[Hammarlund] Favorite Hammerlund Receiver

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

On Sun, Dec 11, 2011 at 9:17 AM, Carl <km1h at jeremy.mv.com> wrote:

> The Brits found out quickly that their own sets and the RCA AR's didnt have
> what it took to sniff out weak signals in an intercept enviroment such as at
> Bletchley Park. Enter the HRO which is still available in the UK in
> quantity.

Boy did they. But in their situation, they were grabbing anything they
could to fill the need. You see a lot of AR-88s in the old films, and
the HRO shows up probably 5 to 1 or more times as often. Shots of
Bletchley often show rows of HROs with nary an 88 to be seen.

The AR-88 is one of the best sounding single-ended receivers I've ever
heard. Easily blows away something like the SP-600 or 75A-4, though
both are better receivers by virtue of later designs and associated
technological improvements. The 88 works quiet well as a general
coverage receiver, considering it's a pre-war design. Like the early
Super Pros, it was more of a 'cost is no option' approach. Hammarlund
and National just did their homework better on signal recovery. Both
used the same approach for reducing internal noise as well as other
factors.

~ Todd/KAQ