[Boatanchors] HQ-170/NC-300

[wf2u at ws19ops.com]

I also have nothing bad to say about the stability of my HQ-170A-VHF.
It sat there with no drift - as I mentioned before, 90% of its use was on CW.
I have to add that I mostly operate on the low bands.
I tuned it up once, with no problems, just followed the procedure in  
the manual, used a frequency counter to put the HP 606 exactly on  
frequency. No stuck cores or such...
Regarding the NC-300 I have - I never used it on CW, except very  
briefly when I tested it after the purchase. It's paired up with my  
Johnson Valiant which is one of the rigs I use only for AM.

73, Meir WF2U
Landrum, SC

Quoting kim.herron at sbcglobal.net:

> Well Gang..............
>
>    I'd have to say that my experience with these two pieces of gear
> (National and Hammarlund) has been the EXACT opposite.
> I had both a 170A-VHF and 180A.  They were both rock steady from turn
> on and never moved. Slam you fist on the table, pick 'em up and drop
> them, and still be there.  I'm not going to debate the audio quality
> issue because they were designed to be communication receivers and so
> by nature they don't have full range audio.
>    I will say that you need to be a pretty fair tech to repair/align
> these beasts and if you're unfortunate enough to get one that someone
> else has "Golden Screwdrivered"  you can be really frustrated after you
> get done.
>    I've had several National receivers and my conclusion on them was
> that they were best put at the end of a rope or chain and used for what
> the name "boatanchor" implied.
>    So I'd say that this little excursion in opinion research has reach
> the same conclusion which is "opinions are like noses, everybody has
> one and they're all different."  I can say for certainty that the
> Hammarlunds were much more sensitive than the National's (proved that
> in the lab with repaired aligned receivers).  My two cents.
>
> Kim  W8ZV
> ----- Original Message ----- From: <telegrapher at att.net>
> To: <Boatanchors at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Tuesday, July 15, 2008 5:28 PM
> Subject: [Boatanchors] HQ-170/NC-300
>
>
>> I bought a pretty nice HQ-170A at a yard sale about 15 years or so   
>> ago. Was going to keep it for use with AM but other things came   
>> into the picture.  IIRc i had to keep one hand on the tuning to   
>> keep a SSB signal in the window.  Don't remember much more about it  
>>  nor how long it sat and warmed up(?) before i used it.
>>
>> Back in the odd year of 1969 i bought an HQ-180, my first   
>> commercially built for hams radio.  Might have been an A, don't   
>> recall but it did have the clock,  One day i turned it on, this was  
>>  in the early to mid 70's, and it had this horrible ac note to   
>> anything i tried to listen to with the BFO on like SSB or CW.    
>> never could find out what was causing it.  Had a good friend who   
>> was a very good radio tech who looked it over, tried this and that,  
>>  couldn't find out what was causing it.  Traded it off for a Drake   
>> R-4B/T-4X with AC supply (little extra cash here) and have not   
>> missed it since.  Love that Drake gear for stability and just plain  
>>  good operation.
>>
>> Had an NC-300 in the early 90's but didn't keep it around long   
>> enough to evaluate it.  What little i did use it, seemed to be ok   
>> but then i wasn't real hep on what it took to make a real receiver.  
>>   Others were looking for NC-303 types.
>>
>> Have fun with all the evaluations.  Kind of like sorting nuts and   
>> bolts out of a glass jar.
>>
>> Larry
>> W0OGH
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>
> _______________________________________________