RA.117 RECEIVER
March 19 2000
The Racal
RA.117 is a considerably renewed version of Racal's probably best
known receiver, the RA.17. It is very similar in outward appearance,
except for the selection of external VFO and the three-position
S-meter mode selector.
A bit
about the equipment in the picture:
The decade
controller MA.250G is a frequency synthesizer, providing frequency
selection with decade knobs at 100 kHz intervals, in the range
1.6 to 31.6 MHz. This controller without modifications is not
suitable for receiving. Model MA.350 adds fine frequency control
or "interpolation", making it usable with the R.117
as well as the newer RA.217.
Back
to the RA.117 .......
Internally, there are more extensive changes. The chassis seems
to be cast from the same die, but adding an IF (1.6 MHz) has necessitated
an additional unit. The second VFO has also changed. The rectifier
tube has been replaced with solid-state diodes, leaving on the
chassis the socket screw holes, but not the socket hole itself!
The RA.117 can be driven with an external decade controller (synthesizer),
thus getting rid of the inaccuracies of the VFO and traditional
film scale.
Receiving
specifications have not changed from RA.17.
I have
seen three models of the original RA.17: RA.17L and RA.17W with
different available IF bandwidths, and RA.17C-12, which is the
US export model and has also been available with front-panel lettering
in Finnish. The RA.117 exists both with English and Finnish lettering;
the latter have been used in the Finnish air force and navy.
Osmo Salo OH1JEA has re-written the RA.117's English manual on
a computer. The manual is available here in .doc format.
I do
not currently own any Racal receivers, but I have manuals for
most of them. If I can, I'll gladly answer any questions related
to Racal equipment.