Finally made "the big move" to tubes!

[Jester]

Well folks, I finally bit the bullet and done it: I bought a Tram D201A!

I can't wait till it shows up...I'm getting the radio, D104 (unamplified) and the original owners manual and paperwork that goes with it for LESS THAN 350$! Not too bad, if I might say so, considering that I saw a D201A in similar condition with the same mic setup go for 500$ on eBay last week...

Is anyone here the proud owner of one of these? I know there are lots of Browning fans, but I don't know of many folks besides Rev. Ike, Tramster and maybe Preacherman that are into these kinds of radios and may have one...Any ideas and suggestions? Thanks guys!

[fortymobile]

D201A are nice radios i have three of them... what kind of mic are you going to run on that radio..??

[Timberwolf]

Good radios.I have had a few of these over the years.Its a good idea to add a fan to the rear to help pull the heat out.Hope you enjoy your new old rig.

[fortymobile]

Hey whats up my brother...... Look for me Sat. I think we may have Dx your way i will have the Gate Roll'n

[928bolo]

I too have a 201A. Go easy on the channel selector. They are easy to break. Great radio.

[causmik]

fortymobile Good to see ya, man. Mike in Olympia wavin' a hand. Been a while.

[721HACKSAW]

Great buy there Jester!! I love those older rigs, I have been trying to buy a Yaesu 101 from a fellow near me for about a year now. Back in the day, Siltronics, Browning, Tram, those where the radios to have and will always be "BIG" in my mind.

[Jester]

Wow, this was an old post that I thought was long dead! I'm glad to see that it's not, though...

I picked up the 201A in late January from eBay for 340.00 shipped, and that included the D104 it came with...

Cosmetically speaking, the radio was in good shape, however, underneath the cover was a whole different story. There was a crystal out (X101) that was affecting my tx/rx in xtal mode. Luckily, my Manual tuner was good, so I could tx/rx in AM/SSB from 26.965 to 27.550 with a little work...

The only problem with these radios on eBay is that getting a nice one is hard to find. They are usually other people's headaches that they end up selling, pretending that they are selling ti for a "friend" and they don't know what it does...As long as you go easy on the channel selector for Xtal mode and get some cool air circulating inside the case, you should be just fine...Mine is doing well after a little bit of work, and will be 100% once I swap out the xtal that went bad (probably from the heat/age)....

[4 cycle]

A small computer fan will keep it cool that's what I use. I only use it when its hot in the summer these radios were designed to run pretty warm!

[209 first class]

im a proud owner. i love the squelch, it has a threshold, most cb's just cut off at squelch, on the tram you can adjust it so the static quiets down, then the voices pop thru. i also love the dual channel selectors, i leave the home channel on one, and search around with the other. the mic audio section has huge gain, even a stock mic can be cutting, no need for a powermic. (thats why they didnt originally come with one, the tube preamplifier in the radio has much better fidelity than the transistor preamp in microphones). 2zero9
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[4 cycle]

Nice looking radio!! I love the old ones,have fun!!!

[Timberwolf]

Hey 40.I was hoping to have some west side conditions but no luck.I was surprised that day when Warlord came rolling in.Its always great to hear from the left coast and all the good time gang.We are climbing out of the bottom of the cycle so it will be non stop skip eventually.Later bro.

[209 first class]

you asked for a tip, here is one. the rf output tube(near the rear) and the audio amp tube(near the power supply) are the same type (6l6gc). switch the tubes and see which one gives more dead key. use the higher one in the rf socket. i had 3 watts (5-8) deadkey difference between the tubes and they were both original branded tram tubes. i think the rf tube gets used more heavily and therefore wears out more quickly, and the audio amp tube is more likely to be in better shape. 2zero9