[HBR] Function Versus Form?

[hbr@mailman.qth.net]

stan asked:
> 2)  Keeping it all in one box?

I'd say it depends what you want.  One box is tidier but some folks 
like multiple boxes.   Isolation's not really an issue -- you can get 
plenty on a single chassis with reasonable care.   If you need a 
certain size cabinet you can find it -- get to hamfests, ask around, 
ask on email lists.   Good chance you'll have to take a dead project 
but you might get some other parts with.

Jim is right:  "Worked the last time I tried it" very often omits the "But 
I turned it off real fast, when the black smoke started to come out.   I 
learned on a PRC-47 -- military portable SSB HF, 26 VDC or 120 V 
400 cps AC.   When I got it home and opened it up, it was clear that 
it had been run on 120 VAC *60* cps ... kinda hard on the 
transformers.   

When the seller says "worked the last time I tried it" one should 
assume the rest.

As to design features -- speaker audio or just phones, AM detector 
or no -- it really depends what you want.   So few people build this 
stuff now that getting something you like and will use ought to be 
about your only consideration.   I will say that the later HBR designs 
are likely to be more satisfactory (stable, for example) than the 
earliest ones.   

On another topic, the synthesized general coverage receiver design 
is grinding onward.   It'll be about 19 tubes, right now I think it'll fit on 
a 10 x 12 chassis.   I don't think I've ever spent more time staring at 
a pile of assorted junk or tried more configurations that didn't work.  
The hard part of course is the front end, where a bunch of coils and 
trimmer caps, two bandswitches, a tuning cap, the synthesizer 
chassis, the VFO assembly, and the RF and mixer stages all come 
together.

Walt Hutchens
KJ4KV