[Hammarlund] RE;dumb tuning

[Ed Shafer]

Mike,

I too have an HQ-180 and I am really pleased with it in all respects. I tried for quite
a while to get the tracking right, but still can't get it on the mark everywhere. I
really don't have the equipment that would make the job easy, so as you said, tried to
make do with the crystal calibrator, and harmonics from a fairly accurate 80 meter vfo
to get the frequencies right. I feel pretty sure that it could be better than I've
gotten it, and was glad to hear your opinion about the potential accuracy that could be
achieved. Still, just using the calibrator to spot myself, I can find anything I want
to on any band. It just doesn't track evenly from one end to the other. As you say,
it's a labor of love...I put probably 10 honest hours in on this and wish I'd gotten a
little closer to perfect. Still, it's the best receiver I've ever owned. I love the
selectivity filters...in the .5 position I can single out a cw signal in a crowd, and
the slot filter is also quite a nice thing to have!

Ed N5YX

p.s.  I am looking for a signal generator to try to do this again, preferably cheap and
accurate, if anyone has anything to offer.

--- Mike Taylor <reel2reel@hotmail.com> wrote:
> some interesting discussion about mike mcoy's question on his hammarlund
> hq-180. what we're talking about here is what's called "tracking". in other
> words, the ability to set the tuning dial on any dial marker and that's the
> actual frequency you're tuned to. the hq-180 can do this. in a perfect
> world, we would all have singal generators that are 100% accurate which
> would make alignment simple. few of us do. so the crystal calibrator has to
> suffice during alignment and you need reliable reference points (like wwv).
> the highest band is difficult because there are so many dial marks spaced so
> close together. so mike, if your oscillator is even just 100khz off it can
> be impossible to figure out where you are. i've managed to get just about
> perfect dial tracking on both my hammarlunds, but it's tedious to do and
> truly a labor of love. i'd like to know how many other folks have managed to
> get nearly perfect tracking on their hammarlunds and how much of a pain it
> was to accomplish. 73's...mike taylor...reel2reel@hotmail.com


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