| K1DWZ |
Rating:  |
2025-01-04 | |
| Best boat anchor |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Purchased the Ranger in 1960. Used it with an NC-98 receiver for the next 10 years or so. The rig is probably the best boat anchor ever built. The modulation and audio are superb and the craftsmanship is outstanding. After the advent of SSBfound Iwas using the rig less and less. I still have the rig even though I haven't turned it on for many years now. I have thought about selling it but can't bring myself to do it thinking I may put it back on the air sometime. Of all the boatanchors back on the air undoubtably the Ranger is the best.
Update----I sold the rig a few years ago in 2010. |
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| W1GFH |
Rating: |
2022-09-28 | |
| Great rig, but can demand lots of TLC |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
This is my second Ranger. The first one I had approximately 20 years ago, and was virtually trouble free. The Ranger I obtained recently came with a host of failures; the usual drive pot, VFO resistor, dirty wafer switches, etc. But one problem in particular took me months to track down. Depending on the age and condition of your Ranger, I advise removing ALL the AC line-to-ground capacitors as well as the crowded mess of TVI inductor-capacitor filters at the 9-pin accessory socket (ceramic disk caps C61A, C61B, C62A, C62B, C63A, C63B, C66, C67, C68, C74, C75. Firecracker style or enameled wire inductors L25A, L25B, L26A, L26B, L27A, L27B, L23, L24, L20, L21, L22). Leave the socket in place, but bypass all the connections into and out of it. For the vast majority of Ranger owners, there is no need to have accessory socket connections to the modulated HV and center tap of the mod transformer outside the rig. In my case, the decades-old spaghetti insulation on the connections in the accessory socket shield would *intermittently* short circuit to ground as the chassis expanded and contracted during heating and cooling cycles. And the old ceramic disc capacitors themselves had a habit of failing and arcing over. These radios are not as young as they used to be, and they are getting older every year. That means original components are aging, including wire insulation. Best to get rid of all of this junk and use appropriate gauge hookup wire to make any necessary point to point connections formerly made by the inductors.
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| KE0ZU |
Rating: |
2021-03-13 | |
| Another GREAT E.F. Johnson transmitter. |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Got mine, a very early production example, and my second Johnson transmitter, over 4 years ago, as a more or less "basket case". It's about a 5 cosmetically, and I paid $140 for it, which was probably too much but... I spent several hours cleaning and getting it into usable shape adding the Johnson designed keying sequencer, and late model Modulator bias arrangement.
It's been a fun reliable little transmitter and gets its share of "operating time" on the bench. I'd recommend it as a good first AM transmitter. |
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| N8FVJ |
Rating: |
2020-11-07 | |
| Great 50 watt AM Transmitter |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
The Johnson Ranger is a very well engineered transmitter. It is very light weight at 39lbs, thus manageable for the older Ham operators. No mods are required, but the modulation transformer is as small as I ever seen. It cannot produce 100% modulation under 400 Hz. However, it is still well heard on the Ham bands if a little over-driven. Not the best audio quality, but good enough for most operators.
I modified my Ranger for 100% clean audio to 200Hz with a larger mod transformer available from Heyboer in Grand Haven, MI. It replaces the stock HV choke and the HV choke is replaced with a Hammond 159S that is placed in the original mod transformer location. It needs placed a bit askew, but fits well. Increase the HV capacitor to 47uF for even better than the stock HV filtering when changing from the stock 10HY choke to the Hammond 4HY choke. The 4HY choke meets Crit. |
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| K0KNL |
Rating: |
2013-07-31 | |
| Very Good |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Bought used in 1961 as my first General license VFO transmitter.
Worked about 2/3 of the states with it.
Traded it for GT500 !! - Sorry
Now have 3 of them as wqell as Valiant, Pacemaker, Challenger and 6n2 |
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| VE3CUI |
Rating: |
2011-10-18 | |
| Wonderful & Versatile Little Rig |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
The Ranger was my FIRST entry into "QRO"(!) transmitting gear, back in 1973 (I was licensed 2 years to that point, & only had a homebrewed 8-watt 6T9 transmitter).
Man-o-man, but I thought I RULED the airwaves with that thing! What a sweet little transmitter... |
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| WA7KGX |
Rating: |
2011-08-05 | |
| What a Trip |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Picked up a mostly stock Ranger I in exchange for some stereo stuff I haven't used for years.
It needed some work. I replaced the frayed power cord with a modern 3 conductor grounded cord and added an internal fuse holder.
I removed a pilot light socket which had been rattling loose inside the VFO compartment. I had to make a tool to fish it out.
I also replaced the 700 volt electrolytic with a pair
of matched 450 volt caps from my junkbox. Johnson didn't use a resistor divider and neither did I. A previous owner had substituted a 5U4 for the 5R4.
In keeping with the boat anchor spirit, I used a light bulb for dummy load. Not very accurate but more fun than a calibrated dummy load.
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| WD4ELG |
Rating: |
2009-05-12 | |
| My first transmitter, always remember it |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
A very emotional thing to look back with nostalgia at my first transmitter. I got it used when I was 13 with my savings, along with a Mosley CM-1 receiver. With a 40 meter inverted vee on the chimney which I tuned to 15 meters as well, I worked the world.
It was amazing what I was able to achieve with 50 watts output. When I upgraded to General, I was able to work on the lower ends of CW. I put up a 20 meter dipole and really got in on the action!
I never worked it on AM, probably because I was such a CW nut (still am to this day, 32 years later).
I have fond memories of this rig. It generated a lot of heat (nice in winter, really made me get a workout in summer). Pounding away on a straight key with a T/R switch between xmtr and rcvr, using a light bulb as a dummy load. |
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| WD8PNL |
Rating: |
2007-10-17 | |
| Epitome of the Classic XMTR |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| Just as the 1957 Chevy is the exemplary automobile of the 1950's, the Johnson Viking Ranger is the most recognizable transmitter of its era and remains distinguished into this 21st century. Other reviewers here have cited its most appealing features: sequenced blocked-grid keying for CW transmission, and excellent quality audio for AM transmission. I believe it's best mated via a Johnson Electronic T/R Switch to a Drake 2B receiver (fast AGC recovery) for the smoothest QSK this side of heaven. |
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| KG9SF |
Rating: |
2007-07-25 | |
| Boatanchor par excellance! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Everything old is new again, according to the lyrics of a song that was popular two or three decades ago. That has never been proven so true as in amateur radio. Boatanchors that once sold for $20 at hamfests now fetch $400. With boatanchors, as in most things of this world, some are better than others. The Ranger is a winner.
I've had my Ranger for decades. It's probably had a dozen or more owners since it was built. About every ten years or so I drag the Ranger out of the store room and hook it up to a dummy load. It loads like a champ. No smoke, no snaps, crackles, or pops.
I just finished going through my once-every-ten-years routine with the Ranger. This time I brought it up slowly, on a variac. Oh, me of little faith! Still no fireworks. The smoke alarms are quiet. All is well. As sure as I write this, I know that within a week or two I'll haul out the old Hammarlund HQ-170 and get the dynamic duo working together again. I can just feel it.
Dontcha just love giving up your Icom or Kenwood or Yaesu with its full break-in capability and built-in electronic memory keyer in favor of the Ranger and a straight key? Going from T to R requires throwing 3 or 4 switches, just like in the long-gone novice days. Whoopeeeeeeee!
Rangers just reek of coolness. I think I bought mine for $35. I wouldn't sell it for twenty times that amount if I couldn't ever have another one.
Sweet transmitter. Bravo Zulu. |
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