NATO 2000 Restoration

After 35 years in the loft I dusted of my NATO 2000 to see if I could get it going.

There was a PL259 still attached to it with 35 years of corrosion holding it on like superglue, needed Mole Grips to get it off.

I fired it up to see if it would switch on which it did but I didn't have a home base antenna at the time so couldn't try RX / TX.

The signal meter bulb had blown and one of the elements on the channel display was intermittently going off.

I contacted James Hulme at "The Shack" to see if he would have a look at it for me and he agreed.

After receiving it he gave me a rundown of what need doing, a massive list as follows:

Not sure where to start. This radio is in bad shape.. Although it's transmitting, it's off frequency, the receiver is stone deaf, the antenna socket has badly corroded ( check for water in the coax ). The DC socket is broken (doubt I'll find a replacement, the VFO core is cracked ( tells me the radio has been screwdrivered), will Definitely need recapping as the caps are old. There is no diode modification on the microphone socket to allow a K40 mic to work with this set, the original mic is intermittent on TX and noisy audio. The switch on the rear and the hanging PCB is a K tone Roger beep. The LED cluster is on its way out but still working, for how long is anyone's guess.. finding a Green replacement will be difficult. The bands are all standard as per user manual. Fascia mounting points are all broken. Now the question is how far do you want me to go with this? A recap, realignment, K40 mod, microphone repair, k tone beep removal, other minor problems put right. If you want the channel LED cluster replaced I'll need to hunt the internet for a replacement green, but this has been done before and come up empty handed. I can't test the K40 mic is working until the mod is done and a brand new 4 pin plug is fitted. Doubt I'll find a DC socket but you never know I may have a scrapper in my junk box. So how much do you want to spend?


Good question how much money did I want to spend? I decided I would spend the money, not going to go into how much as I decided it was reasonable for the work involved and and worth it to keep this radio alive.


James kept me informed as he worked on it & gave me options as the work progressed. He have me regular photo updates and a few videos too, brilliant service in my opinion.


He worked on it for I think he said a day and a half & from posting from Staffordshire to Cornwall and getting it back was just over a week turnaround. Fantastic service.


When I got it back I completely stripped the paint of the rusty case & gave it a vinyl wrap. I still might paint or powder coat it yet, not decided.


I also put new knobs on it and a new mode sticker just like the one you got with the radio when it was new.


BEFORE





AFTER

It's looking great Mic. Well done for saving a classic rig. Hope it give you many more years of fun.

What a great outcome Mic you must be delighted! I know James can work magic with these classic rigs. I've got a President JFK I'd like to send his way if I get the time.

Best 73 Gary.

Great job. I'm delighted to see that a classic radio is given a new life, especially this interesting one. I was especially intrigued by one detail: the round  "CB 27/81" symbol at the lower right hand corner. I know that at the time they were sold as stickers. Did this one come with the symbol printed on the faceplate? I don't see any line (edge) around it.

Hi Zintus

The CB 27/81 was always a stamp on these radios. They were imported as a legal UK 40 channel FM CB radio. When you bought one, you could take the lid off and swap two PLL chips over and that would turn it into a multi-band multi-mode radio. The sticker was only ever the mode sticker like the one in the photos & this was supplied inside the booklet.

Thanks for the reply Mic. That's brilliant! I didn't know they were "smuggled" into the UK that way.  I really like this story!

Did UK authorities (Ofcom, customs etc.) never intervene? 
And another question: who was the manufacturer of the NATO 2000? I see some similarity to the Superstar 2000.

73s Zintus

Hi Zintus

Yes it's very similar to the Superstar 2000, I had a mint one of those too back in the day.

I stripped the paint off the covers and had them chromed & it looked fantastic.

The NATO is of the Cybernet chassis family of radios.

The NATO wasn't actually smuggled in, it came in as a totally legal rig, it even had a brother that looked similar called the NATO 40FM which was only 40 UK FM channels.

I don't think there was ever any Ofcom or customs issues.

From what I understand (reading Cybernet history, what bit I found) they were imported as parts and assembled in the Isle of Man, this was about the time that Cybernet went into liquidation and a company called the Baycliffe Corporation took over. Those Nato 2000's are nice radios though (had a few myself, and similar) and I'm certain their place in history is assured.

I think maybe because they looked a lot like the big York, Harrier and Rotel types it wasn't too obvious what they really were capable of 


Anyone in the Isle of Man (or Japan) that can shed some more light? Be interesting to find out.

It looks fantastic, Mic.