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Reviews For: Drake TR-4 all models

Category: Transceivers: HF Amateur HF+6M+VHF+UHF models - non QRP <5W

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Review Summary For : Drake TR-4 all models
Reviews: 36MSRP: 600
Description:
Tube Type HF Trasceiver
Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.rldrake.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00364.7
AD4DQ Rating: 2023-09-22
Great radio! Fun factor 100! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I now own 3 Drakes, TR-3, TR-4 and TR-4C. All I can say is wow these radios are outstanding. I have been operating tube radios for over 30 years including all of the big names and others. This one has to be at the top of my favorites. This radio was engineered really nicely. It has a nice, pleasant sounding receive with great sensitivity. Easy to tune up with plenty of power. You have a CW side tone, noise blanker and crystal calibrator. Plus the pretty blue glow of the VFO dial and meters. As I said 100% fun factor to operate. So if you want one, get one and you will have fun on the bands with this old classic. I use mine every day.
I1QII Rating: 2020-04-17
What a pleasant discovery Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Beautiful and excellent radio the Drake TR4C, I have two of this radios, one purchased on Ebay market and a second one at a local fest a few years ago as a scrap. Now I am at home from the qrl(virus crisis) and I started to study and restore these rtx.
After lot of days of work I find myself in my hands two excellent radios, fully functional and full of charm.

Now I have put aside my Icom IC-781 and 7300 and I enjoy doing cw with a Drake TR4c followed, if it's necessary, by an external passive audio cw filter and I must say that it's pure pleasure, over 180W in antenna and Crisp reception and in the company of the warm reddish glow lighted from tubes that emerges from the pierced body...


KK6VHP Rating: 2019-04-24
My favorite Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
A year ago I purchased two Drake TR-4s. One was built in 1967, the other in 1970. The older one looked liked it had been stored in a flood plain. It was caked in mud. I cleaned it up, replaced two tubes (not the PAs), deoxit-treated the usual switches, and fired it up. It worked great. I've had some problems with the mode switch, but, otherwise, it has great Rx and output on all bands except 20 meters. The "newer" Drake was in better shape, requiring minimal cleaning and no tube replacements. I love working on these boat anchors, tuning them, etc. I strongly recommend the Drake.
DO5DGH Rating: 2017-12-22
Catch it if you can Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I myself a happy owner of a Drake TR-4C from 1973. If we are honest then the Collins, Drakes, Heathskits etc. are inferior in almost every respect to today's very good rigs. In addition to the then usual electro-mechanical design, there are two features that are particularly noticeable in my Drake TR-4C: Very good AGC behavior and a very good ALC control, which allows more than 230 watts pep on SSB with my TR-4C. Georg | DO5DGH
WU3D Rating: 2017-04-09
Awesome Rig Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Bought my TR-4C and then sent it off to WB4HFN for a refurb. Came back in new condition. I added the blue LED lamps and it really sets it off. Love the audio and this radio with a D-104 and the Astatic G stand is great. I get reports of audio with punch ! Remember tp operate a cooling fan on the Drake. It will keep your tubes cool! So if you see a Drake TR-4c for sale don't hesitate to get it. You won't be disappointed !!
AF5U Rating: 2017-02-06
Memories are Made of These Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
This one glows in the dark. It also receives better than a much newer IC-746. Previously, I owned a TR-3 when I was going to college. I ran it mobile on the drive from Texas to Oklahoma almost every day. I am retired now and somewhere down the line I sold the TR-3. Since that time I have had plenty of HF rigs. Recently, at a local QRP meeting a fellow QRPer had this TR-4 for sale. He made me a deal that I could not refuse. I decided to send it off to Ron WB4HFN of Drake Refurbisher Fame because he had the experience and knowhow. He made this radio like new. Don't let me fool you - it was in excellent condition going in. When it return to me from his service, I knew when I turned it on what I had been missing. It was the audio!
ZS1ZC Rating: 2016-07-19
A Work of Classic Engineering Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The TR-4C was my first Drake experience and will always have a place in my ham radio heart. It’s that beauty that appears from out of nowhere that you heard so much about but never met. I’d heard for over thirty years about the engineering in the Drake range but never so much as touched one, so I took the plunge and made an offer on one when it came up on a local swopshop accompanied by an RV-4C external VFO/speaker. The technology is old, but beautifully implemented, I could not fault the opinions I’d heard. If you're the kind of operator that appreciates "real radios" then you'll love this one.

I have other more modern rigs on the bench, but somehow every few weeks I just want to play with the TR-4C. It's solid and easy to use. There's no way this rig touches modern kit on performance, though, but it's good enough for low-demand use, even local contests. The real pleasure is in caring for what is really an icon in ham radio history. If you can get a TR-4CW or the RIT version, so much the better.

Every now and again I do an A/B test between this and my TS830S and there are times when I can't tell them apart in terms of resolving a weak signal, so the sensitivity is pretty good.

There were one or two problems, though, the audio transformer was dead and I didn’t have a replacement, so a cellphone charger transformer has been standing in ever since – the audio isn’t as bright as it should be, but I’ve got used to it by now. Then there were little funnies like loss in reception resulting from the front end fuse being too loose in its holder (never saw that one coming!). The real effort was in getting the tuning mechanism sorted out, aligned and new blue filter material behind the dials, but in the end we have a beautiful example of American transceiver engineering on the bench. What a pleasure to operate - and it's true, people do actually compliment "that Drake audio"! I thought it was a myth, but early on I got unsolicited reports that bear it out.

Like most of this era's equipment, it's easy to service. And it has some really good design (for the time) like the permeability-tuned VFO ("PTO"). At the same time the inverted 20m frequency scale is reminiscent of wartime ingenuity and adds a sort of nostalgia factor. When you use the TR-4C you'll experience a wide range of Drake engineering when you consider the design thinking that had to go into getting the mechanicals right in addition to the vacuum tube and semiconductor (PTO) technology of the time.

If you can understand people's love for cars from the fifties and sixties then you'll understand how so many feel about the TR4 series.
WX1MAN Rating: 2016-01-13
Excellent Time Owned: more than 12 months.
My station consists of a TR4 CW with RIT, RV-4C VFO, MN-2000 Matching Network and L4-B Amp. People typically ask if I'm running outboard processing or other outboard devices. It's all stock. all Drake. Receive is phenominal and the 175 watts + out of the TR-4 CW is nice when I do not run the amp.
N0TES Rating: 2015-03-23
TR4-CW since 1979 Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The way rigs ought to be made. As a life long CW operator, I find my rig provides endless years of enjoyment. Not one issue since 1979 when I acquired this rig has been experienced. Fun thing about amateur radios are that airwaves haven't changed. I must say, this classic delivers quality performace every time!
IT9AHH Rating: 2012-11-14
tr4c, lots of real fun!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The tr4c is friendly,fun,powerful,smart,always ready
to be adjusted for best performance,and also young.
You must not be tampered with but must be kept original,often has to be clean inside and out,and must be aligned according to the owner's manual.Only
in this way you will always have a nice radio,always ready to go on air.Do not ever sell it.