[Hammarlund] Hq-180 vs 145 and 170

[DJED1 at aol.com]

The SP-600 is highly collectible as it is the ultimate commercial receiver 
built by Hammarlund.   I have one to go along with my R-390A.   It is usually 
suggested that one use the spin tuning of the Sp-600 to search for signals, then 
use the R-390A to tune them in.   there's some measure of truth to that 
recommendation.   I've found the SP-600 to be excellent for scanning, to have 
adequate selectivity and good audio.   However, it is a single knob tuning so on 
the higher bands the tuning is very critical, especially for SSB.   It doesn't 
have a product detector, so you need to operate in manual gain mode if 
receiving SSB.    So it's fun to use for AM, but would not make a good ham receiver, 
for example.
On the other hand, the HQ180 is a 20 year newer design, and has all the 
capabilities for SSB, as well as a better tuning rate.    So I would vote for the 
HQ 180 if you had to pick one.   
Of course, the R-390A replaced the SP-600 as the ultimate boatanchor 
receiver, although it wasn't designed for SSB either.   It has the frequency readout 
and tuning rate that none of the Hammarlund family has, except for the rare 
HQ215.   However, the R-390s are now getting pretty expensive, so you'd have to 
decide if it's worth the extra cost.
Just my .02 worth
Ed