[HBR] Another project?

[Amargosa Enterprises]

----- Original Message -----
From: <shoppa_hbr at trailing-edge.com>
To: <hbr at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Saturday, September 23, 2006 4:25 PM
Subject: Re: [HBR] Another project?


> N2EY at aol.com wrote:
> > I wonder what an HBR-16 cost to build 40-odd years ago - and what that
> > equates to in today's dollars.
>
> My guesstimate is the $70-$150 range depending on how well stocked
> the junkbox was etc.
>
> Commercial multi-band SSB/CW ham receivers with SOME stability
> in the 60's were typically $250 and up. (e.g. the Heath SB-300
> was $250 in 65 or 66, some of the mid-line Hallicrafters were
> $300, etc.) I think this is the best comparison even though many
> of the commercial units had crystal filters, pretty slick bandswitching,
> etc., features that the HBR's generally didn't have.
>
> In today's dollars, that $250 is (adjusted by the CPI) $1450, and
> $70 would today be like $400.
>
> Tim.
>
My 1967/68 experience building a Crosby HBR20 design (see Feb 69 QST) had an
actual itemized parts cost of $ 150 plus my estimated additional $75 for
T-notch filter parts that I know were used but never got put on the basic
parts list.  Total out-of-pocket cost for a 20 tube HBR with switchable
broad/sharp 100 kHz IF and 100 kHz T-notch was then $225.  I had a pretty
good "stash" of parts and hardware, so we can probably add another $50 for
an all-in cost of $275.  Keep in mind this is for a receiver more complex
than the HBR16, and logically more expensive to build than the HBR16.

Biggest cost was the Eddystone 898 dial at $21.95, next biggest the main
tuning cap at around $9.

You can compare the $275 HBR20 cost to a 1966 monthly salary of about $1750
for a senior
development engineer at Cal Tech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, or of about
$1200 for a senior transmission engineer at Pacific Telephone and Telegraph.
These were EE degree jobs that paid well for the time and place.

You can also compare this cost to the following prices (thanks to my
1956/1957 ARRL
Handbook advertisements) -

    Hammarlund HQ150 $294; HQ110 $229; HQ 100 $169
    National HRO 60T $533; NC183 $399

Most of those successful with the HBR13C/HBR16 compared at the time very
favorably its performance vis-a-vis the Drake TR4 and Collins 75A.  I could
not find in my old documents any ads giving pricing for those receivers.  I
sort of vaguely recall a Collins 75A ran somewhere between $700 and $1000,
but I am relying on my memory alone and we all know that is the second thing
that goes !

After construction, I felt (and still do today) that performance of my $225
(out-of-pocket cost) HBR was extremely competitive with the $300/$400
receivers used by others given the CW service I have always preferred.  I
liked the receiver so much that I still have it (in working condition !) all
these years later.  I was successful in temperature stabilizing the
receiver, and never found the absence of bandswitching, crystal filters, or
exotic AGC capability a hinderance to anything I really wanted to do.

Jay