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| Reviews Summary for Drake R 2C |
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Reviews: 4
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Average rating: 4.8/5
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MSRP: $229.00
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Description: Ham band only receiver. 80 to 10 Meters with 500kHz coverage on 10 Meters. Modes are SSB/AM/CW with selectivity of 400Hz, 2.4kHz & 4.8kHz.
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K7UA
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Rating: 5/5
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Jun 5, 2007 12:47
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A classic
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I was scratching my boat anchor itch with restoration projects last winter. I picked up a 2C and a 2NT on Ebay to play with. This RX is a real winner for its time. Sensitive, quite stable, 1 khz readout, and good filters. It was way ahead of it's time. Most 1960 era receivers weighted 50 pounds. This thing is tiny and will beat almost all of the true "boat anchors." I'm having lots of fun with my Drake "2" twins. K7UA
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KD7RDZI2
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Rating: 5/5
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May 22, 2006 19:22
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IT GOES FULL COVERAGE, IF-DSP with DRM!!!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I bought a vintage Drake 2-C, fixed few things and aligned it. Well, having a R8 I was not extremely impressed at first. This receiver is hybrid, tubes are used up to demodulation and solid state transistors are used for demodulation. It sounds pretty much like the Drake R8, the if filters are both at 50Khz and LC type and spaced similarly. It is a triple conversion with preselector. Well I prefer the double conversion and the front-end design of the R8, which I consider a better set.
HOWEVER I MODIFIED IT VERY EASILY TO DRAMATICALLY IMPROVE ITS PERFORMANCE AND GET UNSURPASSED PERFORMANCE.
1) First it is not a general coverage receiver but the preselector can tune from 3 to 30Mhz if crystals are provided. Well without using crystals I could tune continuosly from 3 to 19Mhz the receiver feeding the reciver with an external DDS oscillator controlled by a PC! I used the DDS60 available at
http://www.amqrp.org/kits/dds60/index.html and a small impedance tranformer (50:400) between the DDS output and the external crystal socket. Not too bad for about 40USD!!! Moreover I used the DDS to align the receiver!!!
2) The 2nd IF is at 455Khz. Well I connected to the socket for the Noise blanker a third solid state mixer to convert it to 12Khz and connect it to the sound car of a pentium 4.
In a small shielded box I placed a Crystal mixer fo=462 KHz use for IF exact 450 kHz which I bought at http://www.sat-schneider.de/DRM/DRM.htm for other receivers.
Before the mixer I placed in series two wide Murata filters F-450K-P2 which match well the mixer and provide excellent analog filtering to the third external mixer.
3) I connected the mixer to the soundblaster of the laptop and used the DREAM software downloaded at http://www.sat-schneider.de/DRM/DRM.htm.
Well, performance is outstanding. I could get a very clean sound, perfect DSP filtering at IF, IF noise reduction, Digital AGC and DRM and even FM reception.
Basically what this OLD TUBE radio becomes after this modification is a TUBE SDR software defined radio!! Only the stages up to the second conversion are used in the receiver. The external mixer connects the Drake to the computer. Demodulation and audio is made by the computer.
The last but not the least, no hole was drilled in the receiver and it can be used as before the mod without any change. Just Full Coverage, IF-DSP FILTERING and CLEAN DIGITAL DEMODULATION have been added!!!
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KC8JX
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Rating: 4/5
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Jan 1, 2004 19:37
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A very good receiver
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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The Drake 2C is in my opinion a very good receiver and one that complements my station. I operate it often with its companion Drake 2NT transmitter on 80 and 40 meter CW. This is a triple conversion receiver with less than .5 mv sensitivity and with selectivity of three passbands: .4 kc, 2.4 kc and 4.8 kc. This radio may not have sharp crystal lattice filters; however, it receives CW, SSB or AM signals with very excellent audio quality. A typical performance factor of older radios is stability. I’m amazed at how stable all my Drake equipment is…even after all these years; certainly a testament to quality design and workmanship. When used with the accessory 2AC calibrator, 2NB noise blanker and the indispensable 2CQ speaker/Q-multiplier and notch filter, this radio may indeed have outperformed many receivers of higher price tags in the late 60’s. In tandem with my 2NT transmitter, this Drake combination is only exceeded by my R4B/T4XB.
All this being said, the radio functionally does not have as many operator convenient options as its prior ‘brother’ the Drake 2B. The one negative to this receiver is it’s accessory frequency coverage. There is a slide switch on the left hand side of the chassis which one selects “AUX” and then an appropriate crystal can be plugged into a crystal holder on the outside of the chassis. The Drake 2B has them internally (out of the way).
In all other ways this receiver certainly a keeper. More details can be found at: http://www.dproducts.be/DRAKE_MUSEUM/2-c1.htm
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N8FVJ
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 21, 2003 09:20
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Solid Tube Type Receiver
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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After performing a minor repair, I was suprised on the triple conversion receivers performance. Frequency drift is minimal at warmup & basically non-existant a few minutes later. The triple conversion design removes images on 10 meters to the tune of 60dB down. Frequency readout is still accurate after all these years using a PTO design. The front panel includes selectivity ranges of 400Hz, 2.4kHz & 4.8kHz. Although the selectivity does not have the sharp crystal lattice filter type skirts, I find the selectvity quite effective. The audio quality is excellent and is of solid-state design. For the money, the Drake R-2 series must be one of the best vintage receiver bargains available including the earlier R2A & R2B receivers. The R-4 series are also hot performers, however the earlier R2A & R2B have a 'slide-rule' type dial for that older vintage look. This compact design is favorable for smaller radio shacks as well.
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