[Hammarlund] HQ-180 alignment issue

Sat Aug 23 15:29:53 EDT 2014

Check your bandswitch contacts (especially the ones in the  local 
oscillator section).   Sounds like the injection frequency may  be solid on the lower 
bands, and wobbly on the higher ones, resulting in the  calibrator signal 
sounding better on the lower frequencies.   Too low  signal injection level 
from the LO could also contribute to the lower noise  floor on the upper 
frequencies.   Don't have my HQ-180 manual handy,  but the extra conversion 
circuitry (think the receiver is dual conversion on the  lowest four bands, and 
triple on the highest two) may also be contributing to  your symptoms.   The 
related oscillator and mixer circuitry is also  controlled by the 
bandswitch.   Good luck.

73, Herman, N4CH.

In a message dated 8/23/2014 2:47:22 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
kb8tq at n1k.org writes:

Hi

The fact that you get calibrator tones suggests that the  radio has an 
alignment problem. The crummy tone suggests a grid cap / grid  resistor problem. 
It might be a screen bypass / bias as well, but grid is a  lot more likely. 
A bit of quality time with the schematic might zero you in on  one that 
switches out on the high bands. 

Bob

On Aug 22, 2014,  at 8:31 PM, Robert Sauvan <rsauvan at beyondbb.com> wrote:

> Hi  Bob,
> I have been working towards a remedy to my problem. Have pretty  
muchcancelled out tube problems. Have swapped numerous tubes with no change or  
improvement in any way.  I am suspect of my signal generator. I am hoping  it 
only to be a tube. Wont go into detail as to why it is the signal generator  
but it is acting a bit weird. If it is not the tube, I will look for another  
generator to do my alignment again. In the mean time though, the signal 
noise  floor of the receiver on these two bands is way down from the other 
bands.I  checked my other old receivers and they have a similar lower noise 
floor being  that they arent as loud as the other bands either. Too bad neither 
band seems  to be open these days to see if I can hear signals. I can hear 
my calibrate  tone without any problem on both bands. Although, the calibrate 
tone on 15  meters is just plain terrible.Not a good solid tone like all of 
the other  bands. Very sporadic. If it is something dead in the radio 
though, where would  I head to seek the problem first? Any suggestions?
> 
>  Thanks-Bob-W0YBS
> 
> 
> On 8/19/2014 4:56 AM, Bob Camp  wrote:
>> Hi
>> 
>> A few hints:
>>  
>> 1) Unless you swapped tubes from a working radio - always suspect  the 
tubes.
>> 2) Check the tubes with a tube tester (see item  one).
>> 3) How good is your signal generator? Time to check it  ….
>> 4) Do you get noise when you attach the antenna? If so -  alignment, if 
not - dead parts or major alignment or dead antenna or  …
>> 5) Same as 4, except with a 100 KHz calibrator  signal
>> 
>> There’s lots more to consider, but that should  get you a bit further 
down the path.
>> 
>> Bob
>>  
>> On Aug 18, 2014, at 11:14 PM, Robert Sauvan  <rsauvan at beyondbb.com> 
wrote:
>> 
>>> Hi  all,
>>> I recently did an alignment on my HQ-180. It seemed to  have gone quite 
well except I have noticed for the first time today that 15  and 10 meters 
dont seem to be working. What I mean by that is when I do a zero  beat with 
my Ranger transmitter, I do not hear a tone. Works fine on all other  bands. 
Since I am unable to hear any signals on these 2 bands, I cant even  tell 
if I am in the ham bands. I noticed this when I was doing my alignment on  20 
meters. After I thought I was done with the band, I had noticed signals  
were out of the ham band. I was able to correct that with tuning my coils and  
bringing the signals into the band and then calibrated. I have replaced 
both  tubes 6C4 and first mixer 6BE6 with numerous others and no change. Any 
ideas  what I should look for next?
>>> 
>>>  Thanks-Bob-W0YBS
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>  

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