[Boatanchors] Howard Company

[Richard Knoppow]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <WQ9E at btsnetworks.net>
To: <arc5 at ix.netcom.com>; <boatanchors at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Sunday, August 18, 2013 5:00 AM
Subject: Re: [Boatanchors] Howard Company


> The Howard sets have very lightweight construction and 
> lower cost/quality components.  Mechanical instability, 
> backlash, and high drift are obvious on all the models 
> that I own and this is in comparison to other vintage 
> sets-not modern rigs.  The bandwidth of most of their sets 
> is very broad which makes up for some of the drift when 
> operating in AM mode.  I haven't gotten around to 
> restoring my Howard 490 yet which appears have the 
> potential to be a little better than the lower cost sets 
> but certainly has the dial (and in its case panel 
> corrosion) common to the other sets.  The case of the 438 
> has an interesting look but the same low performance as 
> other members of the 430 series.  My 450 is a little 
> better than the 430 series but it still isn't a receiver I 
> would pair with a transmitter in an often used station.
>
> The mechanical design of the 430 series models, or at 
> least the ones I own, is poor and require involved 
> disassembly even to replace a single tube.  A 436A was my 
> first Howard and I thought at first I was missing some 
> obvious method in getting into the receiver because the 
> case design is so poor.
>
> Dave N7RK has some sets I don't and can probably provide 
> further examples of their shortcomings.  I see a model 460 
> on his website which looks impressive but probably has 
> some of the same issues as the other models.
>
> Rodger WQ9E
>
     FWIW, Howard Radio seems to have built most of the 
BC-779 version of the Hammarlund Super-Pro. They were fairly 
heavy advertisers in QST as has been mentioned with mostly 
moderately priced sets.


--
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles
WB6KBL
dickburk at ix.netcom.com