This is a very scarce receiver made by Drake between 1974-1978 specially for maritime communications, to be used on oceangoing vessels. The MSR-2 covers from as low as 10 kHz!! to 30 MHz and accept voltages of 120 or 220/240 VAC. It is a 19 inch rack cabinet model of the DSR-2 table-top receiver, and with the cabinet it weights 15,4 kg (33,95 lbs) and the dimensions are 495x170x375 mm (19.48*6.69*14.76 inches). It was also sold as DEBEG MSR-2, Hagenuk EE334, SAIT MR 1415 and CRM 3928.
When I got this receiver there was cleaning to be done, even from stains of color on the frontpanel. With the help of topz and methylated spirit I could restore the front, after a bunch of hours! The metal inlay on the knobs where all there, exept on the knob for the mechanical lock. So I had to make one my self.
Radio was crucial for getting information from shipping companies, meterological offices, other marine supporting base organisations or harbours. Marine environment is tough for radio equipment. Even inside a ship you have to be avare of humidity and salt in the air that can cause severe problems. Drake MSR-2 was made of components specially designed to endure that environment, for example all the switches were goldplated. And the electrical environment on a ship can be a challange. Therefore the tunable preselector, covering 10-500 kHz in four bands, is made to be virtually immune to front-end overload. The receiver can withstand 1000 volts of peak RF voltage without damage!! This receiver was to be found in a small commercial group, the production were therefore limited. Some sites says it was only 250 produced, the MSR-1 numbered from 1-250 and the MSR-2 numbered from 251 to 500. But recently a MSR-2 was shown numbered 598. Surely more reliable data on this subject are to be revealed. The pricetag was high, 5.000 dollars in 1978, translated in todays (2016) value ca 20.000 dollars!!
I have let my site to be open, no copyright on the content. This I think will benefit collectors work to restore vintage receivers. Now I feel really honoured to see that two photos of my MSR-2 from this site have been chosen to represent the description on the famous site http://www.rigpix.com/drake/msr2.htm!
Now this receiver has been sold (october 2017) to a collector 30 km southwest of Stockholm.
References:
http://www.w8zr.net/vintage/receivers/MSR2.htm
http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/drake_msr_2msr.html