[Premium-Rx] Fw: Lee Standley RE: Racal RA1792 on eBay

[michaelob666 at ntlworld.com]

Pat

Read this email string.  Lee is a very happy bunny with his new RA1792 from eBay.

MOB

From: michaelob666 at ntlworld.com 
Sent: Monday, February 16, 2015 9:29 PM
To: Lee Standley 
Subject: Re: Lee Standley RE: Racal RA1792 on eBay

Dear Lee

Many thanks for your email.  Welcome to the small club  of quality receiver owners.

It looks as if you have bought a very good one.  The slight bleed on the LCD is not fatal and is sadly common.  Often caused by bad storage.  Keep the set in a heated room in the house and never in the cold garage.

The audio quality via an external speaker is stunning.  I use decent a Wharfdale Diamond which is sensitive and does not demand watts of AF to work well.  Or try decent headphones.  I use studio quality Sony.

As you are discovering, the AGC is most docile with no pops or splutters.  I prefer it to DSP any day.  I have a loaned DSP set made by STC.  The IF selectivity is stunning but the set does odd things and the internal fan to deal with all the heat from the digital circuits drives me nuts.

In my view, AGC is the one element that will make or break a receiver.  Most receivers fail especially those with hang circuits.   Two of my old RA17s sound bad and choppy on SSB but two others are wonderful.  God knows why the difference.

Listening to AM as SSB via the wide SSB filter is amazing.  So much better than that given by most ham gear.

I take it the set passes its BITE test on powering up.

Do you have the operator’s and repair manuals?

One useful bit of test gear is an HP 5004A signature analyser.  They are now cheap.  Mine was ex Portsmouth RN dockyard.  You apply probes to specified locations in the radio and numbers pop up on the analyser’s screen.  The tables in the manual tell you what the numbers mean and where the fault lies.

I suggest you apply a drop of oil to the bearing of the tuning shaft.  Just a small drop.

If you hear MP hash on the audio let me know.  There is a simple mod.

BTW the original cost of the ITT crystal or Collins mechanical filters was staggering.   Into three figures each.

Any way enjoy your new toy and keep in touch.

73s
Michael
G8MOB

From: Lee Standley 
Sent: Monday, February 16, 2015 8:17 PM
To: Michael O'Beirne 
Cc: lee.standley at ntlworld.com 
Subject: Lee Standley RE: Racal RA1792 on eBay

Dear Michael,

Following on from your very welcome comments about the RA1972 that I asked if you would have a look at
on eBay for me; I thought you might be interested in knowing that I am now the excited new owner of that receiver.

There's no doubt it is in very good condition, there isn't a single mark on the front panel and, in my limited experience,
it receives very well indeed; I'm listening to stations I haven't heard in a long time.  For years I've wondered why there was such a fuss about AGC.
On my Yaesu FRG-7700 if I switch the AGC from slow to fast it just makes the "S" meter jump up and down a bit more energetically, but the
AGC on the RA1792 is a revelation! It's a pleasure to listen to the Amateur bands with the AGC set to "long" just as you say in your eHam
review.

The desk top cabinet that came with the set is manufactured by Optima Electronic Packaging Systems in the USA. It's about two inches
longer than the RA1792 so I presume it wasn't made specifically for the set and it weighs a ton! - I can see why you say they are so
expensive.

The only fly-in-the-ointment so far is that there is a slight bleed in the top right hand corner of the mode display which became slightly
worse when I got the set home; probably caused by lugging it around in the car. The bleed just touches the top of the bandwith
digits. As long as it doesn't get any worse I can put up with it and I know that replacements are available from Italy.

Thank you again for your much appreciated help

Best Wishes

Lee Standley G0FCZ

lee.standley at ntlworld.com