Drake SPR-4 Shortwave Radio SSB CW Receiver CLASSIC DX UNIT * LOADED 23 CRYATALS

Description

Note: This SPR-4 listing gives some background information including personal experiences.  If you would just like the details on the receiver, you may skip below to the blue section.  In order to remain in compliance with Ebay's listing policy regarding keyword spamming, we have utilized asterisks
*
to allow us to include other product information without keyword spamming. Thank you!
This sale is for a Drake SPR-4 receiver that would appeal to a person wanting a nice classic receiver and in good overall cosmetic condition.  The front panel appears to be nice overall, but upon examination, you will see a minor mark here and there.  Pamela noticed some scoring of numbers into the black coating on the upper portion of the rear panel.  These were overlooked during initial inspection and testing of the receiver.  We encourage you to please carefully look at the HD pictures which we have supplied to enable you to see accurate cosmetics.  The blue lamp filters have faded with time and this is common.
The SPR-4 comes with 23 crystals including the 9 stock crystals plus 14 optional crystals covering a wide portion of the receiving spectrum.  Here is a list of the crystals included in this receiver, and please note, that we sell SPR-4 crystals in our Ebay store if you wish to obtain different receiving ranges for a couple of the crystals.
.5  MHz (am broadcast band)
1.0  MHz (am broadcast band)
2.0  MHz (tropical band)
3.0  MHz (tropical band)
4.0  MHz (tropical band)
7.0  MHz (amateur radio 40 meter & international shortwave)
8.0  MHz
8.5  MHz
9.5  MHz (international shortwave)
11.0 MHz
11.5 MHz (international shortwave)
12.0 MHz (international shortwave)
13.0 MHz
14.0 MHz (amateur radio 20 meter)
15.0 MHz (international shortwave)
16.0 MHz
17.0 MHz
21.0 MHz (amateur radio 15 meter)
22.0 MHz
22.5 MHz
27.0 MHz (CB radio)
28.0 MHz (amateur radio 10 meter)
28.5 MHz (amateur radio 10 meter)
The optional noise blanker and calibrator are not installed in this unit.
Electronically, the SPR-4 works wonderfully.  There was excellent sensitivity and the receiver was a joy to test and use and displayed no operational issues or deficiencies so should provide you with many hours of listening pleasure.
The receiver is a good example of Drake manufacturing and is a fun unit to operate providing the user with great sensitivity and excellent overall reception.  The SPR-4 also comes with its special SPR-4 AC power cord and :
* copy of the technical manual (user and service manual combined)
* copy of review from CQ magazine Nov 1970
* copy of review from QST magazine Dec 1970
* copy of SPR-4 brochure #1
* copy of SPR-4 brochure #2
* copy of SPR-4 brochure #3
* copy of Ad found in WRTH (World Radio and Television Handbook) 1975
* copy of catalog page from Gilfer Shortwave 1974
* copy of Ad for Drake Equipment List 1977
* copy of Ad found in WRTH for Drake Equipment 1978
* copy of Drake SPR-4 advertisement
* copy of SPR-4 catalog sheet 1977
* Finally, we are also including a CD that contains the manual, technical and service information, a sales brochure, and a couple of enhancement Mods that you can do, if you would like.
This CD is not for sale and is supplied to the buyer of this receiver for their personal use.  This is an excellent assortment of documents that you will not find available elsewhere and amounts to 389 MB of documents in PDF and JPEG.
When I was about 16 years old, I purchased a used Drake SPR-4 receiver.  It was a replacement receiver for my inexpensive R*adio Shack DX*160 and and a serious upgrade so that I could DX on shortwave. I had worked at odd jobs, mowed lawns, and done some babysitting of neighbor's kids in order to afford purchasing it.  Two years later when I graduated and attended college, I was forced to sell my beloved Drake SPR-4 to help cover my college expenses.
Shortwave has been an exciting radio listening format for me since I was a young lad and my elderly next door neighbor listened on her N*ormende receiver.  She would invite me over and allow me to listen to the exotic sounds of distant stations that permitted a young boy in a small town to travel all over the world.  I recall her telling me stories and the one that especially comes to mind was her listening to Czechoslovakia during the 40's and one day she heard the station send out a worldwide SOS because Hitler was invading their country. She said that they were pleading for the world community to come to their assistance and she told me that she wept as there was nothing she could do.
