Went to a Hamfest today!

[VE3GZB]

Picked up a new receiver, a British RAF receiver from a fellow I've known for over 20 years.

Also picked up (for parts) a Crystal-controlled receiver chassis with tubes for $20 and some old power supply chassis for $5/each (price tags say $10/each but I got them cheaper, don't know why, just happy for the parts!)

Woo Hoo!!

Edit: We were in such a hustle and bustle, I didn't remember the model of the RAF receiver, I know he told me but I've forgotten it and I'd like to identify it and try to find technical details, power requirements, etc...schematics too if possible. Can anyone identify the model of this RAF receiver by the photo DSC-2019?

[VE3GZB]

The 3 power supply chassis, got them for $5/each!

[k4kyv]

Where was this hamfest?  Looks like there was some good "junk" to be had.  Sometimes the best finds are at the smaller ones, where people at the last minute may grab a few items they want to get rid of because it is taking up space, but they don't want to see hauled to the dump.  The larger fests like Dayton are often dominated by professional vendors who don't consider stuff like that worth bothering with.

[W4EWH]

I didn't remember the model of the RAF receiver, I know he told me but I've forgotten it and I'd like to identify it and try to find technical details, power requirements, etc...schematics too if possible.

I suggest you post your question to the Wireless-Set-No19 group, which specializes in WW2-era equipment.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wireless-Set-No19/

HTH.


Bill, W1AC

[Pete, WA2CWA]

  The larger fests like Dayton are often dominated by professional vendors who don't consider stuff like that worth bothering with.

This type of stuff is used as ballast to hold the tent poles in place since they can't pound holes into the parking lot.

[VE3GZB]

This particular hamfest was in Fergus Ontario, just about 20 minutes from me.

http://www.hamfest.on.ca/

Yea, seeing these factory pros at the hamfest, its really a turn off! I avoid them! I'd much rather get my hands on this old stuff and make it come to life again! I'd never want to sway from this kind of interest and gear, it's just wonderful that people have held onto it and that most of it still works!

I found the info on the receiver! No worries, got schematics and everything!

http://www.vk2bv.org/radio/r1155.htm

http://www.shlrc.mq.edu.au/~robinson/museum/R1155.html

I'm currently replacing bits of 60+ year old wiring in the unit that runs along the width of it....insulation is falling apart (very common in old receivers, I used to repair and restore old broadcast receivers, I started this in highschool but got my first taste of it in 6th grade thanks to my teacher).

Still, the sheer engineering that went into this set still makes it absolutely worth the work to rewire bits which show age.

In 60 years, none of the iPhones and gadgets that people have today will still work, yet people still go into debt to buy them.

But these old boatanchors are virtually bulletproof by comparison. Money well spent on the boatanchors I think!

[VE3GZB]

It works!!! I'm listening to some French broadcast right now on 150kHz!

I'll let it burn-in on reduced B+ (I'm feeding it about 160VDC as compared to it's rated 205 to 220VDC) for a while. I found that someone before me added an audio power tube to it, but just let the plate connect to the front panel, no audio Xformer in the signal path.

I dug around and found an old Xformer I salvaged from a 50s German console stereo (how ironic, a German part helping a British WWII receiver! ha ha).

The engineering in this thing is a work of art! Tuning is marvellously sensitive too! I'll double-check calibrations to make sure everything is good.....stability is wonderful and the BFO and variable filter works too, though the pot is dirty. AVC works too, it boosts the receiver gain to maximum in the absence of a signal, and brings it right down low in the presence of a signal!

Tuning-eye still glows but it's seen better days.

I have still to rig up a better connection to the transmission line (I don't have any of these old 1940s Coax connectors) and finish connecting the audio Xformer to the connection plug, but so far it looks like it's a good deal for $75!

[Opcom]

looks like a fine haul!

[ve6pg]

..geo...i could not make it to fungus.....the r1155 was the receiver, used in the lancaster bomber, used by the rcaf, and raf....jim, ve3pbj, (one of the guys on 3725), has a bunch of them...he is our resident expert on this receiver...
..nice find.....

..tim..

..sk..

[VE3GZB]

I've got it all wired up now, I'm using an old Heathkit 0-500V regulated supply to run it. So far it's a beauty, the BFO works so now I can decipher SSB! Sensitivity and selectivity are excellent and if I key my transmitter (right next to the receiver) I'm getting no funky spurs to confuse me. Tuning appears to be virtually dead-on (it's an analog scale but readings correspond to my frequency counter).

I ran it for about 1/2 hour at 200V and found that after a while it would "drop out" and start to "squegg"....B+ current remains stable around 60mA (this including an audio power tube driving a speaker). I reduced B+ to 160 and all was well, sensitivity continued to be excellent!

Certainly I'm suspecting a tube is past it's prime but certainly right now it's a very pleasing receiver.

[VE3GZB]

I'm trying the receiver out for the first time tonight. All I can say is WOW!!! 

quote: "This type of stuff is used as ballast to hold the tent poles in place since they can't pound holes into the parking lot."

