Drake question

[s.j.b. de zeeuw]

Hello everybody,

I am very interested in a Drake receiver r4. As far as I know there are 3
versions: R-4a - b and c.
Can anybody tell me the difference?

Thank you in advance,

Hans - Amsterdam the Netherlands

[Donald Frazier]

R.L. Drake Virtual Museum:
http://www.dproducts.be/DRAKE_MUSEUM/

Technical Information/Drake Mods. V6:
http://www.dproducts.be/DRAKE_MUSEUM/drake6.htm

[WB9GKZ]

The "C" model has the most difference
from the A and B models.

The "C" has a crummy class A transistor
audio stage that is very noisy and unpleasing to listen to. It also went to
cheap crystal filters in place of the smooth
multipole L-C filters as contained in the
A and B.

I prize the B model as the best of the
series despite what the collectors are
paying (through the nose) for the latest
C models.

Research the magazines of the C-model's
time period and take a look as to why
Mr. Sherwood made a killing selling
mod kits and retrofits for the C.

Just my humble personal opinion.

Pat WPE9JRL

[Don Cunningham]

Hans, if you have good internet access, you can see all 4 versions of the
receiver at www.dproducts.be/drake_museum/ . There was an R4, R4A, R4B, and
R4C. Basic differences were numbers of tubes versus solid state devices.
On the C line, crystal filters were an accessory, bandwidth options were
standard on the other three. My personal choice is the R4B, for what that's
worth, hi.
73,
Don, WB5HAK

[Chris Holladay]

"s.j.b. de zeeuw" wrote:

Hi there
I ,myself ,have the R4-A here ad I would not hesitate to recommend this A
version for you at all :)
One main drawback is that on all 4 models ,R4,R4A,R4B,R4C, the radio was
built for ham band use only .So if you are wanting to use it for a shortwave
broadcast band reciever like I do ,then you have to find \buy crystals to
use in the auxiliary slots on the back to get your SWBC bands in 500 khz
increments .
Mine came with about 10 slots I think. So if you want to hear BBC on 5975 you
will need the 49 mtr band crystal which tunes 6000 Khz to 6500 Khz. The
Drakes tune down beyond that range by about 45 Khz.
How do it work?
Beautifully for me here .
I have that R-4A,as well as a Motorola R390,DX160,and a few other rigs ,and
it seems to hold up pretty well on recieve compared to today's solid state
rigs . I love the passband tuning as well.
The C model is perhaps overrated as a no mod rig,some functions are optional
whereas on the A and B versons ,they were standard.
Sherwood Engineering made a fortune selling,and continuing to sell mods for
the C version. No mods are really necessary for the A and B version that I
am aware of though :)
If I was looking for another rig I would prefer the A version or the B
version before I ever sunk some big bucks into getting a C version and
having to do a lot of mods to get it to sound like the other two .
Just my 23 cents worth
thanks
Chris

Using a Drake R-4A,Motorola- manufactured R-390,Realistic DX380,Realistic
DX160,60 ft v-shape dipole, and 21 ft vertical to listen to the world.
Playing with an Emachine 366i2 and learning about Windows 98
World Wide Web addresses -
http://members.tripod.com/~swlchris/index.html
http://members.tripod.com/~DRAKE-R4A/index.html
Email address-d...@hotmail.com
Actual location- in the sticks somewhere in Kentucky reading my textbooks in
the dark with the help of a bic lighter

[Gert Nilsson]

The biggest difference between the R4A and the R4B is that the B version has
more circuits transistorized. HF and IF is the same. The R4C is a very
different receiver with 2 crystalfilters in series, used for PBT. The
selectivity of the R4A-B LC tuned filters is not good compared to modern
ceramic or crystal filters. I think the 2,4 kHz filter is 7 kHz wide
at -60dB. For a comparison the 2,4 kHz in the R75 from ICOM is 3,6 kHz!
Quite a difference. I have an old R4B modified with a first IF crystal
filter from the R4C for better selectivity.

Another drawback with the Drake R4 and SPR4 are the mixing products from the
harmonics of the VFO making the 4700-4800 kHz and the 9500-10000 kHz full of
birdies. Also it is leaking so badly to the first IF of 5645 kHz that this
portion of the band can't be used!

[Chris]

Gert Nilsson wrote:

Hi
Hmmm I haven't noticed any birdies on the 9500 to 10000 Khz range here ,except
for one real bad on the 4500 to 5000 Khz segment around 4975 . I use this
radio daily ,well almost daily ,since the Motorola R390 is working ,it is now
my secondary receiver.
Perhaps there is a leaky component on your radio,bad filter solder joint, or
maybe a wire touching? I don't know .
I do agree with the bandwith problem at times , especially in AM ,but since I
am usually looking for those low powered tropicals, I use SSB in 2.4 filter
mode :)
I would be interested in knowing if that IF crystal filter modification would
be usable on the A version ,as I have to say that sometimes splatter can be a
problem in AM mode when RHC ,VOA,or RCI comes on frequency a few khz away.

Other than that, it hasn't missed much to my knowledge that the guys with the
R8 rigs have heard :)

Thanks
Chris

[backw...@gmail.com]

Hello Hands, I was very impressed with the R4-A, it could be used to drive an amplifier direct VIA the INJ RCA jack and I could connect one of my offset freq. counters to that port also and read the frequency direct on all bands, as though Mr. drake knew the advantage of his R4 design.

To answer your question more direct, I don't any ad vantage moving to the R4-B or C, nice and compact, not crowded, copper layer chassis, very well done.

You can find my enclosed LED counters on Ebay...Ralph

[dxAce]

You've certainly replied to an old post. However in the grand scheme of things, a nice R-4B is certainly preferable to the other two versions.

[Joe from Kokomo]

> backw...@gmail.com wrote:
>
>> On Friday, November 24, 2000 at 10:42:23 AM UTC-8, s.j.b. de zeeuw
>> wrote:
>>> Hello everybody,
>>>
>>> I am very interested in a Drake receiver r4. As far as I know
>>> there are 3 versions: R-4a - b and c. Can anybody tell me the
>>> difference?
>>>
>>> Thank you in advance,
>>>
>>> Hans - Amsterdam the Netherlands
>>
>> Hello Hands, I was very impressed with the R4-A, it could be used
>> to drive an amplifier direct VIA the INJ RCA jack and I could
>> connect one of my offset freq. counters to that port also and read
>> the frequency direct on all bands, as though Mr. drake knew the
>> advantage of his R4 design.
>>
>> To answer your question more direct, I don't any ad vantage moving
>> to the R4-B or C, nice and compact, not crowded, copper layer
>> chassis, very well done.
>>
>> You can find my enclosed LED counters on Ebay...Ralph

On 10/11/2015 5:58 AM, dxAce wrote:

> You've certainly replied to an old post. However in the grand scheme
> of things, a nice R-4B is certainly preferable to the other two
> versions.

Yes, the R4B is a very nice receiver. However, some might disagree with
you that it is preferable to the "C" version. The R4C had 8-pole crystal
filters for better selectivity as opposed to the rest of the 4-line that
used LC filters.

[dxAce]

Fortunately or unfortunately, the LC filters sound better than the crystal
filters. A much mellower sound.