[HBR] What would W6TC do?

Sun Jan 9 23:11:12 EST 2011

I have the W6HHT disk and did not know of the second disk
is the info readily shareable or should I search for it???
Thing I will enjoy the second one as well as I am the first : )
Thanks for bringing it to our attention!
73
Bill

On Jan 9, 2011, at 7:12 PM, Gary Wells wrote:

> I have been reading the recent traffic on Ted's HBR designs with  
> great interest.
> Bear with me for this lengthy response. I too have become very  
> interested in
> Ted's experiences as I am beginning work on an HBR-13C. I have been  
> a ham since
> 1968 and now I have an opportunity to dig back into an era I really  
> enjoyed and
> try to learn (again) what that period of time was like in home  
> building. I know
> the topic is what Ted would do with more modern technology at his  
> disposal. I
> would have to believe that he would certainly continue with his  
> "work in
> process" as technology changed. Ted's energies with the HBR covered  
> a span from
> 1956 to 1969 until his health failed him in 1971 unfortunately.
>
> I acquired two CD's from two gentlemen that have been very  
> instrumental in
> documenting the life and times of the HBR. The first was from Kees,  
> K5BCQ, "HBR
> Receiver and More" and the second from Jay, W6HHT, "Recollections  
> of a Radio
> Receiver." For those of you that don't have these CD's and are  
> interested in
> what transpired over those years I strongly suggest ordering them  
> from these
> guys. They were $10 each and worth every penny and then some. Kees'  
> CD focuses
> on content that is on the HBR website, notes, pictures, schematics  
> and lots of
> great data.
>
>
> Jay's CD is also an absolute "must read" if you want to see and  
> "feel" what
> transpired during that period of Ted's involvement. It includes  
> over 200 pages
> of documentation along with the historical time-line of the HBR,  
> comparisons
> model by model, lots of info on coils, stability, section by section
> functionality and reference documentation as well as lots of other  
> readings.
>
> What I found incredibly interesting was that Jay was part of Ted's  
> inner circle
> along with another gentleman, Alex Stewart, K4FX (SK) and many of  
> the letters
> that went back and forth regarding everyone's experience and ideas  
> were put on
> paper, hand written as well as typed. Jay has included all of this  
> actual
> correspondence in his Ebook. I hope the guys that bought this CD  
> agree.
>
> Now getting back to the question at hand. Once you read the story  
> of Ted, Alex
> and Jay, you will feel as I do, that Ted probably wouldn't have  
> messed much with
> the coils. That was an area that was dear and near to his heart as  
> the whole
> premise was stability and sensitivity. He abhorred the thought of any
> band-switch as that would degrade performance. The letters he wrote  
> state that
> 20 over 9. Just the fact of using an Eddystone 898 in the middle of  
> the chassis
> versus a National dial on the left side was enough to frustrate him as
> performance was impacted by this unassumingly simple modification.
>
>
> He had switched from the tickler coil approach on the front end to  
> a Hartley in
> later years and he was beginning to appreciate other improvements  
> with T notch
> and audio filters from Alex and Jay as time allowed before his  
> health forced him
> to slow down. Even power supply designs were simplified with diodes  
> over a
> rectifier tube to eliminate additional heat that would impact his  
> stability
> challenges. Up to that point it looked like Ted lived and breathed  
> every waking
> moment on his design. Many of these improvements show up in later  
> designs. I do
> think that he would have adapted crystal filters and other  
> technology as it
> became more available and cost effective for "TD&K" (Ted always  
> referred to his
> design being able to be built by any Tom, Dick and Harry).
>
> To many of you perhaps this has been babble and old news but for me  
> it has been
> a very enjoyable read and learning experience mostly because I had  
> a chance to
> read many of Ted's intensely passionate letters on a variety of HBR  
> subjects and
> progressions which really do give the feel of what was going thru  
> his mind. I
> look forward to others' feedback going forward.
>
> Gary
> WB9AYD
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