I've spent much of my free time the past couple of weeks putting radios, code keys and radio “stuff” in general up and out of the way in preparation for today's visit by family for our Thanksgiving celebration. With the goal of getting things in order, I decided that I would not take time to set up any radio equipment that I received via eBay in the interim. It was better to leave it boxed and out of harm's way.
One little jewel that I've been waiting to unbox is the BC-348Q military receiver that I've been sitting on for nearly a month. I was more than a little worried about the safety of the receiver because the box felt like it had air space inside — which usually means that whatever is inside has been bouncing around while in transit.
With our holiday guests departed, I decided now was a good time to pull the BC-348Q out of the box to survey the damage (if any).
The seller said the receiver was in good operating condition; it had a power supply that had been professionally mounted with a 3-wire cord, and the seller promised it would not be DOA. I was still concerned about damage while in transit.
Unboxing the radio revealed what was shifting around.
The receiver was double-boxed; the inner box was shifting around. The packing on the receiver itself wasn't anything to write home about; thankfully, these receivers are designed for rough service … including the gorillas at UPS.
Physically, the receiver looked fine. But will it play? There were no rattling sounds from within, always a good sign!
I hoisted it (yes, hoisted) the receiver up to a table near my computer desk and plugged it in. The dial lamps lit, and in moments, static appeared in the cans. The antenna connector are terminals on the front, so I touched my finger to the antenna terminal and the receiver came to life!
It wasn't a test of how well it will receive, since it had no antenna, but it does receive, and in fairly decent calibration for a receiver close to 70 years old.
It appears the output transformer has been changed from high impedance to low impedance; a few mods have been performed on the receiver.
Originally equipped with a dynamotor for power, this one has a power supply added in the spot once occupied by the dynamotor. A toggle switch on the front panel controls the power; a rotary switch and knob for the BFO on/off switch has been replaced by a toggle switch. A potentiometer has been added that appears to be an AF gain knob; the other knob is the stock RF gain.
It's an interesting receiver for what it is. I'm looking forward to hooking it up to a real antenna and checking its performance then. I tuned several stations in and it seems fairly stable too once warmed up.
In fact, I may put this receiver in the library and pull out my Hallicrafters SX-130. Most of my listening is evenings and nights on either 40/80 and on the night time shortwave bands. I'm curious to check out the receiver's performance; I'm not hard to please, and I'm all about using something a little “unusual,” lol!
The only drawback to the Q-model BC-348Q is that it doesn't cover the AM band, just below it and 1600 and up. This receiver covers up to 18 MHz.
I've always wanted to buy a BC-348, but I haven't for several reasons. For starters, they usually sell too high (this one did not); they also often don't work or no one knows if they work (this one worked well, seller said). I didn't want a receiver that was a piece of junk (had a couple of those and have learned my lesson).
Maybe I'll have some time to do a little retro receiver work this winter; either that, or I'll send it back to the food chain on eBay!
73 es CUL … de KY4Z … sk dit dit …..