[HBR] Semi Experienced Builder

[William Nichelson]

Hi all,
It's good to see all of the responses to help a new builder.  In light of
that, I should add a little tip of my own.
When building something from scratch and deviating from the original plans,
don't be surprised if the coil data does not work out to your satisfaction.
When I built the HBR16 on a large chassis the final coils were no where near
the specs.  Since I had little knowledge, no experience and zero
instrumentation, I wound many coils before things worked properly.  However,
I wouldn't trade the experience for all the tea in China.
Good luck!
Bill W3KOC



On 4/23/10, Edward Swynar <gswynar at durham.net> wrote:
>
> Hi Guys,
>
> A most interesting thread...!
>
> >From my personal perspective---BEFORE tackling something as complex as an
> HBR--- build something smaller & simpler first, like the classic "A Mate
> For
> The Mighty Midget" superhet receiver which was featured in the April 1966
> issue of QST, & the 1969 ARRL Handbook...
>
> I made the mistake back in '82 of tackling the construction of a multi-tube
> receiver that was featured in a '70s issue of QST---a specialty 75-meter DX
> affair, written-up & designed by Doug Blakeslee. I'd never built an actual
> receiver per se before, & I made a LOT of mistakes & became more than
> frustrated, finally abandoning the project altogether...
>
> Then some 10 years later, I undertook "The Mate" project, & even
> embellished
> the design with my own personal extras---and guess what? It worked like a
> charm! Inspired, I've since built a 4-tube regen, & my ultimate 1929-style
> 12-tube superheterodyne...
>
> I wish I'd tried building "The Mate" first---but live & learn...
>
> Hopefully you'll learn from my mistake here, & history won't repeat itself
> at your end...! In as much as an HBR can, indeed, be built by a first-time
> newbie, I personally would advise against it.
>
> Better you should learn how to drive with a manual transmission on an old
> Toyota, rather than a brand new Z-28 Camaro! It's a whole lot cheaper, and
> you'll appreciate the Chevy just that much more once you're ready to
> graduate into its driver's seat...!
>
> ~73~ de Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ
>
>
> *************************************
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "C Eus" <catman351 at gmail.com>
> To: <hbr at mailman.qth.net>; <ppkj4 at yahoo.com>
> Sent: Friday, April 23, 2010 12:19 PM
> Subject: [HBR] Semi Experienced Builder
>
>
> > Tom!
> > Nice to meet a fellow semi-experienced builder too! I have built gobs and
> > gobs of TRANSMITTING equipment but receivers? My only experience was
> > building (from scratch) crystal diode radios and a single tube 6J5 regen
> rx
> > using metal hacked out from an old biscuit in back in the
> 1970s.  Building
> > an HBR will be a challenge for me so to start with, I'm going to build
> and
> > HBR-8.  The parts count is reasonble enough that instead of building a 4
> > tube 2 band superhet like I originally intented, I decided to use this
> > exercise to build an HBR in the same footprint.  If I wanted to later, I
> can
> > build a 2nd HBR on a more elaborate scale (which is my intent).  I was
> > reading some of Ted Crosby's (W6TC, SK) notes and it seems he wanted as
> many
> > hams to a taste of building an HBR using deminimus parts counts and an
> > abbreviated schematic compared to its more advance bretheren. Hence, the
> > HBR-8.  From there, it was supposed to be expandable to something more
> > elaborate so one wouldn't be overwhelmed in trying to build an HBR-16 or
> the
> > like.  Good luck in your endeavor to build this rig. I know I will and I
> > plan to use it accordingly. Cal, N6KYR/4.
> >
> >
> > Subject: [HBR] Semi Experienced Builder
> > To: hbr at mailman.qth.net
> > Message-ID: <459699.54811.qm at web44905.mail.sp1.yahoo.com>
> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
> >
> > To All
> > I am a semi experienced builder. Built somethings using tubes and some
> using
> > solid state. In anyone's opinion, what HBR would be the best for me to
> > build? I have lots of tubes and some parts. I'm a product of the 60"s and
> I
> > enjoy the older stuff more then the new. Kind of anxious to get started
> just
> > want to know the best to to go. I understand some of these HBR's are
> spread
> > out on a more open chassis. That's what I need. Don't see as well as I
> used
> > to and fingers don't move as well either.
> > Thanks for your help
> > Tom N8CHR
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