[Hammarlund] Kevin Ward-HQ-180 calibration

[Mike Taylor]

Kevin...I've found that the onboard crystal calibrator is your best friend
when it comes to dial calibration. Forget the signal generator. First, the
crystal calibrator must be set to zerobeat with WWV. Now comes the fun
part...The lower bands are easy. Let's start with the broadcast band: The
callibrator should line up correctly with every appropriate mark on the
tunining dial. This involves going back and forth, from one end of the band
to the other, adjusting the appropriate coils and trimmers until  all cal
markers and radio stations show up on the dial exactly where they should be.
Be patient and keep at it and you'll get it perfect. Will never happen
trying to use a signal generator. Now the REALLY FUN part: Look at all the
dial divisions on band six and how close together they are especially above
about 18 MHZ. This is where it gets pretty maddening. I start at 30 MHZ and
work down because going down get's easier. Start with a signal known to be
at 30 MHZ (your signal generator will do this and I use my  60 channel
scanner set at 30 MHZ as a receiving reference to make sure the generator is
correct.) Now that you have an exact 30 MHZ signal coming out of the
generator, line it up with the 30 MHZ mark on the radio's tuning dial. Tell
the generator to take a break as you won't need it any more. The crystal
calibrator will do the job from here. With the calibrator on, you will
notice that tuning down from 30 MHZ,  after you've passed several dial
marks, (going down down toward 18 MHZ) the calibrator signal will start
being out of whack with the marks on the tuning dial. You have to use your
eyes to see how far out of whack the calibrator markers become with the dial
marks. When you get to the bottom of the band, the calibration will be way
off. Make the proper adjustments and tune back up, going slowly, and observe
how the calibrator signal gets out of whack with the dial marks as you go.
Keep going back and forth from one end of the band to the other and
adjusting until the calibrator signal appears on every dial mark. The lower
the band, the easier it is to do. The production techs at Mars Hill didn't
have time to do this painstaking type of alingment. That's why we have
crystal calibrators and moveable crosshairs. For your first time trying to
acheive "frequency meter read-out", figure on taking a couple of days to get
it done. And remember that picking up the chassis and putting it back in the
metal cabinet may change the work you've done...In which case you'll have to
do some re-adjustments on band six. To summarize...signal generator against
a known source to establish correct frequency...crystal calibrator for
alignment...Back and forth over and over til you've got it...Start with the
highest band and work down as the lower bands are pretty easy...patience.
Bottom line: the HQ-180, HQ-110, and HQ-129X are capable of "frequency meter
readout"  if you do it right and have the patience and time. The callibrator
is the key tool. I'm now waiting to hear from those on the list who will
tell me I'm full of it. Meanwhile, I'll tune my HQ-180 exactly to 6070KHZ
and CFRB will be there. No need for the calibrator while DX'ing. Good luck
Kevin and do give it a real try. You'll be amazed how accurrate your
Hammarlund dials really are. 73'...Mike