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What was your first major receiver?
30 May 2026 | by I started in the ham radio and shortwave listening hobby in 1972. By 1975, this was my first real receiver. It heard very well, and ignited my lifelong passion for radio.
The R-366/TRR-5 military receiver.
This old radio, the R-366/TRR-5, which is clearly identified on the faceplate in this picture of the military rig, had great ears. It was what I used to hone my Morse code copying skills and to get the hang of how amateur radio operators conducted communications with each other, with CW, AM, or SSB. I hope someday to own one once again.
The R-366
The R-366/TRR-5 is a significant piece of military history manufactured for the Navy Department Bureau of Ships by the Espey Manufacturing Company. Built during an era when the United States Navy required absolute reliability for ship to shore and ship to ship communications, the unit is a testament to the rugged industrial design of the mid-twentieth century. Often referred to as part of the TRR-5 receiving set, this equipment frequently incorporated high quality components and precision engineering including the gold standard Collins Radio Company designs of that period. These internal components were vital in providing the remarkable stability and selectivity needed to pull weak signals out of the dense electronic noise environment found on a crowded naval vessel. It did have heterodyne squeals on a select few frequencies, which any old tube receiver was prone to have, but those did not detract from the excellent capability of the radio.
The Service
For the sailors and radio operators serving aboard ships in the 1950s and 1960s these receivers were far more than just tools for duty. In the often cramped and isolated conditions of life at sea these radios served as a critical psychological anchor. Access to the bands meant hearing the familiar sounds of home or tuning into MARS stations where amateur radio operators facilitated phone patches that reconnected sailors with their families. This bridge to the outside world was essential for maintaining morale and supporting the mental health of military personnel who were otherwise cut off from the rhythms of civilian life for months at a time. Sitting in the radio shack and slowly tuning that large central dial while listening to the crackle of the ionosphere was a meditative escape from the constant hum of shipboard operations. Many ships would pipe ball games and news shows, or music programs, over the ships intercomms, providing health and morale to the personnel.
Operating the Radio
The tactile experience of operating this specific receiver remains vivid in my memory. The layout with its distinct knobs for selectivity phasing and BFO control was designed for the hands of a professional radio operator who needed to manipulate the signal in real time. It required a disciplined ear and a steady hand to copy Morse code through heavy atmospheric conditions but that struggle made every successful reception feel deeply rewarding. It taught me the patience and technical appreciation that have defined my amateur radio hobby for decades. Owning and using a piece of history like this represented a connection to the generations of operators who stood the watch before me.
Traveling the World…
With this historic military receiver, I discovered an entire world as a child in the mid 1970s. I spent countless nights in the quiet darkness of my room with only the warm orange and yellow glow from the vacuum tubes leaking out of the back and top grills and slots of the radio enclosure, as those hot tubes cast soft light on the ceiling and walls. That radio allowed me to travel the globe from my listening position often sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of this big rig. Those late night listening sessions, when I should have been sleeping, ignited a lifelong passion for understanding the vast and interconnected world of shortwave radio as well as medium-wave DXing. I heard International Shortwave Broadcast stations as well as AM broadcast stations from Europe, Asia, the South Pacific, the Atlantic regions, South America, Central America, and North America–all over the world! I listened to amateur radio operators on Morse code, SSB, and AM modes. Ships at sea, aircraft doing transoceanic flights, fishing vessels comms where fishing captains would chat with other boat captains, and even military communications were all at my fingertips on the dial of the radio as I listened to these exotic places by headphones. I even picked up a station from Peru, South America late one night, on the mediumwave broadcast band. That is how great that receiver could hear. Of course, I had a very excellent outdoor dipole antenna that was cut for 160 meters.
What Receiver Was Your First?
What was your first major receiver? Was it just a receiver, or was it a transceiver? When was that? What did you hear that captured your imagination? Do you still have that radio?
I hope to someday have this R-366/TRR-5, once again.
~ Happy DX!
NW7US
12 Responses to “What was your first major receiver?”
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In high school, in the late 60’s I had several receivers starting with a GE portable AM/FM/SW, Recency and a ATC-1, Hallicrafters Co. SX-100 Ham during my Citizens Band phase. They were all great radios, each with their own pluses and minuses.
John
Was late 60’s and was a Hammerlund HQ129X that came of the embassy in Cyprus. Didn’t use it much during high-school but hauled it back out in about 1983 used it in and off for a few years then got my first ham license in 1986.Still had it until about a year ago before getting rid of it.
My first was an NC-98.
Hellicrafters dx60b was 1st my Rcvr, then a gooney bird Gonset 76 was old when I got from my Elmer. Was in novice heaven with that rig. Lot of guys back then had military surplus rigs.
My first receiver was my grandad’s All American Five which really got me interested in BCB listening. First shortwave RX was a Lafayette HA-230 which was very noisy. My first serious receiver was a used Hallicrafters S-40B which was very good for a new novice operating 40M CW. Later I got an Army Signal Corps BC-779 which was excellent on 40M CW, SSB and AM.
