[ARC5] Novice receivers.

[Kenneth G. Gordon]

On 16 Nov 2015 at 10:16, D C _Mac_ Macdonald wrote:

> My first receiver (and transmitter) was the Walter Ashe $49.50 Novice
> Station with 6SN7GT regen receiver.  Worked a lot better than the S-38 I
> borrowed when the 6SN7GT went dead and I couldn't afford a replacement
> tube.

My first "good" receiver was a Hallicrafters S-41G which a plumber 
sub-contractor for my step-father's construction company found in his
basement after he moved into the house. At least the BFO in that thing
worked....

I bought an S-41G somewhat recently, mainly just to see how it worked when
compared with my more modern rigs. I almost can't figure out how we ever
used those things to make as many contacts as we did. Yet I even worked 
DX
on 20 meters using the S-41G back then. The entire 20 meter band is not
quite 3/16" wide on the dial. Calibration was literally non-existent.

I suppose the extremely poor selectivity of those sorts of receivers is
the primary reason I preferred to operate CW, and still do. The AM
portions of the bands were simply one huge collection of heterodynes. I
couldn't stand to listen to that crap for more than a few minutes.

> My ears aren't as good as they once were, but newbies still can't figure
> out how I can pick signals out during Field Day! 

Yes. I have had the same experience. My "wet filter" has a bandwidth of 50
Hz. It works just fine, thank you, even after all these years. I find
narrow bandwidths in modern receivers disconcerting: I can't tell what
else is going on on the band, and it bothers me. Besides, I also don't
like the sound of a restricted bandwidth. There are times, of course, when
very narrow (400Hz or so) bandwidths are useful...

> There's still nothing that compares with trying to copy either ICW or
> voice signals under crowded conditions to improve operator skill. 

Indeed, yes.

I think Glen's idea of requiring new hams to spend at least 2 years using
wide bandwidth and unstable receivers is excellent, although impossible to
implement. Sadly.

Ken W7EKB