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Kwick_73
| | Posted on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 7:08 pm: | 
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Back in the early 90's I had a set of Golden Eagle Mark IV's. I resently bought a Texas Ranger TR 696F-SSB. How can I expect the Ranger to preform compared to the Eagle's. I've been out of the radio game for some time and don't know squat about the new model radio's. |
Tech808
| | Posted on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 11:39 pm: |
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Kwick 73,
You can expect it to perform much better in my opinion.
With the Channel & Clarifier mods I am sure you will be very happy with it.
Some weekend I will swing my beams south and see if I can reach you.
Lon
Tech808 |
Tech833
| | Posted on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 12:21 am: |
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It won't keep you warm on cold nights like the Browning would. Wow, what happened to your Browning? |
Kwick_73
| | Posted on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 11:06 am: |
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Yeah what indeed. I was young and didn't quite reolize just what I had. Now that I see what their worth as collectors makes me sick. I wish I still had just half of the equipment that I used to have. Just to metion some, Cobra 2000gtl, President Madison(not the uniden counter part)but President electronics. 4 element Mosely, Astro Ground plain, and a d-104, and a Silver Eagle, just to metion a few that I wish I still had.
Tech808 I'll take you up on that if I ever get everything put together lol. |
2600
| | Posted on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 11:34 pm: |
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Hi Kwick,
If you still had the Mark IV, it probably wouldn't still work. The Mark IV-A is another story. The 'IV-A' transmitter is a giant improvement over the original Mark IV. The only dependable way to run a Mark IV is to have the original "tin-can" PLL and "train-wreck" digital channel selector upgraded to a Mark IV-A or equivalent. Not a cheap proposition.
If you have any regular amount of "buzz" noises from AC power lines in your neighborhood, the 696 will hear things that the Browning would not. The noise blanker in the 696 will (under favorable conditions) pull stations "out from under" the noise that the Browning can't. The ANL in the Browning receivers is NOT a noise blanker. If you have a relatively quiet location, the difference will be smaller. I have a LOT of AC buzz noises in my neighborhood. I can't use a Browning receiver effectively. My D201A and Turbo radios both have blankers. They will hear stations that the Browning doesn't know is there, because the noise level covers them up.
And then there's SSB. The 696 is built for sideband from the ground up. SSB was a "tacked-on" afterthought in the Browning receivers. They never made the SSB receive stable enough for any serious use. Browning SSB transmit sounded okay, but who cares what SSB transmit sounds like if you can't hear them?
I compare using a Browning base for AM to driving a 40 year-old english sports car. Loads of style and charm, lotsa fun, but not cheap.
73 |
Kwick_73
| | Posted on Sunday, June 29, 2003 - 2:49 am: |
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I'm seriously thinking about getting another set of Eagles, Maybe a few sets, One each of all would be great, Working radios would be a plus, but It would be more for collection purposes. It would be nice to throw a working set of Eagles in line once in awhile 
Kevin
kwick_73
(Golden Eagle) |
Scrapiron63
| | Posted on Sunday, June 29, 2003 - 9:32 am: |
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Kevin, I'm like you, really love the old Brownings, but it's gonna cost quite a bit to get a collection now, thanks to ebay reaching all the collectors out there. I did have a heck of a collection, but I bought mine back in the early 1980s, when you could find a set in the pawn shops for 25 bucks. I even had a radio shop that I dealed with, that gave me a couple sets of broke Mark IVs, just to get'em outta the way. It wasn't just Brownings I kept, but other old boat anchors like Heathkits and Trams. After they started getting popular again, I started selling the stuff about 5 years ago. I kept my favorite Mark III, also a Mark II, a set of R-27, S-23's, and I have one of the broke Mark IV's that 2600 describes above. I think the Mark III is by far the best one they made, but like 2600 said, they are very poor on Sideband, and you need a little 'know-how' to keep them going, plus a box of tubes helps. A picture of my Mark III is in my profile, if you'd like to see it. Of course I have other radios, but I use the Browning pretty often, especially when skip is rolling, lots of oldtimers out there, like me, still like to hear the ping. scrapiron |
Browning Boy
| | Posted on Sunday, June 29, 2003 - 10:37 am: |
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Hello all well as far as i'm conserned the Brownings r and where the best by far they can and will compete with any of the solid staters don't worry about that and as far as a 4 being a boat anchor well that's a bunch of bull i have 2 aa 4 and a 4A and they work nicely on AM and SSB the known chip problem is an easy fix for a good tech who knows their stuff and where to find the parts i'ld take any of my tube sets over the newer stuff anyday and as far as ears my Browningds out perform my galaxy's any givin day and if you don't think so then get in there on ch 15 or 3 on Sundays and ME and the Boys Will show you a thing or 2 about Brownings walkin the dog and for those of you who think they're what ever then send them to me and i'll gladly tune em up and raise some hell in R.I.. I'm and advid collector and i think Brownings ARE STILL NO!
