A couple of Drakes

[WQ9E]

I have long been a fan of products from Miamisburg OH and I recently acquired a couple of receivers from R L Drake.

On the bottom is a MSR-2 that covers from 10 Khz. to 30 Mhz.  Tuning is a hybrid analog/digital system with knob selection of range to 100 Khz. and then tuning within the 100 Khz. segment is via an analog VFO.  The VFO is interesting in that it contains two separate VFOs controlled by the same knob that are electronically switched so that when you tune past the top of the 100 Khz. segment the other VFO is activated starting at the bottom of that segment.  You are never more than 50 Khz. away from any frequency within the segment making for rapid tuning.  Drift is specified at less than 100 hertz over 8 hours after a 30 minute warmup.  A vernier fine tuning control provides extremely fine tuning over a 200 hertz range.   Crystal IF filters provide .3, 1.2, 2.4, and 6.0 Khz. bandwidths and it has separate LSB and USB filters for ISB.  The input protector is rated to prevent damage from up to a 1,000 volt peak to peak source.

On the top is a RR-3 which is almost identical to the amateur R-7.  Differences include front panel color,  the case style, additional input protection, Aux-7 board standard with the 500 and 2.182 marine frequencies instantly available with fixed crystal oscillators, and front panel switching between DC and AC power sources.  The receiver covers 10 Khz. to 30 Mhz. like the R-7 but the default frequency for some of the ranges is different so that selecting an amateur band requires use of the up and down buttons.  Like the R-7 it is a good performer but the MSR-2 definitely strikes me as having somewhat better construction quality.

[W7TFO]

Do a couple of drakes = 2 male swans?

Just kidding!

73DG

ps...nice sets!

[gerry_w1id]

Nice radios. I'm also a big Drake fan since my first "real" communications receiver was the famous R-4B about 42 years ago. Right now I have an R-7A which looks similar to one of yours which I use for general listening. It's a great receiver especially for LW DX'ing. I wonder if you heard Drake (or what's left of it) was acquired by Blonder-Tongue I believe at the beginning of February.

[W7TFO]

I remember a Drake facility in Tempe, AZ right next door to the old Circuit Research Labs factory a few years ago.

Drake made a lot of TV & satellite stuff there.

Both have moved on since. 

CRL is now part of Orban, the "Octopus of Audio", burying all the good stuff and selling second rate gear IMO.  The old, "we can't beat 'em, so will buy & bury it" business model.

73DG

[WQ9E]

Gerry,

I hadn't heard about the acquisition but it makes sense given that they seem to have been rapidly winding down service support for the shortwave receivers.   The most recent Drake receiver I have is a R-8 (although I guess the Eton E1-XM has quite a bit of Drake DNA) but they seemed to be doing pretty well with specialized broadcast gear.

The R-7 and RR-3 are extremely similar and I used the R-7 service manual to troubleshoot my second non-functional RR-3.  It has a problem on the digital control board which hopefully will be rectified by a replacement IC.

Dennis,

I would definitely say these two are all male   Some receivers have a feminine touch but these Drakes are all business like.

I imagine post-acquisition the remaining service parts will rapidly disappear.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

R. L. Drake - Blonder Tongue Press Release:
http://www.blondertongue.com/blonder_tongue_buys_r.l._drake/

[K5UJ]

Right, Drake went into TV satellite rx gear when they exited the ham market. 

"Blonder-Tongue" (somewhere around here I have a BT outboard UHF TV converter box modified for 70 cm ATV) has to be one of the weirder electronic equipment mfr. names.   I guess there were two men named Blonder and Tongue.   I would have come up with another name.

[WQ9E]

B-T is a pretty old company, several years ago I picked up some late 40s/50s era video amps made by them at a hamfest in order to grab the power transformers.

There is a pair of brothers who operate a tax prep service just north of me in Mackinaw IL and they operate under their family name of Looney's Tax Service.  The firm has been in business for a long time and I am sure they are competent but if I was named Looney I wouldn't use it for my business name.