What would you do. OLD Browning MK lll, Tram D201 or one of your favorite exports???? Would you have to be a technician to be able to keep one of these old radios going? I'm wondering myself. . . but I believe I would have to go with the newer radio's. What do you think. I had a old tram given to me and have been trying to nurse it back to health. I haven't used it yet but getting it back in shape has been tough.
-
You can now help support WorldwideDX when you shop on Amazon at no additional cost to you! Simply follow this Shop on Amazon link first and a portion of any purchase is sent to WorldwideDX to help with site costs.
How Exports compare against the old tube types such as Tram
- Thread starter razor
- Start date
If I am going to use SSB, I would use a Tram. The Browning 2-pc isn't as easy to run on sideband.
If I am going to use a Tram, I would use the D201A because while you can modify the D201 23ch model for higher freq's via the tuner, it will drive you crazy drifting.
If I live in a hot humid environment (and I do) I'd only use 'em during our 2 weeks of winter because they generate a lot of heat...by the time I have the A/C turned down enough to cool the shack, the XYL is getting frostbit.
Personally, I like my Stoner Pro40 best, which is the same age as the Tram D201A, but also has it's own issues in getting parts should something go wrong.
If I were to buy an export for exclusive use, I guess I'd go with an older one as I'm not a big fan of Chinese made rigs.
There's my five cents....
Regards,
Woody
If I am going to use a Tram, I would use the D201A because while you can modify the D201 23ch model for higher freq's via the tuner, it will drive you crazy drifting.
If I live in a hot humid environment (and I do) I'd only use 'em during our 2 weeks of winter because they generate a lot of heat...by the time I have the A/C turned down enough to cool the shack, the XYL is getting frostbit.
Personally, I like my Stoner Pro40 best, which is the same age as the Tram D201A, but also has it's own issues in getting parts should something go wrong.
If I were to buy an export for exclusive use, I guess I'd go with an older one as I'm not a big fan of Chinese made rigs.
There's my five cents....
Regards,
Woody
Well I got the Tram going tonight and so far so good.....I have a Shure 526T ll on it right now... Most of these folks I'm talking to tonight will lie like a dog when I ask em how it sounds so I'm waiting on a few close friends who'll give me the lowdown, good or bad.... Man this radio is as long as my desk. It was given to me so I can't bad mouth it too much. I guess some folks say its the best sounding radio on transmit audio. It hears alot better than my 101E but I believe the transmit is lacking on this one........compared to my 101E. Oh well thanks for the comments.
both the browning III and the tram d201 & d201a are excellent radios you won't go wrong with either. there is a problem with the d201a's that is an expencive repair and thats a problem with the channel selector they go bad quite easly. some folk seem to turn them really fast and hard to cjange channels and on this model they seem to be really fragile. on the d201 i great find would be the early d201 that says tram/diamond on the lable, these are hard wired meaning they did not use the printed circuit boards found on the latter versions that tend to be troublesum with heat. i collect them all being a fan of vintage tube radios, heck they all have there little quirks that make for the fun of it all its like they have there own personalities, but gotta lovethe heat and the sweet smell of the tubes.
I have had it on for a couple of hours and the AC is having a hard time keeping the shack cool... This one must be the newer 201. It doesn't say Diamond on it... I can't get the transmited tone to work at all. (TTC) I guess that is what that is. VFO does not work. Everyone says I need some slight echo.... It is putting out 5 watts and hears pretty good too, better than I am used to anyway. One of my good friends said I sound like a mobile radio.... I turned up the modulation on the 526t and it helped but I wished the tone control worked. I believe that would make a difference.
I have both a Tram 201 and a Browning Mk 3. The reciever is more sensitive on the Browning, but better channel rejection on the Tram. Both radios key about 6 watts and swing to 25pep. The transmit tone control should work...or at least, when functional...it DOES work...makes a big difference. The adjustable limiter (noise) under the blanker button helps quite a bit.
You might want to check the tubes in the mic circuit because both of these radios have plenty of audio even with a non-amplified D104. Your Shure should be a great mic for the Tram.