Someone who would use this stuff as ballast doesn't have the IQ to breathe!! I'm astounded at the clarity and sensitivity of this receiver! Honestly, I've been a shortwave fan since I was a kid and converted an AM radio to pick up the BBC!

Radio Prague...I picked them up as if they were next door! Same goes for Radio China, booming in! I never picked up Radio Prague on the damaged Hammarlund!

Plenty of SSB activity on 40 and 80 meters too, the BFO works awesome!!;D

I'm still not making any contacts though.....my transmitted signal must have too many obstacles to overcome (living right next to village powerlines, being in a valley, limited yard space for 80 meter antenna).

Hmmmm......so I'll have to be creative and think of some way to either focus what signal I am generating, or generate more signal with what antenna I already have. Whichever is most affordable is the choice I'll pick!

[k4kyv]

It works!!! I'm listening to some French broadcast right now on 150kHz!

What frequency ranges does it cover?

Back in the winter I listened to longwave broadcasts from 150 to 200 kHz from Iceland, UK, France, Germany and Morocco, using the beverage antenna + outboard tuner and R-1000 receiver.  At times they would come in entertainment quality.  I haven't listened for the past few weeks, though.  Figured the QRN would have wiped everything out.

[VE3GZB]

Frequency coverage runs from 75 kHz to 18 Mhz (yes, it's not a typo, 75 kHz to 18 MHz) spread among 5 band changes. Tuning has a built-in Veriner function to reduce fine tuning to a subtle, fine crawl! It's amazing how this thing performs!

If you could smoke this receiver, you could get a "high" from it's performance!

[ve6pg]

..check out the pics, of the t1154 transmitter...multi-coloured knobs...they have them, at the hammond museum in guelph...

..sk..

[k4kyv]

Frequency coverage runs from 75 kHz to 18 Mhz (yes, it's not a typo, 75 kHz to 18 MHz) spread among 5 band changes. Tuning has a built-in Veriner function to reduce fine tuning to a subtle, fine crawl! It's amazing how this thing performs!

If you could smoke this receiver, you could get a "high" from it's performance!

What are the frequency stability, selectivity and audio quality like?

[VE3GZB]

Frequency stability and selectivity are rather amazing, I've only seen equal in digital receivers with 1kHz filtering.

Sound quality depends on the audio system you connect to it, since it is designed by default to run on headphones only.

[k4kyv]

I'll have to keep an eye for one of those units at hamfests.  It would make a good longwave, MW and SWL receiver, from your description.  And it looks pretty in the photo.

I assume the photos below it are of the xtal controlled receiver, since the name plate says "US Army". 

[VE3GZB]

The receiver with the big semicircular dial is the one I am using for reception, the British RAF receiver. I just spray cleaned the bandswitch and the pots and it's even better now! My wife told me to never sell it and I don't plan to! What a great find!

I almost didn't buy it...the dial looked too cartoon-ish to me, but then Sid opened it up and I saw the fantastic attention to detail....I took it seriously then! And when he told me that it works and it was just $15 above what I had planned to budget for a receiver, well it didn't take me long.

Yesterday (Sunday) I pulled it all apart, completed the half-installed audio power tube installation someone else initiated, replaced some wiring that was in urgent need of TLC and I was just blown away by the sheer control it appears to offer the user, to select between such tightly packed SW stations with great ease and once tuned in, reproduce the intelligence with such clarity! I can't recommend it enough!

The other one you noticed, the Xtal controlled receiver, I bought for $20 just for parts. I was told it is incomplete.

I didn't photograph the underside of the chassis of the Xtal controlled receiver but when I looked at it, my eyeballs almost popped out of my head, it has about $2-300 worth of parts in it's construction (if you had to buy them individually at today's prices). Resistors, caps, sockets, tubes, coils, just a perfect set to salvage many good parts from!

Of course if anyone knows what the aforementioned Xtal controlled receiver is about and wants to barter for it, I'm all for barter!

73s
geo
VE3GZB

[k4kyv]

And when he told me that it works and it was just $15 above what I had planned to budget for a receiver, well it didn't take me long.

Good for you.  Too many times I have felt like kicking myself later because I turned down something I really wanted or needed, over a few lousy bucks between what the seller was willing to concede and what I was willing to pay, when that difference amounted to no more than 5-10% of the total.  A week from now, that extra $15 will unlikely make any noticeable difference in your finances, but if you had passed on it, you would probably never see another one again.

[N3DRB The Derb]

Geo,

I think my care package to you has been made obsolete by your hamfest finds. You should be able to construct a strapping am phone TX with the rest of what you have there. 

should be plenty of lower power modulation transformers here for the asking.

[VE3GZB]

.......but if you had passed on it, you would probably never see another one again.

Yea, consider it!!   I'm sure glad he talked me into buying it!!

Next thing to do is make a dedicated power supply for it (I'm running it from the Heathkit supply).

N3DRB - Thanks!! I sure do appreciate it!