QTH.COM Swap Chat

I recently acquired a Drake TR-6 from a ham who had it in the closet for a number of years. It does need some cleaning and basic alignment which I intend to have done. The serial number is in the 500s which means it was a late production unit. What I want to know is a rough idea of its worth, assuming it is functional and in average cosmetic condition; i.e. not mint, but not a wreck either.

I performed a search on past eBay auctions and did not find a single listing for a TR-6. I was frankly surprised at that. One person told me he bought one about ten years ago for about $850 but paid whatever it took to acquire it. I am interested in acquiring a TR-4CW with the RIT control and would like to know if this is on a par, value wise, with that radio.

Chuck K4SC

It all depends on who's buying it.

If the buyer is an avid VFHer, into weak signal work and/or contesting, then (despite its age) a working TR-6 can *easily* go into the $1200 to $1500 range and even higher.

The TR-6 is quite likely THE rarest "high end" six meter rig ever made, and even in its All Tube Glory is hard to beat to this day.

I used mine to do the 6 meter WAS thing back in the late 1970s and, after moving to central New Jersey, used it to drive the big homebrew 6 meter kilowatt into the 25 element collinear curtain (mounted to the side of my 110' tower fixed on a heading of 210 degr). Worked scatter from NJ to Miami just about 24/7. And in August 1984 heard my own lunar echos (with a room full of witnesses!).

The rig's a true honey. Don't sell it; tweak it up and USE it. Six Meters needs the activity!!

FYI: I am now in California and the TR-6 is in its box, to be pulled out in a few weeks for servicing, and then in about a year, to be hooked to a Sterba curtain up here on the mountain, for VHF contesting and weak-sig stuff "west coast style." Should be fun!!

Whatever you decide to do - good luck - you own, in my opinion, the best six meter transceiver ever made.