[HBR] Suggestion for HBR-13 Cabinet

[Kees & Sandy]

Scott,
Funny, but those questions were also asked of Ted. People were always trying to get him to say which was "best". In one of his notes, as I recall, he said the later HBR-11/12 was just as good, maybe better, than the earlier units because they used the latest parts which had gotten better over time (like the IFs) and, of course, smaller. Using the nice Eddystone 898 dial really wasn't his idea, but he had to admit that it was a great dial, but required a sub chassis.  
If I were building one today I would not build an HBR-14 or HBR-16 ....unless "that is what you built in the 60's". Choosing between a HBR-16 and HBR-13C, the HBR-13C wins hands down. If you don't have an Eddystone 898, the Eddystone 598 is much better than any of the National dials, and if you have a National dial, replace the vernier drive with a Ball Brothers drive (as I recommend in my articles).....you will be amazed at the improvement. As you can acertain, I think the human interface (tuning) is one of the more important aspects of a receiver. I still think the tuning drive out of a junk $10 BC-221 is the best ever but they are difficult to implement into a receiver and not "HBR".  
You are right in that the IFs are very difficult to obtain today unless you use ARC-5 85KHz IFs which are relatively plentiful at swapmeets and very good quality. You can also add a complete digital tuning system like the "Si570 Controller", but that is definitely not "HBR" ....but they sure are accurate and stable. Use it for frequency tuning and make the other 2 capacitors (mixer and RF) a preselector tuning function. I know, .............HBR lightning will soon strike. 
Good luck on your project.
73 Kees K5BCQ

---------- Original Message ----------
From: whitebear1122 at comcast.net
To: Kees & Sandy <windy10605 at juno.com>
Subject: Re: [HBR] Suggestion for HBR-13 Cabinet
Date: Thu, 3 Mar 2011 18:39:39 +0000 (UTC)


Hey Kees, Thanks for your reply.  Sure, let me know what sizes those are.  Since I have you one the line, I'd like to ask the question of the century that you hear all the time.   
 
What HBR do you in your opinion think is the best one?  Or are they all fine?  
 
I'm trying to decide whether to build an HBR-16 or an HBR-13C.  Then there is the 11's and 12's and 14's that I don't have any feel about either.  
 
I'd want to build one that is great for cw and can become my main cw receiver.    Any opinions?
 
I currently own two HBR's, an HBR16 and an HBR13C.  The 16 works pretty good and the 13C works really well.   I want to build my own HBR though, not just own someone elses.  I have a couple of options.  One is to take one of the receivers down to parts, replace the 50 yr old caps and resistors, and rebuild it in the existing chassis/cabinet.  I don't necessarily think it will feel like my hb.  Another option is to strip one down for parts, punch my own new chassis and cabinet, then that one is clearly my hb build.  And the last option is to find all new parts and just sell the two HBR's.
 
I have the 3 section variable capacitor, given to my by a friend who said 'build one'.  I think the IF transformers and BFO are going to be the most difficult to find.  All the rest of the parts are still easily available.  
 
73, Scott WA9WFA