[Heathkit] The AR-3

[Glen Zook]

The AR-3 was my first "real" receiver.  My parents
bought me a used one from Allied Radio (100 North
Western Avenue, Chicago, Illinois) for Christmas 1957.
 It replaced an old Western Auto broadcast plus
shortwave receiver that I had salvaged.

I replaced it with a Hallicrafters S-107 in the Spring
of 1959 between the time I took my Novice examination
and actually received the license in the mail.  The
S-107 is basically a repackaged S-53A and is a
slightly better receiver than the AR-3.

I got another AR-3 a few years ago to "re-create" my
pre-Novice "shack".  Frankly, although it is better
than the S-38/SW-54 series, it still is a pretty
lousey receiver when compared with those of today. 
However, no one told us how lousey our receivers were
back in the late 1950s and early 1960s (drifty,
insensitive, broad as a barn) so we just made a lot of
QSOs and had a lot of fun.  

Sometimes, when I hear someone complaining about QRM
from an SSB station over 3 KHz away, a CW station over
1 KHz away, etc., I want to require every new amateur
to spend at least 6 months using the "typical" Novice
receiver from the late 1950s (not Collins, etc., but
the real "low end" stuff).  After that they wouldn't
complain one bit about how the "modern" stuff works.

Glen, K9STH

--- "Kenneth G. Gordon" <kgordon at moscow.com> wrote: I
am curious how the other members of this list look
> upon the AR-3?

Glen, K9STH

Web sites

http://home.comcast.net/~k9sth
http://home.comcast.net/~zcomco

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