And like they say to each their own so don't let them discurage you in any way and if you need repairs i've got the best for tubes and amps and digital controllers so give us a line also know where there's some real clean onw=es for sale I'll post my shack later John BT634 in R.I.
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Scrapiron63
| | Posted on Sunday, June 29, 2003 - 12:28 pm: |
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Hey Browning Boy, do you know a guy that goes by "Walkingtall" up there in your country. BTW, I wasn't being derogatory in calling the old big radios 'boat anchors', moreso talking about the weight of some, I had some stuff I couldn't lift. When I bought this place about 12 years ago, the guys helping me move thought I was crazy for bringing that 16 foot trailer load of what they considered 'junk', and heavy junk at that, but it proved otherwise, thanks to the auction sites. I think the Mark III's, Mark IV's, and even Mark II's have excellent receive, before that, they were lacking some. Mine also have better channel rejection, less bleedover, whup-in, harmonics or whatever you wanna call it, than my galaxys or rangers. They will get electrical noise a little worse, but I don't have a lot of that. I kept a Tram d-201 till last year, had several in fact, and I gotta say the last one did have a little better receive than my Browning, but it was close.
I started out with the tubetype stuff, and still like it, but for convenience and pratical use, the later radios are better. My Brownings are out in my little shop, don't need all that heat in here by me, and my computer, expecially in the summertime, the little ranger does nice in here.
Here's some more pics of my old stuff, if you care to look. scrapiron
http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/com.hp.HPGuestLogin?username=redanthony67&password=44546341
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Browningboy
| | Posted on Saturday, July 05, 2003 - 1:11 pm: |
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Yes we do know him he's a personal friend and really ripps it up when he's in there me and him have been competeing and such for years i've known him sence the 70's we have alot of fun together and it wasn't ment at anyone in general so don't worry about it was just giving my 2 cents for a change and got sick of seeing people rip apart a good name like Browning and say they're junk or wouldn't be workin if you had em as i have many and they all work nicely and r an easy upkeep for a good tech if anything may happen so hope all had good and safe 4th and we're 10/10 10/8 on the side you can see my shack on the browninglabsinc.com webb site photos #4 i'm the guy in R.I. Browning Boy BT634 |
Scrapiron63
| | Posted on Saturday, July 05, 2003 - 4:05 pm: |
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Hey, browningboy, i've never seen that much equipment around a bed before, or in one either for that matter. ha, should stay warm in there. I sold walking tall a seeker modulator not too long ago, that's how I knew him. scrapiron |
Browningboy
| | Posted on Sunday, July 06, 2003 - 11:36 am: |
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Yes and i tested it for him and it's killer maniller bro like new in and out I got him started up again by showing him my bedroom in the making he hasn't seen it recently and I'll update the photo this week as I now have a mark III with Controller aanother Tram D201 another golden eagle and another JB200a .Thanks for the roses keep some for yourself my rigs came from the origal owners or estate sale some even have boxes,sales slips and brochures well drop us a line at our email AD and we'll update you also any modulators or amps feel free to let us know as i collect Brownings Trams and Black Cat or Seeker EQ thanks again John BT634 Browning Boy RI |
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