[Hallicrafters] Knob Count Ratings

[Troglodite at aol.com]

Gentlemen,
 
While I generally agree about the "Knob Count" philosophy, this isn't the  
whole story. For one thing, modern stuff has zillions of BUTTONS but very few  
knobs. Buttons do not a knob substitute make, and I personally tend to shy away 
 from anything that isn't obvious enough to operate without spending hours  
reading the manual.
 
Also, there are times when just a few knobs will do. How many of you used  
ARC-5 receivers? I started with one, and as I recall it had two (2)  knobs, both 
of which you had to install yourself. Two knobs two switches,  that's all it 
had yet I managed to bag 27 states on 40m CW as a Novice in 1954.  My 
transmitter had only one knob. It would have been happy with no knobs had I  never 
changed antennas or crystals.
 
Doug Moore
 
>I've always thought so.  My favorite description to give out over  the air 
>when using my HQ-170C is 17 tubes, 17 knobs on the panel. Equal  knob count 
>as the R-390A, but the Hammarlund knobs do more useful  things.  Great 
>receiver paired with a Viking II, although that's  only a 12-knob exciter. 
>The Central Electronics 100V loses points since  it hides a lot of its knobs 
>behind doors.