John, Glad to see you back here. I think it is about 10 years ago I had an eyeball with you at your work QTH ... tom, N3LLL
On Thu, May 21, 2026 at 11:05 AM John Flood via R-390 <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Here is the data tag photo that did not get sent yesterday. > On Wednesday, May 20, 2026 at 08:01:30 PM EDT, John Flood via R-390 < > [email protected]> wrote: > > Mike, > Why dont i have that luck when I play the lotto?!? The first R-725 I had > was a pre-production unit as well. There were some photos of it in the > E.R. article done by George Rancourt several years ago. No cleaning, will > be done Here is one photo of the Data Plate. There are some numbers above > that I'll get more when I can. > John Flood N1JAF > On Wednesday, May 20, 2026 at 04:51:21 PM EDT, Mike Peace < > [email protected]> wrote: > > John, > > Good to hear from you, and glad the radio made it home. > > Short answer: you've got something very special. That contract number, > W36-039-SC-44552, is the original Collins development contract for the > R-390. Under it, Collins built only three R-390 prototypes for the Signal > Corps at Fort Monmouth before any production radios were made: > > R-390 No. 1 — January 1951 > R-390 No. 2 — September 1951 > R-390 No. 3 — February 1952 > > The "X" in (XC-2) means experimental. Your plate says Serial No. 2, so you > almost certainly have R-390 No. 2 — the second R-390 ever built, delivered > to Fort Monmouth in September 1951. > > That's a museum-grade radio. It pre-dates the entire production run. > > Before you do anything else with it, take a lot of photos — inside, > outside, the data plate, any paper tags, any handwriting on the chassis. > Don't clean anything off. The little details on a prototype are part of its > history. > > The primary source on these three radios is the Collins Final Engineering > Report (CER No. 297), here: > > > https://www.collinsradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/R390-CER-No-297-Signal-Corp-Final-Eng-Rpt-Includes-R-389.pdf > > And contract background is on r-390a.net: > > https://www.r-390a.net/faq-manuf.htm > > If you post some interior photos to the list, several of us can help you > figure out exactly what's original and what isn't. > Quite a find, John. > Glad it followed you home. > > 73, > > Mike Peace VK6ADA > r-390a.net Administrator > On Wed, May 20, 2026 at 3:39 PM John Flood via R-390 < > [email protected]> wrote: > > Greetings, > After the stroke i had 3 years ago and selling off all of my > R-390,R-390A,R725,and R-392's that I had because the weight exceeded what I > was allowed to carry.,. one of the radios i sold followed me home from a > flea. Forgive me if I asked this before, the brain is quite dusty, This > unit has a phenolic tag from Collins R-390(XC-2)/URR Serial No. 2 Order N. > W36-039-SC44552. Does any one here know what the XC-2 mod was? The owner > had a great laff when I asked him about it... He said you should know you > sold it to me! I do recall that now and told him I must have told you! > At least i had the stroke as an excuse! Well needless to say with the help > of my son. the beastie is now inside my shack Now starts a mission to > again figure out what's so special about this one. > John Flood N1JAF > T email list: QSL.net - Donate Site > > | > | > | > | | | > > | > > | > | > | | > QSL.net - Donate Site > > > | > > | > > | > > > > > ______________________________________________________________ > R-390 mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/r-390 > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[email protected] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > > ______________________________________________________________ > R-390 mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/r-390 > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[email protected] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > > | | Virus-free.www.avg.com | > > ______________________________________________________________ > R-390 mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/r-390 > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[email protected] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html ______________________________________________________________ R-390 mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/r-390 Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
