[Hammarlund] RE;dumb tuning

Tue, 17 Sep 2002 19:24:48 -0500

Understood something 'cheap' certainly has its limitations. But I'm just a
hobbiest and have no desire/need to spend hundreds of $$$ on something I
would only use occasionally.

Still, does anyone have any recommendations for a sig gen that would suffice
for aligning these ol BA's (even if it took longer than what would be
acceptable in a 'real' shop)? Something that maybe could be found on eBay
for a reasonable (e.g. hobbiest) sum?

One of my problems searching for an inexpensive sig gen is not knowing which
ones provide an unmodulated output (vs sine/square wave generators)

-Mike

----- Original Message -----
From: "Joel R. Hallas" <[email protected]>
To: "Ed Shafer" <[email protected]>; "Hammarlund"
<[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, September 16, 2002 8:00 PM
Subject: Re: [Hammarlund] RE;dumb tuning

> Ed,
>
> A cheap and accurate signal generator sounds like a holy grail! Even
expensive ones aren't
> often accurate enuf to do what you want to do. What I use is a cheap
signal generator with
> a cheap counter in the line to the receiver, solves most problems. I also
have a step
> attenuator between the counter and the receiver so I can reduce the level
and keep the
> counter happy.
>
> Has worked for many receivers.
>
> GL & 73, Joel, W1ZR
>
> Ed Shafer wrote:
>
> > 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 <[email protected]> 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 [email protected]
> >
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