Nov 7 2008

Vintage Racal RA17 sold

Vintage Racal RA17 Receiver

I trained as a Radio Officer with Cable & Wireless in the early eighties and worked on the venerable, and much loved, Racal RA17 HF receiver. It’s a big beast, extremely well made, stable and very easy to use – ask anyone who’s had one, they’re great.

I obtained my RA17 back in the early 90s from Fleetwood Nautical College. It was lovingly restored and maintained and is a great example of this class receiver. Since then it has sat in my shack and performed sterling service tuning in to HF broadcast services from around the world. With an amplified indoor HF receiving antenna from Sony fantastic results were obtained.

It is with reluctance that I had to let my beloved RA17 go, but needs must I’m afraid. The shack has been converted in to an office for my business and the space allocated to Amateur Radio gear is much reduced.

It went for the lowly price of £120 which was an absolute bargain for the buyer given that it was in such good condition, but I did want to free up the space rather quickly. Maybe one day – another one will apear in my shack, who knows.

Relevant links: Using an RA17,  Keith’s Vintage Racal Site, eHam reviews