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The Barlow Wadley XCR-30
may be one of the most famous radios that you have never heard of. One of
the reasons for its current obscurity is because in its heyday – the seventies
and eighties – it was mostly bought by radio amateurs or ‘Hams’ and listeners
to the Short Wave bands (known in the trade as SWLs or DX-ers). It has since
become the stuff of myth and legend in amateur radio and vintage
gadget collecting circles. It was quite expensive and comparatively few were built in
its short production run (1973 to 1976) and this was largely due to it being
made in South Africa. At the time SA was isolated and sanctioned by the
international community in protest over its institutionally racist Apartheid system,
so one way or another they are now quite rare. The XCR-30 was also unknown to
me but a few years ago my brother Pete, who lives in South Africa, asked me if
I had ever come across this radio, as he owned one in the seventies. He wasn’t
a radio enthusiast but he did a lot of travelling and it proved quite handy for
keeping up with the news in remote locations.
The really surprising
thing, though, is that such a sophisticated radio looks rather ordinary and not
that different from the countless other portable radios doing the rounds in the
70s and 80s. The only slightly unusual feature, visible on the outside at
least, is a hinged panel on the top with a slot for a printed card showing frequency coverage and blank cards for logging stations. Another oddity is the two large tuning knobs on either side of the case, and the two
rotating frequency dials they are connected to. These are a clue to the
XCR-30’s extra wide tuning range. The ‘MHz Set’ scale on the left extends from
0.5MHz to 30MHz, whilst the ‘kHz Set’ scale/knob on the right is for
fine-tuning over the range 0 to 1000kHz. To the right of the scales there’s a
small signal strength meter and below that a tiny knob for zeroing the kHz
scale. This may need the occasional tweak due to changes in temperature and
humidity. It is significant, and a clear indication of this radio’s remarkable
prowess that the instruction manual (and others who know this receiver) say
with great conviction, that once a station has been tuned ‘the stability is
such that it will remain in tune indefinitely’…
And so to this XCR-30’s
back story. I have been on the lookout for one ever since my brother drew my
attention to it. Only a small handful turn up on ebay each year and almost
without exception they change hands for three-figure sums; US buyers appear to be especially keen to get their hands on them. Barlow Wadley is saved as a Search term on my ebay but for
some reason this one wasn’t flagged up and I only spotted it by accident, as a
‘you might be interested’ suggestion on some other unrelated auction page. It
only had a day to go, with a starting price of £80, and no bids as yet. It was
listed as working, in good condition and it came complete with the original
instructions and service manual, which are both very rare and desirable
to collectors. I was convinced it had been spotted and would sell in the last
minute for somewhere north of £200. I put it on my Watch List anyway, more out
of curiosity than in any hope of buying it. The auction was due to end early on a
Thursday morning, and with an hour to go I checked to see how high the price
had risen, but there were still no bids. Forty minutes later I decided to put
in a mischief bid of £85 and annoy the hoards of last-second bidders I imagined
were waiting to jump in. Fully expecting it to be instantly trounced I forgot
about it so I was quite surprised, to say the least, to find the ‘You’ve Won,
Pay Now’ email in my inbox later that day, and I was the only bidder.
It was as advertised
and in spite of being more than 40 years old it is in remarkably good
condition. The case is clean, there are no serious marks or scratches anywhere
and it cleaned up well using nothing stronger a soft cloth and some household
cleaner. The case was treated to a wipe-over with car dashboard polish, which
buffed up to as-new shine. Inside it was just a bit dusty and the only very
minor problem was the battery holder, which had a crack at one end, Fortunately
these are still available and a new one cost just a couple of pounds. At some
point there had been a minor battery leak on the the bottom of the case, which
is all metal. The few small spots of ancient brown residue cleaned up easily. 
The ebay description was also right about it being in good
working order and even the on-board telescopic aerial managed to pull in scores
of transmissions on both the MW broadcast and SW amateur radio bands. Articles
on the XCR-30 suggested that well-used examples could have mechanical troubles
but everything checked out, including a pair of fragile micro switches on the
Antenna Trim adjustment. Performance is still excellent and whilst things have
moved on, with the introduction of digitally controlled phase locked loop (PLL)
tuning systems, not to mention digital displays and all manner of other
enhancements in filtration and frequency control, the XCR-30 is remains a damn
fine SW receiver and I suspect a good number of amateur radio enthusiasts and
DX-ers would enjoy using it.