[Hammarlund] SP-400's

[DJED1 at aol.com]

Well, I started out with a SP-200 many years ago, so I'll take a shot at a  
quick summary.  The SP-200 was roughly a world war II era radio, with the  
SP-400 a very similar variant coming after the war.  In the late '40s or  early 
'50s the SP-600 came along. The 400 was a very good radio for the  time, but has 
some shortcomings when compared to current radios.  It only  has single 
conversion, so images can be a problem on the higher bands, and it  will drift some 
as it warms up.  On the other hand, the sensitivity is very  good, and the 
audio is great.  The main differences in going to  the SP600 are double 
conversion, and the '600 has no bandspread.   The geared-down tuning is nice for band 
scanning, but troublesome for  tuning SSB on the higher bands.  The HQ 180 is 
a newer generation, with  provision for SSB, as well as double conversion and 
bandspread. I would  only get an SP400 for old times sake, compared to a HQ 
180, for example.   90% of my listening in on my R-390A, which is in a different 
league than any of  these Hammarlund receivers.
Ed