[Boatanchors] Hammarlund Recievers?

[Sandy]

I sort of liked two of the Hammarlund receivers.  First was the old HQ-120. 
Sort of a vintage version of the HQ-129-X.  The second and my favorite was 
the HQ-180.  I had an SP-600 for a while and it was pretty decent, but no 
seperate bandspread.  It and the RCA AR-88 were very similar.  The AR-88 
didn't really require a bandspread dial as the tuning rate was very slow. 
Ditto for the SP-600 too.

The NC-183D I owned had, I thought, a serious design flaw: the first 
conversion oscillator which used a simple 6BE6 'converter' circuit. 
Otherwise it is almost identical to the HRO-60!  The oscillator will "pull" 
on the higher bands with stronger signals which make the receiver an 
undesirable CW receiver on the higher bands.  Stability was acceptable for a 
"general coverage" receiver, however.  Not as good as the HRO-60.

My favorite "old" general coverage receiver was the Collins R-388/URR 
(51J-2).  Its achilles heel was the damned DRIFTY BFO!  After adding a 
Central Electronics "Slicer" to it, it was then a very excellent CW/SSB 
receiver!  (The CE model B slicer was designed for 455 khz IF's but is very 
easily realigned to 500 Khz. the IF of the 51J series.)  I liked that setup 
even better than the later permutation called the 51J-4 and having the three 
position mechanical filter adapter in it.  It STILL had the drifty BFO!

73,
Sandy W5TV W
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Michael OBrien" <k0myw at sbcglobal.net>
To: "Bob Macklin" <macklinbob at msn.com>; "Boatanchors list" 
<boatanchors at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Wednesday, February 13, 2008 9:15 PM
Subject: Re: [Boatanchors] Hammarlund Recievers?


> I'll echo others' recommendation of the Hammarlund HQ-129. Seems like if 
> you were a ham in the 1950s or '60s, you were required to have an HQ-129 
> for at least a while. They are plentiful, easy to work on and pleasant to 
> use.
>
> If you're looking for a more modern but still moderately-priced Hammarlund 
> general-coverage receiver, I might suggest the HQ-100. I've had two over 
> the years. One looked like new and worked reasonably well. I literally 
> rescued the other from the trash, and it looked it -- but it worked like 
> gangbusters. I wish I still had that ol' beater.
>
> As for moderately-priced Nationals, the NC-183D can be very satisfying, as 
> others have indicated.
>
> 73, and gud hunting!
>
> Mike, K0MYW
>
> PS: Someone mentioned the National NC-400. As many probably know, much of 
> the NC-400 production run was purchased by the FBI and installed in field 
> offices for use with an HF network the bureau maintained back in the day. 
> As a result, they are difficult to find today, and often are missing the 
> cabinet, which was discarded because the FBI rack-mounted the radios. 
> Several years ago I came into possession of one that had led a pampered 
> civilian life, and I find it to be a decent band-cruiser. But when an 
> NC-400 shows up for sale nowadays, the "rare" factor usually leads to a 
> price that is, in my opinion, far beyond the useful value of the radio.
> _______________________________________________
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