Where to get an AR88

[wellsradio]

Where would be the best place to get a resonable condition AR88 Military radio and what sort of price would be resonable to pay??
My uncle used to have one of these sets but its long gone and I would like to get one sometime.
I had a look on ebay and they all seem to be quite far away and due to weight it seems collection only, they seem to command a high price on there
Are these the sort of sets that would be found at a boot sale or radio rally anymore??

Many Thanks
Mark

[pwdrive]

They do come up at radio rallies/events etc, not sure though what sought of money they command at the said.

Ebay for sure but unless the seller is reasonably close to your location then travel expense etc has to be taken into consideration.

Most folks that sell an AR88 know what it's value is likely to be, if it's silly money then I wouldn't bother unless it's near mint and that's what you are after.

They are a good performer when fully working and set up correctly, alignment...some say a wobbulator is the only way, I did mine without by using a spot frequency and an output meter plus my ears, most xtal filters in receivers of that era can be done that way, I've done several.

Things to watch out for, amongst others...The tuning knob is a knob twiddlers delight, this often means that the gearbox is badly worn causing backlash within the gearing mechanism that drives the tuning gang, in most cases there's not a lot you can do about it if it's bad except to find a better gearbox, known good gearboxes tend to get snapped up quick, with tuning backlash you will find resolving CW and SSB transmissions a PITA.

The capacitors, the bathtub style capacitors leak in more ways than one...electrical leakage and physical leakage, they can be re stuffed if desired, the large power supply reservoir/filter capacitors can also leak, some say that the types of capacitors as described contain PCB's, I can't say one way or the other for certain.

The sound output transformer in these receivers don't like being stressed, common causes are the grid coupling capacitor to the sound output stage and the capacitor in the tone network, also if I remember correctly there is also a mod to prevent primary winding flashover in the event of a no load situation on the secondary.

Anti belt warning.... when the HT switch is in the "Trans" (transmit) position the voltage across the HT reservoir/filter capacitors can head up to a nasty value, It might be worth while disabling that function, some do some don't.

Many are found minus the screening cans for the tuning gang, not the end of the world.

Some may be fitted with the original type S meter, in general not many are, in the majority of cases another type of S meter has been fitted, actually the S meter response is not that great whether an original or not.

If I remember right the RF gain pot is an oddball value.

If you want backlash free tuning that's a delight to use on a receiver of that era then get yerself an HRO as well (no WW2 collection is complete without one...) most folks on here know they are my favourite receiver from that period.

Good luck.

Lawrence.

[wellsradio]

Hi Lawrence,
thanks for the detailed reply, it gives an idea where to start regarding AR88 sets and what to look for.
I will have to have a look around for an HRO, are they quite common??? I will google it and see what they look like, etc

Many Thanks
Mark

[pwdrive]

Plenty of stuff on the HRO on the web, they come up often on Ebay, unless it's a real dog that's been got at they tend to go between £100-£150 (ish)

The most common ones (on Ebay at least) are the MX variant and the 5t variant, both table models.

The HRO MX does not have a plug in xtal for the xtal filter like the HRO Senior did, it's hard wired inside the phasing control box, the MX still used 6 pin valves (UX6 base) the same as the original HRO Senior did.

The HRO 5t has the same xtal arrangement as the HRO MX but the valves used are different, they are metal enveloped with an octal base, the sound output valve however is still a glass envelope job.

Most if not all of the HRO 5t's appear to have been manufactured during 1945, most were tropicalised.

I've enclosed a picture of a couple I have, the one in the foreground is the HRO 5t, it has an R106 MK11 badge on it as well (a military designation) the one in the background to the right is the HRO Senior, that particular one is a rack mounted version, the front control panel of that is 5 mm aluminium, the case and panel on the HRO 5t is all steel.

Band changing is by plug in coil packs which are inserted/removed from the front panel.

Electronically and mechanically they are very simple and elegant and are very good performers when set up and working correctly plus they are not heavy.. The PW tuning drive needs no explanation it's a bit of a legend.

Lawrence.

[John M0GLN]

Have you seen these posts on 'G3CWI's Flea Market' ?

A house clearance of WW2 equipment including an AR88LF.

http://pub29.bravenet.com/classified/sho...2477864602&cp=2

The first post on Tue, 26 May is from the the person selling and the second post on Wed, 27 May from someone who's seen them.

John

[wellsradio]

Well I managed to find an AR88 this weekend and all being well will be collecting wednesday
It needs some attention and is missing a couple of knobs and I was advised by the owner its output transformer is open circuit
Blimey they are heavy
Please bare with me as I will be asking questions on getting this beasty going

Does anybody have any or know for spares for the set is it look on ebay and local rallies ???
As I am currently lacking in test equipment are there any members local to me that could test bits if needs be??

Many Thanks
Mark