The RA17 series of communication receivers,were high
grade, tube(valve) sets,first produced by the Racal Company of England ,in the the
1950’s,and were originally designed for supply to 
the British Navy.The design was to
prove so successful, that they were ultimately used by all the services and were to become
the main receiver of the British radio surveillance organisation,known as
G.C.H.Q.Undoubtedly,one of the principle reasons for the success of the Racal RA17
receivers,was the incorporation in the design, of the by now famous Wadley-Loop, an
innovatory circuit at the time, which very effectively minimised frequency drift.A brief
specification of these classic receivers,Which use 24 tubes(valves), is as follows;
Frequency range 980kc’s to
30Mc’s.Stability,50c/s after 1hour.Tuning-effective scale length 145
feet.Selectivity.Firstly,for model RA17;8kc’s,3kc’s,1.2kc’s,750c/s,300c/s
and 100c/s.For model RA17L;13kc’s,6.5kc’s,3kc’s,1.2kc’s,300c/s and
100c/s.Some RA17 variants have different bandwidths from these.IF Outputs:2 parallel
100kc’s outputs for connection of Racal Accessories.AF outputs:Headphone,600
ohms,internal+ speaker.An output meter is fitted.Operation is from 100-125 and 200 to 250
volts AC.Front panel controls are:MainsON/OFF,ANT RANGE (six ranges + wideband),MEGACYCLES
0-29.There is a reduction of signal or noise on either side of the correct
setting.SYSTEM;This is a five position switch providing,standby,manual,avc,calibration and
check bfo.KILOCYCLES;Film scale 6feet long,calibration avaiolable at 100kc’s
intervals.BANDWIDTH(see above),AF GAIN,BFO ON/OFF,BFO PITCH,ANT.TUNE,IF GAIN,AVC,AF
LEVEL,LIMITER,METER,SPEAKER ON/OFF.
A variant of the RA17 series of receivers as described above,is
the RA117.The main differences, are the addition of a 1.6Mc’s IF amplifier,interposed
between the 2-3mc’s and 100kc’s IF amplifiers and the changing of the 2nd
VFO to cover the range 3.6 –4.6Mc’s.These changes allowed external frequency
synthesisers such as for example,the MA250 and MA350 to be used in place of the 2nd
VFO for precision setting of the frequency in 100c/s steps.
The Racal RA17 Series of Communications receivers are
designed for mounting in standard 19" racks.They are occasionally available as
Cabinet (Table) Models.
Prices,for sets in good used condition and working
order,complete with a copy of the appropriate Racal Handbook and circuit ,are as follows:-
RA17, for rack mounting,$520 US Dollars.
RA17 Cabinet (Table)model $665 US Dollars.
RA17L for rack mounting $585 US Dollars.
RA17L Cabinet (Table )model $730 US Dollars.
RA117 for rack mounting $665 US Dollars.
RA117 Cabinet (table) model$795 US Dollars.
Please note that ALL of the above prices for the Racal
RA17 series of receivers,INCLUDE,the cost of air freight to the USA.