A few months of the Clansman RT320

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Chanty Wrassler
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A few months of the Clansman RT320

Post by Chanty Wrassler »

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I bought this in September last year, taking a punt on it, because I was curious about them.
I remember when they first came out, I was seriously interested in getting one when they were a bit old and getting dumped out by the MoD. Little did I realise it would be 30+ years before the MoD started getting rid in any large numbers. Only shows how good they were, that the MoD hung on to them for so long. Maybe they cost so much, that the MoD were determined to get their money's worth out of them :)
It turns out that the one I bought had a service sticker on it, dated June 2015, so I was fairly hopeful it would be ok for a while, and so far it's been fine.
I bought some ancillaries - a handset (which is a bit crap) and headphones (which are weird but great), a PTT cable, and set it up with a desktop 13.8V PSU feeding a boost converter supplying the set with 26V DC.
My impressions are:

It's tough; tough as old boots, you could kick this around the garden and it would still work.

It's very forgiving of ham-fisted aerial matching, being designed to cope with ham-fisted aerial matching in the muck and bullets, etc. The built-in matching unit lets you get away with murder, and you could probably tune a coathanger or bedspring with it.

It's a pain in the arris to tune, with the daft little decade knobs that are tight as a duck's ringpiece. Still, once you're on frequency, you don't need to shift it around much. I was using it for general SW listening for a while and it left its mark on my fingers. Bandscanning isn't really a thing with this.

It's a fantastically sensitive receiver and I can hear lads talking in the background that my other receivers can't pick up at all. It's great at picking a weak signal out of the murk, and the headphones make a big difference too - they apparently cost a few quid when new. I'm seriously looking at getting a pair of the vehicle 'phones, as they were reckoned to be right up there with the best of them in the day.
As a CB set, it's good as a homebase unit, when you can just sit and gas on it for hours on end, and if you have to go to another frequency, well it's no big deal, but hunting around isn't really easy.
Low output on it is 4W, High is 30W SSB, and for most purposes I don't really need more, but more is always nice to have. I'll probably score a cheap 'n cheerful Italian 100W amp for it. That would be enough for all I use it for, and would get me out over the hills to the north of me.

In fact, it's left me with such a favourable impression (and the impressions on my fingertips from those stupid little decade knobs notwithstanding), I'm going to buy another one. There's been another MoD release of these sets recently, and ebahgum is flooded with them at the moment. Prices are relatively low, so grab one while you can. If you really want to dent your fingertips, that is.
sec1223 wrote:i know of a local lad that sells these for a living, so he can get every accessory you need.
I wouldn't be at all surprised if I'd already bought something from him, if he sells on eblag. Another source is welcome though, as I still need more stuff.
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mof000
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Re: A few months of the Clansman RT320

Post by mof000 »

It looks like the sump of my Shogun!
How much did it cost with all the furniture if you don't mind me asking?
I'll pay whatever i think it's worth...:-)
Chanty Wrassler
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Re: A few months of the Clansman RT320

Post by Chanty Wrassler »

mof000 wrote:It looks like the sump of my Shogun!
How much did it cost with all the furniture if you don't mind me asking?
This one was £100 for the bare set, and the necessary bits (used PSU, boost converter, power connector, phones, PTT) came to another £50 or 60.
This one has no LSB (for some reason the military didn't think it necessary), but the next one will have an LSB kit added.
It's got quirks, there's no denying it, but it just works well.
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LeakyFeeder
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Re: A few months of the Clansman RT320

Post by LeakyFeeder »

Love my Clansman stuff... got just about the lot here n it cannot be beaten..
I bought a pallet of the stuff direct from Disposal Services Authority...mixed bag of 351, 320 n 322..most as new.. soon sold it on... amazes me the amount of brand new kit still laying about in warehouse n stores...
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mof000
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Re: A few months of the Clansman RT320

Post by mof000 »

I guess for the price it's a lot of radio. What does it weigh?
I'll pay whatever i think it's worth...:-)
robo70
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Re: A few months of the Clansman RT320

Post by robo70 »

mof000 wrote:I guess for the price it's a lot of radio. What does it weigh?
lots, but if you have the back pack carrier is not to bad.
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Benny
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Re: A few months of the Clansman RT320

Post by Benny »

I love mine - it’s great with the end fed and I’ve had some great contacts on it.
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