[HBR] Re: HBR

[match at ece.utah.edu]

On 31 Mar 2008 at 16:46, LeeCraner at aol.com wrote:

> 
> Marvin,
> 
> You'll find more information on the HBR than just about any other homebrew project, receiver or 
> otherwise. Probably the two biggest hurdles to building an HBR from scratch are the IF/BFO coils 
> (85-100 kHz depending upon the version) and the power transformer.
> 
> My HBR-16 is a pleasure to use, sensitive and stable and somewhat selective (no xtal filters). 
> Construction is certainly simplified with the plug in coils.
> 
> 73 es GL
> Lee WB6SSW

Thanks for the note, Lee.

I'm torn between building it as one of the "classic" HBRs, or using the HBR 
design as a starting point for something else, or rolling my own from scratch. 

For instance, I have several crystal and mechanical filters I could use. I'm 
thinking 6BA7 mixer instead of the 6BE6. Compactrons in the audio/agc/S-
meter/BFO/product detector circuits to reduce bottle count (and just because 
nobody uses compactrons), an extra stage of front end filtering to make it a 
little more crunch-proof, maybe build it single-band and add a crystal-
controlled converter for all the others...

Pretty soon it doesn't look much like an HBR-anything! On the other hand, an 
HBR-13c is simply elegant in it's design... 

I have IF transformers... pairs of 50kc and 175kc and 3- 85kc command-set 
IF's. one 50 kc BFO, a few 1400-1600kc cans and I think I can come up with 
a power transformer or two (or 3) that can be pressed into service.

I even have a few coil forms, but I'll have to find mates for them for the other 
bands. Tubes and sockets I have lots. Several tuning caps to choose from.

I understand that you like your HBR-16, but if you were to build a tube-type 
reciever right now, is it what you would build?

Marvin
KA7TPH