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2 Rackmount Cabinet Recollections
LEFT RACK CABINET: This WW2 RAS-5 Receiver works great! I replaced all the capacitors I could reach, and resoldered a few suspicious connections in 1980. I checked all the tubes and a set of spares was tested and set aside. It required the usual hardware tightening and cleaning of coil contacts inside the coil plug-in area. All 7 coil sets were cleaned and adjusted for mechanical and electrical alignment.
After inspecting the radio I determined that a 6J6 tube had been added above the chassis and a classic "S" meter circuit was connected to a small square "ruggedized" meter mounted on the right front side at the former location of the red jeweled pilot light that was moved to a position centered above the new meter. Everything else in the radio seemed to be as originally manufactured in 1944.
While looking for an original USN RAS-5 Coil Container, a rack mounted hindged door felt-lined that holds 6 of the 7 coils, I built a nice one that that was machined from an old aluminum rack panel. It was used for another project years ago and a few minutes with my scroll saw the opening was finished to the right size. I had box professionally made and I bolted to the back of the panel. Some wrinkle black paint, piece of wood and some green felt to cover the inside and I had a coil container that looked and worked great. later, a piece of plexi-glass to keep out the dust and show off the coil set was in place.
The RAS covers 190kc to 30 mcs, and with 2 stages of RF amplification is a very useable receiver. The calibration charts and micrometer dial are OK to note a station and return to it again, but callibration is only "C" for close.
One of my favorite memories of this radio is listening to KFBK AM 1530 located in Sacramento, CA from Weaverville, CA some 150 miles North in the Trinity National Forest. I had just replaced all the capacitors in the receiver, and was hoping it still worked... As the radio warmed up I began to hear the theme from the "Lone Ranger", and then the start of a radio drama about the masked crusader. I always like radio drama, as the colors are always clearer. Well, I fine-tuned the radio for best audio, and just listened to the show. There I was in 1980 listening to a radio show from the late 40s or 50s, on a radio that was 35 years old.
The power supply was built from junkbox parts on a sub-chassis bolted to the 5 1/4" aluminum rack panel I bought from HSC electronics in Rohnert Park. Some wrinkle Black paint, a spst toggle switch from the 40s and a jewel pilot light gleaming made the 250vdc and 6.3vac output supply the right size and electrically correct for the RAS-5. I figured if I found a used RAS AC power supply I could just bolt it in. I did find one, and completely restored it. I liked using the homebrew power supply and will keep the other as a spare.
The small rack cabinet on top of the RAS cabinet holds a 10 1/2" panel, with an 8" speaker protected with a metal screen. This is speaker sounds great. It is just an interim speaker until I need to use the cabinet or find an original talble or rack model of the speaker.
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Last Modified- November 13, 1997
