[AMRadio] Boat Anchor Receiver

Tue Dec 20 12:09:47 EST 2011

My Dad had an HQ-110 that he used as a general coverage receiver. In that duty, 
it was fine,. Once, though, I had to press it into service as a ham-band 
receiver for CW when the HQ-170 had problems. To quote Axel Olsen from 'The 
Great Waldo Pepper,' "I didn't like it very much." It had plenty of selectivity 
but drifted a lot and was very microphonic, so all the selectivity wasn't very 
useful. When I had to choose items from the estate, I let the HQ-110 go and kept 
the HQ-170. After warming up, the HQ-170 is plenty stable for CW even at the 
narrowest setting, but it does require about 30 min to reach a stable operating 
temperature. After carefully aligning it and watching how it acts as I move 
around the chassis I'm pretty sure that a lot of the initial drift comes from 
dimensional changes as the chassis heats up.  

The HQ-170 is sitting next to my TenTec Orion II and both are equally sensitive, 
at least on 160, 80, and 40 m. The O II has far more tools for digging out weak 
signals and can squeeze the BW down to 100 Hz, but at equivalent BW settings 
both "hear" the same things equally well. I have learned, however, that a local 
AM blowtorch, KOMA at 1000 kHz, shows up very well at its second harmonic in the 
HQ-170 but is only barely perceptible in the O II. So, in very demanding 
situations with lots of strong signals, the O II will do better than the HQ-170. 
And that's good news because were it not this way, I'd be reeeeally upset about 
what I spent on the O II!

Kim N5OP

________________________________
From: Terry Armstrong <odtrainer at aol.com>
To: amradio at mailman.qth.net
Sent: Tue, December 20, 2011 10:10:32 AM
Subject: Re: [AMRadio] Boat Anchor Receiver

Rick,

Thanks for sharingyour thoughts about the NC 300 being good on AM.  I've 
neverlistened to one, but always like that big tuning knob.  I mainly had 
Hallicraftersin the days gone by. I almost picked up a Hallicrafters S-76 that I 
saw at alocal hamfest, just because I had one when I was a novice. I had a lot 
of fun withthat old receiver. My HQ 110 A is my first Hammurland.  It works okay 
on10 but not terribly stable.

Nostalgia is a big part ofmy AM and vintage interest.  

Terry 
K0IEO

Terry R. Armstrong
2445 Riverside Dr. #302
Trenton, MI 48183

odtrainer at aol.com
Cell 734-778-3008

-----Original Message-----
From: Nick England <navy.radio at gmail.com>
To: Discussion of AM Radio in the Amateur Service <amradio at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Mon, Dec 19, 2011 3:39 pm
Subject: Re: [AMRadio] Boat Anchor Receiver

When I was KN4NYW in 1961, a buddy had a Ranger I and Drake 2B
station. I have always thought they made an excellent and handsome
pair - both more compact than a typical Valiant / SX-101 setup that
you might see and both excellent performers.

The HQ-170 & Ranger combo also seems like a good fit price/performance
wise - although I think the NC-300 is a much nicer AM receiver.

I always saw Collins gear as matched pairs (75A-4/KWS-1, 75A-2/32V-2,
75S-1/32S-1) owned by people with really serious extra money to sink
into the hobby - we lusted after them, but only one ham I knew could
afford them.

I started with a Knight Spanmaster and a homebrew 6L6 xmtr - I can't
imagine pairing a Spanmaster or Space Spanner and a Ranger - would be
like putting together a Pinto with a Shelby GT-350.

cheers,
Nick K4NYW

On Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 7:43 PM, Terry Armstrong <odtrainer at aol.com> wrote:
> Thanks Mitch and others. I already have an HQ 110A and want to up grade the 
receiver the HQ 110 works okay, but not great.  An HQ 170 would be a good match. 

I do want it to match pretty closely with the Ranger.  You make  a good point. 
Was thinking of a 75S1 because I've head a lot of good things about them.  Also 
considering a National NC 300 if I come cross one at a local hamfest.
>
>
> Terry
> K0IEO
______________________________________________________________
Our Main Website: http://www.amfone.net
AMRadio mailing list
Searchable Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
List Rules (must read!): http://w5ami.net/amradiofaq.html
List Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/amradio
Post: AMRadio at mailman.qth.net
To unsubscribe, send an email to amradio-request at mailman.qth.net with
the word unsubscribe in the message body.

This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

______________________________________________________________
Our Main Website: http://www.amfone.net
AMRadio mailing list
Searchable Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
List Rules (must read!): http://w5ami.net/amradiofaq.html
List Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/amradio
Post: AMRadio at mailman.qth.net
To unsubscribe, send an email to amradio-request at mailman.qth.net with
the word unsubscribe in the message body.

This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html