R107 army receiver

[McMurdo]

I've acquired one of these. Are they worth restoring to good order like an AR88 or Collins or Hallicrafters? It looks a chunky beast, and I like the chunky controls and cabinet. As an AM receiver it lacks a certain appeal to me, and I find listening to shortwave stations only mildy interesting.
You can probably tell I know nothing about military radio

[dave walsh]

Possibly not a full restoration Kevin but others have done so-eg in Radio Bygones I think! It was a fairly basic Ground Station set but good quality, although definitely not in the same league as the AR88 [Rolls Royce] or Collins sets. When I was a teenager they sold [brand new] just the 107 front end units for a while from which I planned to feed the IF output into another set as the 2nf IF. Unfortunately, by the time I'd saved up my money they'd sold out I finally got a complete R107 at a Shifnall Exhibition in the nineties. My brother's car was chock a block and this guy was desperate to off load. I said you can see how we are fixed already-it would have to be a silly price. He said how much? £3! Done! I've not got around to it yet though

Dave

[bigtony]

Hi, I restored an R107 a few years back and was very pleased with its performance. Once the technique is mastered fine for SSB reception as well. Biggest minus on these sets is the physical size. Good unmodified examples are becoming scarce.

[IanG3XYV]

I had a set as a boy in the late 60's. When I got my licence it was my only receiver and I think I notched up 100 countries on CW so it works! I added a Q multiplier at some point but it worked fine up to 14Mhz on CW and SSB unmodified. It was left behind at some house move which I regret but it is a beast!

Ian

[Jonster]

I had one in the late 70's, my first 'proper' communications receiver. Good performance on top band, 80m and 40m, tuning is a bit more drifty as you get to the top of the capability (17MHz) for SSB. Very heavy but well made. Beware, some pins on front panel will give you a bit of a poke!

[ex seismic]

And don't lift it vertically out of the case then put it down on the bench, you'll damage the connections at the back. Bring it out horizontally.

Gordon

[Peter.G0DRT]

I always wanted one of these when I was a lad but my pocket money wouldn't stretch to buying one. A friend acquired one a few months ago and asked if I would like to buy it.
As mentioned, it's a bit of a lump but all in all quite a nice radio. I need to renew a few components to get it up to spec.

Regards, Peter.

[Graham G3ZVT]

Originally Posted by IanG3XYV

I had a set as a boy in the late 60's.

Ditto!

[Graham G3ZVT]

Originally Posted by Peter.G0DRT

I always wanted one of these when I was a lad but my pocket money wouldn't stretch to buying one. A friend acquired one a few months ago and asked if I would like to buy it.
As mentioned, it's a bit of a lump but all in all quite a nice radio. I need to renew a few components to get it up to spec.

Mine was £15 from Fred G3MAX NW Electrics 52 Gt. Ancoats St Manchester in 1967. I chose it because of it's impressive size and the fact it was the only receiver in the shop that was permanently on, (tuned to 247m)

I really wanted an AR88 but they were more expensive.

[HamishBoxer]

Well worth a restoration,I have one here but these days it seems to get heavier.

[IanG3XYV]

Wish I had a photograph Graham!

[G4XWDJim]

Here are some pics of my R107. Hope they're useful. They're not particularly good as they originated on 35mm film prints in my scrapbook and were re photographed today with a digital camera.

It was the first of several that I had over the years and the one that I kept from about 1975 to 2005 when I sold it to a GW3 in Carmarthen together with its associated transmitter the WS12.

I like the R107 very much and that one in particular as it had a white painted dial instead of the more common aluminium one. I used it on the vmars net in preference to various HF Eddystones, AR88s and others.

It was particularly easy to mute when used with a transmitter and was self contained with built in PSU and speaker. One of the few sets that served amateur purposes with no mods.

As others have mentioned it seemed to double its weight over the years. 45 kgs I think.

Jim

[Graham G3ZVT]

Originally Posted by IanG3XYV

Wish I had a photograph Graham!

I wish I'd tidied the shack.
Here is a random page from the broadcast log. Note the logging-scale and band-switch position entries.

[G3VKM_Roger]

I owned an R107 for a couple of years when I was first licensed. I answered a knock on the door and found two dustbin men* on the step. They asked if I was a "Radioman" and when I said yes they took me out to the cart where they had a half-decent R107 c/w lid, "a fiver to you, mate!" and had a good laugh whilst I struggled it indoors.

* using the 1960s term, no offence intended.

73

Roger

[unixmanuk]

...Used with WS53 transmitter if I'm not mistaken. Altogether, a very substantial station requiring the services of an equally substantial truck to carry it in Royal Signals service...

[G3VKM_Roger]

And with the WS12 and BC-610 transmitters, there must be others too.


Roger

[Keith]

Hi Kevin,
I was given one of these receivers recently and, having sorted a few capacitors, am most impressed. The narrow bandwidth setting gives a true +/-3kHz response without the use of crystals. If you want to see some amazing R107 restoration work take a look at https://www.qrz.com/db/g3yjo .

[McMurdo]

You're doing a good job of convincing me to get it working, if only for interest's sake. My last big metal radio lump was an AR88 that I repaired for a mate when I lived at home, oh 25 years ago. As I carried it downstairs my legs buckled and I found myself sitting stranded 1/4 of the way down the stairs with the AR88 on my lap and no strength to do anything about it.
Luckily no stairs at work these days.

[HamishBoxer]

Hope those floor joists are strong with all that weight!

[dave walsh]

I see that I mentioned [in a 2006 thread] that there was a VMRS article "Bringing Your R107 Back To Life". I'm sure I would have printed it out. Can't seem to find it on their site although there are the full operating instructions [Document 752].There's no end of info generally eg The Radio Museum has a large circuit diagram etc. I was beginning to think I had made that up re the Front ends on sale but photos [here and especially on You Tube] show 3 sub units clearly defined. What was I going to do with a standard 465K IF output though-jam it into the end of the MW Band on one of my two sets? I had a cunning plan but what was it? Has anyone ever seen one of these stand alone front end units?

I do remember these brand new RF/If items being advertised in PW as suitable to act as an external convertor,
the price of £3-15/- comes to mind. Buying a full 107 would have been out of reach then, either brand new or "used". One thread ["last year"] had 107's in tanks but as stated then, that wouldn't have been possible. I've seen a photo somewhere of them in a Mobile Ground Station [ie a truck]. I think we are all getting old now. Back in the day if we'd only been able to get [I nearly said "pick up"] one of these classic sets, it's weight would probaly have been the least concern. The 107 is a mere starter anyway set against say, a B40 or AR88 [100 lbs]. I even had a DST 100 once-same weight, largely cast Iron-even the tuning dial is modelled on a car brake drum. Now that's a great rig for stubbing your toes on! I have an AR88 on one of those box metal office desks Kevin, with a three sided frame at the back, a plug board fitted and four substantial wheels [A local Authority throw out!] so I can move the whole thing about with ease both in the room and the set itself on the desk-it can't overbalance and fall off or on me!

Dave W