[HBR] HBR Update ...Bill McKay's (W7QBR)

Thu Apr 2 19:57:56 EDT 2009

Beautiful is all I can say!
Bill W3KOC

On 4/2/09, Peter Bertini <radioconnection at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Kool!!!  I always wondered what happened to McKay's HBR-16; it has to the
> most recognized HBRs out there!
> It is comforting to know it still exists and is still in good condition;
> and
> owned by someone who appreciates the
> history behind that set.
>
> pete k1zjh
>
> On Thu, Apr 2, 2009 at 5:32 PM, Kees & Sandy <windy10605 at juno.com> wrote:
>
> > Every once in a while I receive some really great HBR email from someone
> > who came across the website. I just received this note from Tom Rousseau
> and
> > thought I would share it with the group. Just goes to show more of the
> > history of these units and how they were appreciated. I often wondered
> where
> > a unit like Bill McKay's ended up. I'll post the pictures to the website
> > later.
> > 73 Kees K5BCQ
> >
> > --------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Hi Kees,<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
> > "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
> > I was recently surfing the internet when I came across my photo on your
> > website.  So I thought I’d send you a note to let you know that I am
> still
> > alive and well.  I am the HBR-16 featured on the opening page on your
> very
> > fine HBR website.  I was very lovingly built by Bill McKay, W7QBR, in the
> > early sixties.
> >
> > The attached photos show my current status.  A little older looking and a
> > bit more worn, but still not bad for being nearly fifty years old.  I am
> > still all here, with all my coils, storage drawer, and even the
> three-ring
> > notebook with Bill’s design/construction notes.  I attended Washington
> State
> > University with Bill while he was studying EE in Pullman.  I even
> operated
> > CW Sweepstakes one cold November with Bill and Wes, W7ZOI, from Bill’s
> > college room.  I enjoyed the active on-the-air life, and the considerable
> > attention that Bill always seemed to find time to give me.  He liked to
> use
> > me on the air, but I think he more enjoyed tinkering with my insides,
> > improving my performance.  He was not happy with my excessive birdies,
> and
> > was trying to reduce them.  The most notable modification was when he
> > changed my product detector from a 6BE6 to a 7360.  I think that he was
> > trying to get lower distortion.
> >
> > Eventually, I think that he tired of me.  He sold me to a college mate,
> > Linley Gumm, K7HFD.  He needed the money to fund his next HBR.  I guess
> Bill
> > did, indeed, make a couple of more HBRs, but I never had the chance to
> meet
> > them and do a side-by-side operation with them.  Linley took good care of
> > me, but he mostly kept me stored in a safe, dark place in his garage,
> > together with my coils and design notes.  Linley was too busy with his
> > career and family to give me much attention.  Linley was one of
> Tektronix’
> > very top design engineers, leading the design of many forward looking
> > spectrum analyzers.
> >
> > By the early nineties, Linley realized that he probably wasn’t going to
> use
> > me, and he wanted the space in his garage.  So he gave me to a Tek work
> > associate of his, Tom Rousseau, K7PJT.  I have been living at Tom’s ever
> > since.  At first, Tom carefully brought me up with a Variac, then we
> toured
> > some of the bands together.  It really felt good to have that warm glow
> > back, and the sensuous feeling of changing coils as we cruised the
> different
> > bands.  And wow, to have those microvolts entering my antenna terminals
> and
> > flowing though my vacuum circuits was an incredible feeling that I had
> long
> > ago forgotten!  Tom cleaned my switch contacts and potentiometers, almost
> > with the same love that Bill used to afford me.  He took notes of things
> > that he wanted to do to return me to original operating condition.  He
> > noticed my 7360, and made a note to return it to Ted’s original
> design;  but
> > later he decided to leave it alone when he found out that it was an
> > authentic W7QBR mod.
> >
> > I am hopeful that I will again have a functional life at Tom’s QTH,
> > operating alongside one of his vintage homebrew transmitters.  However,
> > after our few weeks together, he disconnected me and put me on a shelf
> with
> > many other radios, some of which are also homebrew, but many are
> > Hallicrafters, Nationals and Hammarlunds.  I like the companionship
> provided
> > by my commercial friends, but feel just a little apart from them,
> > nonetheless.  I have been here for more than 15 years, and am still
> looking
> > forward to another opportunity to feel the warmth of my tubes.
> >
> > Anyway, thank you for so nicely displaying my photos and history on your
> > website.  And thank you for allowing me to see all my cousins and the
> great
> > levels of achievement that they aspired to.  Let’s keep in touch.  I’ll
> let
> > you know when I’m on the air again.
> >
> > 73,  W7QBR’s HBR-16
> >
> > BTW:  I want to thank Wes W7ZOI, Linley K7HFD and Tom K7PJT for helping
> me
> > to remember my history and taking good care of me for these many
> years.  It
> > is indeed a frightening thought to consider what might have happened with
> > less understanding hams;  I could have been parted out for my beautiful
> dial
> > or IF transformers!
> > ______________________________________________________________
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