For AM Ham radio communications a quality radio is required. A five tube radio is not going to perform well. A quality radio is required to hear about everyone on the Ham radio Nets. Price wise a quality tube radio starts at about $300. So, what is the best tube radio for the cost?
IMO the Collins 51J-3/R-388 cannot be beat for the cost. I find these R-388 for $300 at times and you may have to pay more. The receiver is dual conversion. It is the same basic design as the over $1K priced Collins 51J-4 less the mechanical filters. The R-388 has permeability tuning receiver sections that are far superior to the standard receiver design. In fact, it is a brilliant design and a large departure from the standard receiver. The R-388 is a reasonable 61 lbs.
After all the years these radios do not require an alignment for good reception. The radios remain close to the original alignment. The 'dogbone' capacitors usually test good. The electrolytic power supply capacitor is a plug-in type and available from Hayseed for $32.95. Change this capacitor out and C215 & C216. One area of concern is the separation of the tuning slugs and screw. A drop of Super Glue gel is the solution. Do not use non gel Super Glue as it could dangerously run past the slug and freeze up the slug ruining the radio.
Te R-388 has 18 tubes and a well performing 6AK5 RF tube. This RF tube has a transconductance of 5100 or hot enough for 10 meters quality reception. The radio has three stages of IF for reasonable selectivity. The days of crowded bands is gone thus crystal and mechanical filters are not needed in most cases. Plus non IF crystal or mechanical filter selectivity usually sounds a bit better. This is also very quiet receiver with minimal background noise. The dial is spread out enough to find any frequency, so not issue here. The radio has a built-in crystal calibrator. The antenna input is the standard 50 ohm.
The R-388 uses a 6AQ5 audio output tube for plenty of audio power at 2.5 watts. It has a 4 ohm audio tap for the standard speaker.
More info on this radio is at this site:
https://radioblvd.com/collins_r388_and_51j_series.htm
