[HBR] HBR form factor - "mods"

[LeeCraner at aol.com]

Bill,
 
You've got a challenge on your hands, but it is certainly doable.   Moving 
the power supply to a separate chassis is an obvious first choice.
 
Target the HBR-8 or maybe the HBR-11 circuits.  You'll save quite a  bit of 
real estate, especially with the HBR-8 (three less tubes, one less plug  in 
coil, one less IF xmfr, on less front panel control).  There are also  
smaller versions of the 100 KHz IF cans (Miller 1700 series) that work just fine 
 (compare the size of the IF xfmrs between the HBR-16 and the HBR-8).
 
Consider using a tuning capacitor/dial gear mechanism from an  ARC Command 
set rather than the originally specified Miller capacitor,  National dial.  
These are high quality compact units.  There is  nothing magic about the 
Miller capacitor and any three section capacitor of  about 25 pFd/section will 
work (you'll need to remove plates from a Command  capacitor to get it down 
to the correct capacitance).
 
A caution on placement of the 1st oscillator coil, L3.  This coil must  be 
shielded as stray capacitance from your hand, etc., will change  the 
received frequency greatly. 
 
Your biggest challenge may be finding room on the front panel to  
accommodate all of the gain controls of the HBR designs.  
 
Pick up a copy of Jay's eBook (as previously suggested).  You'll find  it 
invaluable.
 
73 es GL (keep us updated!)
Lee WB6SSW