Jim WB4ILP
My first “Major” receiver was an Allied Radio Knight Kit Star Roamer in the 1960’s Prior to that my radio was a 5 tube AC/DC table radio that had no case with Octal tubes. (Real Safe…..)
My first shortwave receiver was a cheap portable (brand forgotten) that I bought while in the US Air Force in 1974, but living in a barracks-dorm and unable to use an external antenna it wasn’t much use on the shortwave bands. A few years later I got my first “serious” SW receiver from Radio Shack — the DX-160, if memory serves — and used it extensively for a number of years; Radio Netherlands became “appointment listening”, but I also heard international broadcasters from much of Europe, some of the US-based stations and occasionally Australia. There were two or three small portables after that, and I finally got one capable of SSB reception. Today, when I’ve shut down the shack and can’t sleep, I reach for a CC Skywave SSB 2 that I keep by my bedside.
About 1961 I begged and badgered my dad to purchase an old secondhand console radio from a local “Junk Store”. It would be good for my Social Studies Class in third grade I told him? I had seen it thru the store front window it looked like a rocket ship console to me. It had WOW Factor. It had several European, Tropical and Amateur bands listed on the different face plates that clamped into place when I changed bands! It was so Cool! so Futuristic. I cannot remember the brand but it was a “Treasure”. I used it on BC bands across the US to start my journey, but one night after adding a long wire antenna I was looking for anything new and stumbled upon a station called “HCJB”. Didn’t sound like it was from the USA to me so I stopped for a few minutes? Did they say Quito, Ecuador!!! WOW that could have been the planet Mars! 10 years old, I was hooked from that moment. That was first of many radios, other old tube consoles and tabletop units up thru modern SW radios. Using the “Glorius Console” I listening to all the major international SW broadcast stations. Radio Havana, Radio Netherlands, Radio Moscow and several others had DX mailbox programs on the air just for Dx SWL listeners. These weekly radio listener programs taught me many things. How to use old 12 volt auto radios for broadcast Band Dx”ing, how to add a better antenna to your radio, home brew a tuner and many other things. These weekly Dx programs mailed information to you about antennas, tuners, grounding, all types of SWL information. Many broadcasters were interested in reports from SWL stations and sent QSL cards out as a rule. My first QSL card was from HCJB my all-time favorite station. HCJB at one time had a 100 watt transmitter on the 11 meter band, I was able to QSL that broadcast as well as many others from them. As I got older many other SW radios went in and out of my hands but that old “Glorious Console”, it was the start of a 65yr love affair with SW, Ham and utility listening. Young folks today do not know the feeling of writing a letter to a SW station and receiving an answer via the mail 4-6 weeks later! These response packets often included a couple QSL cards, a broadcast schedule, antenna info you asked for and a handwritten note asking for you to listen for the station on a new band (they needed receive info on new bands and target markets) and most had cool stamps/postmarks. I once received a letter signed by Jose Ortega and several pages of pictures and info about the struggles of the war going on in Nicaragua. I had sent my report about the radio programs being “jammed” or QRM’d. The station was a clandestine Sandinista Army “Radio Nicaragua” station. The letter started out “Dear Revolutionary Friend” and signature was I believe authentic. No computer just pen and notebook, you learned what band worked at what time of day or night, when to listen for certain areas of the world, you knew the opening sounds and music for the different stations. These were my youthful Glory Days of Shortwave Radio….It was a Great Time. Sorry if you missed it. 73 Garry KF5VDX
well i’m not as old as you guys outhere but I got my first radio, it was a radio shack DX-394 and I really liked that radio as I used it for several years then traded it off! but time went on and so here a couple years or so back I ended up purchasing another radio shack DX-394 is excellent condition and it still sets here beside my bed everyday and every night!
When I was a teenager in the seventies I listened to my first ‘worldradio’, which was a T48, and I thought it was Telefunken, but may have been Grundig. Regretfully can not find it anymore as a picture on the internet. It had two black/silver turning knobs on the top.
Then on my 16th birtday got a real ‘worldradio that had actually a map of the world on top, that you clips forward to close the top front of the radio. No idea what brand that was.
Those were the days. On the normal telescopic antenna I heard the world !
Recently I bought a PL-880, thinking I could get a similar result but hardly find any station ! Or the bands have closed or Australia is just too far ? Even on SSB, it seems only to work in any way with an antenna.
Just bought an MLA-30 magloop, hope that does something ?
What about a Magneti Marelli! My first receiver that I worked with the home made HW 32. Unforgetable era !!!
My first receiver was a broadcast receiver, a Philips I think. My first transceiver was a kraco CB, this was eventually converted to 10 metres, right at the beginning of a solar maximum, 50 years ago. I can’t remember what happened to it. I bought an ICOM IC 202, I made a few Dick Smith kits, some successful some not, my first HF radio was a Yaesu FT200 hybrid, transistors with valve finals. I can’t remember what happened to it either.
I now own a mixture of Kenwood TS 2000 and Retevis hand heads and an anaytone mobile with DMR.
I enjoy SSTV on HF and a 2 metre net that I run Saturday evenings at 1900 local (0900 UTC) on our local repeater network and available on EchoLink, VK4WIS-R
73 Harry VK4TK