R-390A Restoration Resources

Parts kits are now available to help with your rebuilds.  These include:

The following are before and after pictures from the first Blue Striper restoration.  While this restoration required a lot of work, it gave much enjoyment and satisfaction.

There are many R-390A enthusiasts to whom I am indebted, and without whom I would have never begun these restorations.  My friend Mark had bought an R-390A one year at Dayton, and convinced me that I needed one, too. So I ordered a checked unit from Fair Radio.  Mark had quickly pointed me to Chuck Rippel's webpage, which is an incredible repository of information.  Then one night Mark and I were talking about our R-390A radios on 75 meters, and Chuck dropped in for a chat.  Hearing Chuck talk about the R-390A really encouraged me to consider restoring mine.  Mark and I ordered the R-390A video from Hi-Res communications, and we were off running.  I owe many thanks to Chuck for encouraging and helping me through my first one, and his continuing to offer his wisdom and experience.  I continue to learn more about these fine receivers with each one I work on, each one giving both its pleasures and opportunities.

For all R-390A enthusiasts, here is some information I have gathered from various sources.  I've tried to be sure that this information is as accurate as possible, but evaluate and use at your own discretion.  If you find errors or major omissions, please let me know via email.

R-390A Front Panel Painting

R-390A Gear Train Rebuild

The following links open in a new window to enable printing

R-390A Alignment Procedure 

R-390A Restoration Checklist

The procedure I use to rebuild the filter capacitors is shown on the Collins Restoration page.

Here is some information on field changes and certain "reversible" modifications

Productions Modifications, Field Changes, and Optional Modifications

I've added a page of Hints and Tips for the R-390A and R-390 non-A.

Restoration Services

I hope all of you R-390A enthusiasts have either restored one of these radios or intend to do so in the future.  They are a delight to work with, but some parts of a full restoration can be a bit frustrating until you've spent some time with them.  If you'd like me to help with a full restoration or just with certain parts, check out the following links:

Restoration Services and Pricing

Details of Restoration Services

Checkout The Quest Online to see where I now spend much of my time.  God Bless!

© 2005 by Walter Wilson, KK4DF.  All information is offered for non-commercial use without warranty, expressed or implied.