When I owned the SPR-4, I was an active member of a shortwave Dxing group called SPEEDX.  Back then in the mid 70's, the Drake SPR-4 a hot receiver that accounted for a preponderance of the postings to SPEEDX.  I was pleased to be a contributor during those days and have seen the hobby transformed in the digital age with such groups now existing online and streamlining the reporting process.  (In the last picture at the top, you will see a yellow SPEEDX contributor's page from Feb 1976 and can find my name....Randy McIntosh.  I was 17 years old at that time.)
Years later after attending college and having a job, I was in a position to purchase another Drake SPR-4 and jumped at the chance. That SPR-4 remained in my possession until a couple of years ago when I had to sell it to pay medical bills for my family.  While my family responsibilities keep me from seeking QSL cards these days, I still regularly tune into many foreign stations using another shortwave receiver.  In my high school years with that SPR-4, I obtained some interesting cards...Ivory Coast, Swaziland, and even an AM station on the west coast (KFI 640 in LA), despite my being located on the east coast.
These days, the mix of stations has changed, but they are every bit as exotic.  Within recent weeks, I have tuned into the English broadcasts from, Cuba, North Korea, Romania, United Kingdom, Iran, China, Turkey, and New Zealand.  There are others, I'm sure, but these stations have an English language program that are commonly heard here in Penna.
It is a shame these days that so much time is spent in front of the TV. The programming on shortwave is so much richer.  No, you don't get
Vikings or The Mandalorian
or your favorite sports team, but you do get USA alternative news, drive time entertainment from China, music from Turkey or Cuba, and cooking from Romania.  Most evenings, I am in my office at home working on projects or listing things for Ebay so I have the radio on in the background. The international news is exceptional and sadly contrasts with the weak news that you hear on network TV or even network radio.  If you ever need to get English programming information, may I suggest you try here:
http://hfradio.org/swbc/
(please copy and paste the link into your internet browser)
And here:
https://www.short-wave.info/index.php
(please copy and paste the link into your internet browser)
The Drake SPR-4 was first introduced into the market in 1969 and was produced by Drake until 1978.  During those years, this receiver was one of the finest produced and is still considered a product that represents RL Drake manufacturing at its best. The SPR-4 was Drake's first completely solid state receiver and was capable of determining frequency down to 1 KHz which was fabulous in that day.  With today's digital readouts, this may not seem impressive, but the SPR-4 could zero in on a signal and allow the user to know what frequency was being transmitted on to properly ID a station....or even pre-tuning a station prior to airtime.  The receiver came with 9 crystals that allow the user to receive on most of the AM and commercial shortwave bands.  Other crystals are frequently offered for sale on Ebay to allow the receiver to expand its frequency range as it has up to 23 crystal sockets for the bands.
In the promotional material, this is what Drake advertised about the SPR-4 receiver:
"The Drake model SPR-4 communications receiver may be programmed to suit your present and future needs. It is ideal for short wave listening or monitoring, aircraft radio and weather, marine ship and shore stations, HF communications, WWV time signals, CB, standard broadcast monitoring or DXing, amateur radio, civil defense, government, or use as a laboratory instrument. "
In designing the SPR-4, Drake engineers incorporated the dual gate FET to produce the first no-compromise solid state receiver.  Unlike receivers with bipolar transistors which have poor cross-modulation, inter-modulation, AGC, and overload performance; the SPR-4 has signal handling capabilities superior to the best tube receivers.  In addition, the SPR-4 has all communications receiver of the advantages of a solid-state design such as low power consumption, mechanical and thermal stability, reliability, etc."
Here is some reviews from a variety of hobbyists who give it a 4.9 out of 5.0 with twelve reviews:
https://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/1191
(please copy and paste this link into your internet browser)
Those buyers living outside the USA may purchase this receiver knowing that we are happy to ship to you.  You may also use the shipping calculator for your shipping price.  We regularly ship outside the USA with good results and have successfully delivered to 105 countries during the 22 years of presence on Ebay.
Please keep in mind that the shipping cost does not include a provision for VAT, import, or customs charges. If you do not know if you will be charged for these costs, please check with your local post office prior to purchasing this receiver.
Thanks for taking the time out of your busy day to look at our Ebay listings.