Drake SSR-1 Shortwave Ham AM SSB Radio Receiver ***WADLEY LOOP UNIT***

Description

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This SSR-1 receiver is in nice original condition and is probably one of the nicest cosmetic examples of this receiver that we have offered on Ebay.   The antenna is straight and extends perfectly and the battery cover plate has been removed to show you that the battery holder is not corroded.  This is a later SSR-1 receiver.  Earlier units required that you loosen screws on the bottom of the unit to remove the entire cover to access the batteries.  This battery cover plate is conveniently secured by two finger screws on the rear panel.
Operationally, the unit was tested and it works very nicely across the bands.  We found it to have good sensitivity and there were no known operational issues preventing operation as designed.  Please note that while the receiver will operate nicely using the telescopic antenna, you will receive many more stations if the unit is connected to a good external antenna.
The receiver comes with:
copy of the user manual
copy of the service manual
copy of the sale brochure
copy of the Drake flyer
copy of an advertisement WRTH 1977 (World Radio & Television Handbook)
copy of Drake Equipment price list Feb 1976
copy of Drake catalog sheet 1977
copy of Drake SSR-1 ad
Drake SSR-1 overview by Martin Boesch 2008
in addition to those items, the buyer will receive a CD that contains 236 MB of files of all this historical data
This Drake SSR-1 radio was the namesake of the RL Drake Company and manufactured in Japan from 1975-78.  During the course of those years, a new technology had surfaced a few years earlier and was now being employed in consumer grade equipment.
For those of you who are not familiar, let us tell you what makes this receiver so special.  The circuitry was developed by Dr. Trevor Wadley and was also employed by Y*aesu their FRG*7 receivers and by Ra*cal in their military equipment.  The shortwave receivers of the day were not very stable and typically there was a certain amount of drift when tuned into a station.  You can imagine how annoying or even frustrating this can be to have to re-tune the circuit from time to time during operation, especially on military frequencies or weak signals.  Anyway, Dr. Wadley invented a drift cancelling loop that used triple conversion circuitry to achieve its goals.  This was a leap forward in receiver technology and for about 25 years, this was considered state of the art technology.  So advanced was this technology when applied to the SSR-1, that it allowed the user to zero into a frequency within 5 KHz.  In today's digital readout technology standard, this may not seem like a real achievement, but back then, this was considered a feat of success for a consumer grade receiver.
You can read a brief bio of Dr. Wadely here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevor_Wadley
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Or a discription in detail of the famed "Wadley Loop" here:
https://web.archive.org/web/20151023105040/http://www.qsl.net/vk3jeg/b_wadley.html
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Another thing accomplished by the SSR-1 receiver is that it is highly sensitive...even by today's standards.  Back in the 1970's when I was a lad in my teenage years, I used a Drake SPR*4 receiver for my listening before attending college.  With that receiver, a special antenna, and some perseverance, I heard many remote foreign and even domestic stations.  I can recall awaking one Monday morning and tuning in to 640 KHz when smaller stations were off the air for the weekly maintenance and was able to copy news from KFI in Los Angeles despite being situated on the east coast.  I notified the station and subsequently received a QSL card verifying my reception.
At the time, I belonged to a shortwave listening club called SPEEDX and received all their monthly mailings.  These mailings were essentially reception reports of various shortwave stations...many that were elusive or even intermittent.  Wadley Loop receivers were in heavy use at that time and were often used to detect even the weakest of signals and units like the FRG*7 often populated listener SW magazines.
When testing the receiver, we noted that the sound is better than the typical communications receiver.  We assume that this is due to the larger than average speaker and the fact that it is forward facing as opposed to being mounted on the top or sides of the cabinet.
A nice feature about the SSR-1 is that it operates on either house AC or DC current.  If you place 8 D cells in the battery compartment, you can tote this unit to a remote spot to DX (long distance listen on shortwave) and hear distant stations without the normal household noise.  This also makes it nice for transport to your cabin, boat or RV.   The battery compartment is located beneath the top cover at the rear with a special access compartment.
The circuit design of the receiver requires little power consumption.  Coupled with the fact that this unit has a built in whip antenna, receives amateur radio sideband signals, and operates off of DC current, this is a great receiver to use for emergency communications and so should appeal to emergency "preppers".
The SSR-1 is a bare bones receiver.  Like the automobiles of yesteryear manufactured prior to the availability of full power accessories, cruise control, and air conditioning, this unit does not have passband tuning, synchronous tuning, or AGC.  If you like these options, you will likely want to look at another receiver.  However, if you like the feel of a receiver that is analog, allows you to tune a knob to band scan, and offers great sensitivity, then this receiver can be a lot of fun to operate.  Using the Wadley tuning is unique and this concerns tuning the MHz dial first, peaking the pre-selector, and then tuning the KHz tuning for the specific frequency.  Finally, you return to the pre-selector to peak the signal once again.  Thus, this is a knob fiddler's delight since you need to tune and then peak signals on this vintage receiver.
We will not take the time to list all the specs for the SSR-1, but you may read about them here on RigPix:
https://www.rigpix.com/drake/ssr1.htm
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Please use the Ebay shipping calculator to determine your shipping cost.  This cost includes proper packing materials for safe delivery and insurance cost against damage or loss.
Those buyers living outside the USA are also welcome to purchase from us.  We have shipped to 105 countries during the past 22 years on Ebay and we are happy to ship virtually anywhere in the world.  You may use the shipping calculator to determine your shipping cost.
Please keep in mind that this cost does not include any import, customs, or VAT fees.  If you are uncertain of these costs, we ask you to check with your local post office prior to making a purchase from us.  Thank you!
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