Clean it up...get it working and if you decide to get rid of it, you should have no problem moving it.
Preacherman
You might want to check the tubes in the mic circuit because both of these radios have plenty of audio even with a non-amplified D104. Your Shure should be a great mic for the Tram.
Clean it up...get it working and if you decide to get rid of it, you should have no problem moving it.
Preacherman
Yeah I was counting on the TTC working....I wished I knew what to check. All the tubes have been checked by two different tech's and I replaced a few that were bad. They all should be okay now. It may take a while but I will find someone close that knows alittle about Trams.
update......got the ttc (tone control) working. I also found the manual and schematic......
update......got the ttc (tone control) working. I also found the manual and schematic......
Several years ago a local guy had a Galaxy 88 which did a fine job. He worked a job about 30 miles er so out of town one night and to really talk mobile to mobile he had to go SSB. A month later he worked the same job but threw in an old Tram mobile. The Tram had half the power but tons of AUDIO. I had no signal on him but he had enough audio to make the trip.
As far as base radio's go the audio of older radio's is hard to beat. Another local old timer has Johnson Viking Valient or something like that. When he keys up you hear a loud clank, and then he talks. Very loud sounding radio for sure.
Last year he built a tube amp with two 4-1000's. Before he sold it he tested it with the Johnson radio and holy cow. I don't remember how many thousand watts that was but he said he was hardly working the amp and it would do alot more with more drive.
When I hear an old timer say. ' don't make me put my foot down now", I know what he is referring to.
As far as base radio's go the audio of older radio's is hard to beat. Another local old timer has Johnson Viking Valient or something like that. When he keys up you hear a loud clank, and then he talks. Very loud sounding radio for sure.
Last year he built a tube amp with two 4-1000's. Before he sold it he tested it with the Johnson radio and holy cow. I don't remember how many thousand watts that was but he said he was hardly working the amp and it would do alot more with more drive.
When I hear an old timer say. ' don't make me put my foot down now", I know what he is referring to.
I hear ya, but it is so hard to keep these old boatachors going unless you know alittle about electronics. I'm a flip the switch and talk person. I used to have alot of tube radio's and I had forgotton how much heat these things put off. Especially this Tram. I have another friend that has a old tram D60 mobile that I am trying to talk him out of.
Was just going to say that. To my taste, the audio quality of the old plate modulated radios...Tram, Browning and many others simply cannot be duplicated by the newer solid state rigs. They don't always put up the big numbers...but if people want big numbers, that's usually just the throw of a switch away.
Upkeep on the other hand...it's all about the newer radios. I have a Browning, Tram and a Dak and they are fun to operate, but need occasional tweaking.
YMMV
preacherman
Upkeep on the other hand...it's all about the newer radios. I have a Browning, Tram and a Dak and they are fun to operate, but need occasional tweaking.
YMMV
preacherman
DXman
Yes, that's 3100 degrees F. Nine yrs of hard work.
I appreciate the replies.........Well , my money will not let me do what I would like all the time but if I had my way. . . . . I would have both!!! I have a Yaesu FT-101E that I like for AM and the Tram 201 was given to me by a friend. Both of these have very good transmit audio. I thought the Tram was alittle better but I was told the other night that it was hard to tell. The Yaesu puts out a few more watts but the Tram hears better... not a lot but some. One thing I bought a few days ago was a W2IHY EQ PLUS. I run it on all my Radio's...It made a very noticeble difference on my audio and everything, 2 meter, HF ssb, and AM. What can I say . I believe the ole lady is right about CB.........."constant buying"
Sure is fun though..
Sure is fun though..
razor said:
Well, there ya have it, the FT-101 series is the best of both worlds and a personal favorite of mine. No reason you can't keep 'em both and use whichever one suits you at the time (of course to even it out, you have to get a Stoner Pro40 to sit on the bench waiting for a call to pinch hit!)
Yeah, that is my weakness, I like all the classic rigs. I would collect them. I'm sure some of these newer export rigs will be classics one of these days too. They sure are making some good ones. The competition is good so more good ones are coming out. I guess I need to buy a few more lottery tickets...