[Hammarlund] HQ-129-X Questions

Wed May 29 21:09:03 EDT 2019

 I can't speak to the dials on the HQ-120, but the 129x, HQ-140, HQ-150 all have the same Left dial. There is only one stock number
difference between the bandspead dials with and without 15 meters.Some of the
later HQ-129x's have a Right Band Spread which include 15 meters. Most HQ-129x's do not have 15 meters and I presume the
pre WW II HQ-120s do not. (15 meters was introduced about 1952/53, just before I was licensed in early 1956.)  There is a
part number on the two dials. If the 120 dial is calibrated the same, it likely has the same dial number.  When I was working on a 129x
without 15 meters but with yellowed dials, I found a set of HQ-140 dials on Ebay in pristine white (and 15 meters) and put that
in a 129x.  The HQ-150s, and HQ-140s and HQ-129xs (if 15 meters) all have the same dial and dial number.  One of my 129s has gone
South and I've acquired an HQ-150 with yellowed dials.  If the 150 checks out, I'll move the nice dial to that RX. (I haven't started to look
at that one.)  Getting the dials in place does involve some flexing.  Color on the HQ-129x front panel wasn't terrible consistent throughout the6-7 year production run even beyond the red trademark/white trademark differences. Even the grays will vary by production run.  The dial guidesat the top of the dial must by on both sides of the plastic dial.  On the HQ-140s and HQ-150s even the knob colors weren't consistent.

Now 50 years ago I had another HQ-129 that I bought for a song (actually I think it was given to me.) It belonged to a work colleague to whom I
had given a Novice exam. It belonged to his late father and came from a coal mining town. It took quite a bit to clean it up. The dials were not only
yellowed but they were wavy in one instance.  Since I still had my high school drafting tools I made a  tracing of a Hammarlund dial. Found press-on
letters in the same font Hammarlund used.  I used that drawing to make a photo negative on high contrast litho film which I trimmed into a circle. That
gave me a film with a black dial which showed white on black (like a Hallicrafters dial.) I laminated that between some stiffer plastic. I removed the old plastic
off the metal dial centers and riveted the new dial to the metal disk.  I used a protractor to get the angles correct. The concentric circles were India inked.
It look quite impressive if I say so myself.  I sold the RX before a move, but if you ever run into an HQ-129x with white on black frequency markings, Imay have had a hand in it.  That is NOT for the feint of heart and was very time consuming. At the time I had a watch center job in the DOD with
moments of terror, but a lot of down time between crises.  I see there are people who will repaint Hammarlund panels including 129s. You can alsobuy vinyl overlays.  I guess someone who is really clever and has a lot of time could get a WARC calibration figured out.

Jon Teske, W3JT

-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Knoppow <1oldlens1 at ix.netcom.com>
To: hammarlund <hammarlund at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Wed, May 29, 2019 6:58 pm
Subject: [Hammarlund] HQ-129-X Questions

      The recent thread about the HQ-129-X reminds me that I have 
some questions about mine. It is somewhat odd in that the front 
panel is not the light gray usually seen but a darker gray. The 
lettering looks original but it could be a replacement.
    Second question: the frequency calibration is far off 
particularly on the band spread dial. Enough to make me wonder if 
the set was not rebuilt with the wrong dials. Is it even 
possible? Did the HQ-120-X use the same dials? If it did not 
perhaps mine has those on it. I also found the cabinet does not 
quite fit the case. Mainly when the screws around the edge of the 
front panel are tightened it pulls the panel against the guide 
for the dials causing them to flex just a little as the panel is 
pressed on. This causes instability and I can't believe its correct.
    It seems to me that I read a long time ago that Hammarlund 
had changed the color of the panel on some receivers. This is NOT 
the change from some red printing to all white printing that took 
place in early production. I am very puzzled by this.
    Also, speaking of the HQ-120-X, I have one. It was rebuilt 
by  someone else. The dials on that one have delaminated. I would 
like to find new ones for it. A lot of of HQ-120-X were built so 
maybe there is a chance.
    BTW, I find it curious that Hammarlund made these dials with 
the lowest band on the outside and highest on the inside. One 
would think it would be the other way to provide better precision 
to the calibrations. This is the reverse of virtually all other 
receivers I've seen.
    Its obvious that Hammarlund was having financial troubles at 
the time the HQ-129-X was announced. It was put into production 
at the target price of  $129.00 (hence the model number) but 
remained so for only a short time. Then came back after several 
months at a higher price. Also, the SP-600-JX was first announced 
a bit later with a drawing and a list of specs rather different 
than the production receiver. Again there was a delay until the 
receiver came on the market. The economy was having a lot of 
trouble around that time so this is not too surprising.
-- 
Richard Knoppow
1oldlens1 at ix.netcom.com
WB6KBL
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