[Hammarlund] sp600 for ham work?

[Craig Roberts]

Hi Eugene,

The SP-600 is a fantastic "band cruiser" SWL receiver but is 
inconvenient for ham use. Dial calibration and tuning are imprecise and, 
as you mention, SSB reception is greatly compromised without the 
addition of a product detector.  Jan Skirrow is now making SSB detector 
kits for the SP-600 (http://skirrow.org/Boatanchors/) but -- according 
to him -- sideband reception might still be a little "iffy" from 14 MHz 
and up because the SP-600's tuning is a bit too broad. The radio was 
originally designed for AM and MCW reception and excels in those modes, 
but falls short on sideband.  The SP-600 is a wonderful radio, however, 
I've restored two and love them both. (It's business tax time, though, 
so I am reluctantly selling one, if anyone's interested).

One very good and affordable boatanchor for ham band use is the 
Hammarlund HQ-170 or HQ-170A. It's a great sideband radio with several 
selectivity steps and decent bandspread. Its audio is tailored for 
communications, too and is easy to work on. In some ways I like it 
better than my Collins 75S-3.

I'm sure you'll receive MANY other opinions on this interesting topic.

73,

Craig
W3CRR
www.aerialacts.com