[Drake] 4-Line Choices

[WQ9E at btsnetworks.net]

With CW as your primary mode with plans for some  SSB I would definitely recommend the C line.   The later production R-4C with three narrow filter slots makes a very good receiver for all types of CW conditions.  I have a couple of R-4C receivers with 1.5, .5, and .25 filters in the optional filter slots.  The 1.5 is great for tuning around while the .5 and .25 handle increasingly difficult QRM conditions.  The R-4C coupled with a Autek QF-1A is my favorite low band CW DX receiver.  The electronic passband tuning works extremely well coupled with the narrower filters.

The R-4, 4A, and 4B all are competent receivers and if vintage AM were your primary operation I would choose one of those over the C line since the L/C filtering has a nice sound but the filtering performance is not up to that of the later receiver for CW/SSB.   The optional noise blanker for the R-4C works well but is expensive now if you have to buy it separately so unless you have a lot of noise problems I wouldn't be too concerned about finding one.  The later R-7 is also a very nice all mode receiver.  I have all the Drake pair versions from the original R-4/T-4X through the C line and they are all nice performers but the crystal filters in the R-4C definitely give it a major performance advantage on CW.  You don't need the Sherwood mods to enjoy a R-4C.

I much prefer any of the twins to my TR-4 and that is especially true for CW.  

When you get your Drakes, if you don't replace anything else in the power supply at least replace the bias filter caps because a failure here will take out the finals very quickly (whether or not you are transmitting at the time of failure).  A small cooling fan for the finals is highly recommended.

Rodger WQ9E

----------------------------------------
From: John Barnwell <radioniner at yahoo.com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 11, 2011 9:21 PM
To: drake at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [Drake] 4-Line Choices 

If one had to choose B-Line twins, C-line twins, or a TR4-CWRIT to be used primarily for CW and occasional SSB, which option would make the most sense. From what I have read, the C-Line requires modification (Sherwood) to make them shine. Does the TR4-CWRIT suffer from similar shortcomings on the receiver side? Perhaps this has been visited in prior postings, if so please feel free to indulge me directly. Thanks, John KE7TPA

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