[HBR] Walt's long-slow HBR

[donald haworth]

Walt-Thanks for posting.  Seems like I learn something with each post!
My "long-slow" project is in the 'it works, but what if I did this' -stage.
Really happy with it -overall, but I need to do some work on the RF stage.
Tuning is razor sharp--and I do have a 200:1, backlash-free, flywheel
weighted drive-with all shafts in ball bearings- With four tuned stages,
micrometer adjustment is a must, not to mention the high Q toroids....tuning
is very sharp, indeed, but the results are well worth the effort.  I need to
adjust the turns ratio on the coils that cover 6-15mc. The lower bands have
about a 4:1 ratio, and the gain /stability is just about perfect.  The BCB
operation is above and beyond my wildest expectations.  Now, if I can get
the same results on the hf frequencies-then it might be time to  build the
front panel!
-And what a learning curve this has been/continues to be!  One of the bigger
challenges was a raspy noise at about 780.  For a long time I thought it was
from some QRN generator in the house or ,maybe the guy next door.....did the
walk around with the transistor radio thing, also turning off the ckt.
breakers one at a time......long story-short the problem was from my HBR
power supply, itself.  The bridge rec. was very noisy....and that noise was
coupled back into the primary of the power transformer and into the 120
house wiring.

-The filter cap and choke got rid of the noise on the B+ to the radio-indeed
it was picking up the hash from the antenna-!  Four .01's across the bridge
fixed the problem....BTW, the power transformer is a large toroid from an
audio amp....500va or so.....just goes to show you how tight the coupling is
on a toroid!
-I never would have thought about 'my radio' being the source of all that
noise!!
Don wb0rai Nashville