Racal RA1772

[Ian - G4JQT]

I'm trying to track down the original price and launch date of the Racal 1772 receiver. I used them in the late 1970s, but think they first appeared in the mid '70s, but can't find when.

I seem to remember being told they were about £3000 each at the time (!), but again, I can't find the price for the basic receiver when they first appeared.

Thanks.

Ian

[wartime sounds]

Hi Ian,

Just done a search on the internet for the user manual and found a copy and that is dated 08-03-76 with the amendments page dated May 1976.
Hope this helps.

Peter

[turretslug]

I recall seeing "around £2,000" and "1972" mentioned in a Pat Hawker book long ago. Maybe the "1772" designation was decided by marketing intending to imply "RA17 - 1972 iteration" to capitalize on an association with their famous predecessor. There was also the RA1771 thumbwheel-selection variant.

[Herald1360]

Early '70s sounds right. I started at Racal in 1974 and the 1772 was their current HF receiver by then, along with the MA1720 exciter and TA1810 solid state 1kW linear amplifier. The TA1800 10kW linear was still hybrid with a 4CX10000 forced air-cooled output tetrode.

[frsimen]

The April 1973 issue of Short Wave Magazine had a photo of the "new commercial all band receiver for professional use, the RA-1771".

I expect that the RA-1772 was from the same sort of date.

Paula

[Ian - G4JQT]

Thanks for all the replies. It matches up with what I can remember being told at work. I'm sure a modern version, that has exactly the same performance and functionality, could be sold for just a couple of hundred pounds these days. Unfortunately I suspect there wouldn't be a market as modern users seem to think they need all the layers of menus, multiple controls etc. none of which I ever felt the RA1772 needed anyway! The only feature that might have been useful was a notch filter - and that wasn't very often.

Ian

[Synchrodyne]

The earliest advertising for the Racal RA1772 that I have seen was in Wireless Word (WW) 1973 February:

WW 197302 p.12 Racal RA1770 Series.pdf


Some pertinent articles are:


WW 1972 June, p.269ff:

“Frequency Synthesizers”, by J.R, Philpott (Racal). The RA1770 series was not mentioned by name, but it is fairly clear that was the basis for the article.


Electronics & Power 1974 June 13, p.440ff:

“Operational Aspects of H.F. Receiver Design”, by R.F.E. Winn (Racal).


WW 1974 October, p.413ff

“Synthesized Communications Receiver”, by R.F.E. Winn (Racal).


Cheers,

[John KC0G]

Pat Hawker mentioned the RA1772 in these Technical Topics columns in Radio Communication:
i) Dec 1972, referencing a paper by G.J. Lomer
ii) Nov 1973, discussing the recent Racalex exhibition. The piece included a picture of the RA1772

The RA1770, RA1771, and RA1772 had been shown at the Racalex 71, along with the MA1720 drive. I have mislaid my copy of the show report.

73 John KC0G / M0KCY

[Radio Wrangler]

Many RA1772 would have been sold as tenders for contracts to government agencies. Also with filter bandwidths, ISB or not and such options, there may not have been A price for an RA1772... at least not a price that anybody actually paid.

It was always interesting to look inside a competitors box. One group of engineers would be looking at how it worked, and were there any new ideas. Another group would be costing the thing. If there was such a thing as an official price, then profit levels could be estimated. If there was some knowledge of real selling price, then those profit estimates got a lot better.

Things we're used to have manufacturer's prices, but soon after introduction the price gets undercut by other retailers, so we have 'official' and 'street' prices. The world of kit for governments and industrial markets is a lot murkier. Even if there is an advertised price, a lot of customers have the clout to go for discounts, and with tendering, manufacturers judge the amount and pricing of competition, sometimes they push themselves as low as they can go, sometimes at a loss just to get a foot in the door for other business.

HP brought out two versions of their catalogue every year. The US edition had prices, the other, for the rest of the world, did not, probably to avoid multiple versions for many currencies but maybe also to allow pricing to be influenced by local competition?

"How much is that doggie in the window?"

"Who's asking?"

Murky indeed.

David

[PJL]

A case of 'if you need to ask, you can't afford it'?