[Boatanchors] Hammarlund HQ-170A vs. National NC-300

[rrkrr]

I've owned an HQ-170AC-VHF for over 30 years, and I've always been happy 
with it.  It was designed as a CW/SSB receiver, with the audio passband 
tapered for minimum bandwidth required for communication purposes, so 
it's not likely to please the hi-fi AM aficionados.  The audio passband 
is actually designed to change with the audio gain setting - as detailed 
in the manual.  If aligned correctly the receiver is stable and 
selective.  The VHF preamp uses low noise nuvistor triodes, and works 
quite well on 2m - you can listen to FM repeaters satisfactorily using 
"slope" detection with the AM detector.

The IF circuitry in the HQ-170 and HQ-180 is essentially identical to 
the HC10 IF converter that sells so dearly on the auction sites.  I've 
always been amazed that you can generally get an entire HQ-170 receiver 
a lot cheaper than an HC-10.

I have had problems with the heterodyne oscillator drifting for a long 
time after turn-on on 40 meters, but recently fixed this by replacing a 
capacitor in the resonator.

W8KZW wrote:
> I have the Hammarlund and an opportunity to acquire the National.  Will be
> used with my Ranger, primarily for AM.
>
> Which is the preferred radio and why?
>
> Thanks,
> jeff
> W8KZW
>
>
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