of the most interesting and meaingful rigs came my way gratius.
The owner either could not or did not use them any longer and wanted to see it go to a good home. The W1FPZ rig was in this category -->> http://www.w1ujr.net/1fpz_photo_essay.htm

But you are right on some rigs Mike, price a Grebe CR-18 recently? :-)
I'd love to have one of those sets, but the price is in the stratosphere!
Makes you really wonder, and a lot of the collectors don't even power them up, or use
on the air. :-(

I've been pretty blessed with what I've been able to come across, but more and more my interest harks back to the older or homebrew sets. The personal story behind the set is, in many ways, as much or more interesting than the set itself!

Hope to catch both you and Rick on the air soon.
The winter months are here in Maine, and with the short days, right now it is getting dark at 4:30PM, it has become prime time for the radio season. My propagation gage is how well I hear the high bans is the drift net beacons on 160 meters, and right now they are strapping in.

[Opcom]

That is a gem! I like the green covered wire on the coils, don't see that much in newer sets.

[W3GMS]

Hi Bruce,
I went downstairs and yes I have the exact same receiver!  I just looked for a manual for it but apparently I don't have any documentation for it. 
I have just recently designed a power supply for the DC version of an SW-3.  A friend who I gave the DC SW-3 to just finished building it and reports that it works excellent.  The supply basically supplies 135V, 67V, 2V and -3V.  If you would like a copy of the schematic I can certainly send it to you.  My goal was to produce the lowest possible ripple voltage in the output since those regen sets are very prone to hum. The HV side has a double choke input filter and on the filament and bias outputs I took the liberty of using an LM350K and LM337K regulatory which give excellent ripple rejection. 

If you could share any documentation on the the receiver, I would appreciate it.  Mine is in excellent condition as well..
Regards,
joe GMS         

[W1UJR]

Then you have a most uncommon rig as well Joe.
I'm sure that there are more, but article in Electric Radio, and numerous inquires only turned up this set. Tell me, does your rig have the coils with it, and if so what bands?I have four coils, which Gross states will cover 200-15 meters, yet the schematic of the rig, appearing in Shortwave Magizine, shows 6 coils. Go figure!

Tnx for the offer on the schematic, would be interested in what you came up with. I've posted about all the info I have on the Gross Eagle in this message, but will add you to the list when/if more shows up.

Cheers!

[W3GMS]

Hi Bruce,
Mine has 4 coils as well.  Just looking at the number of turns on the lowest frequency coil looks like it would be the 200 meter coil.  None of the coils have any markings on them. 

If you could send me any copies of whatever documentation you have for it I would greatly appreciate it. 

I will send you a schematic of my low ripple SW-3 DC supply. 
Regards,
joe--GMS   

[W1UJR]

Hi Joe, check the top of the coil, there should be a small grove with a paint color in it. I think this is how Gross labeled the coils ( aside from turns).

I'm out of town today, but can email the docs to you.

73,
Bruce

[W3GMS]

Hi Bruce,
It looks like the colors are Blue, Green,Red and Yellow.  Blue is the one with the most inductance and they decrease in inductance until you get to the highest frequency coil which appears to be yellow.  The colors are somewhat faded. 

Thats great that you can e mail the documentation.  Please send it to:
josephfell@verizon.net

Thanks
joe