[Heathkit] WTB: Stand alone HF Receiver

[Ronnie Hull]

I agree 100% about the R4C as I said it's a great rx!!! I wish I had never sold the one I had years ago that I had maxed out. Oh well live and learn!
R

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jul 14, 2017, at 6:04 PM, Rodger Singley <wq9nsc at live.com> wrote:
> 
> Ronnie,
> 
> I agree you need to shop carefully for the R-4C since the ebay ones are usually stripped of their accessories.  It also depends upon your operating habits (modes/dxing/contesting/etc.) but the crystal filters and electronic passband tuning of the R-4C give it a big advantage over the B line receiver for operating in CW or SSB contests, weak signal dxing, etc.  For general AM/CW/SSB operation the R-4B (or earlier R-4 and R-4A) are great receivers.  For most people the standard SSB filter plus the 500 hz CW filter will cover their C line filter needs.  Both of mine have the accessory 1.5 Khz, 500 hz, and 250 hz filters but 90% of my CW operating is done with the 500 hz filter.  I only have the noise blanker in one of mine but I never use it.  I haven’t added the AM filter to either of mine and rarely use the C line for AM but the “roofing” filter in the first IF provides decent AM selectivity and a resistor placed across the open accessory terminals allows AM operation without the accessory filter.
> 
> I also have the later R-7A receiver but I slightly prefer the operation of the R-4C and of course the R-7A is a later 70s/early 80s era receiver.  The Kenwood R-820 receiver of that era is also another nice receiver but tends to be expensive when found.
> 
> I bought my first C line in 1983.  I had gone to the local radio store in Biloxi, MS to place an order for a Yaesu FT-980 which was the first new ham radio I purchased.  When I went in to place the order Dave had just taken a pristine loaded C line in on trade and I bought it (R-4C with all filters/NB/extra crystals, T-4XC, MS-4/AC4, and mic) for $350.  I should have just stopped with that instead of ordering the Yaesu because the FT-980 looked good and had a lot of features but it had a very noisy receiver and a poorly designed internal power supply.   The FT-980 shared the same heat sink assembly with the FT-One but instead of the “new fangled” switching supply of the FT-One the FT-980 had a traditional analog supply and the heat sink and fan were far too small.  Even in receive only mode the noisy supply fan would cut on after about 5 to 10 minutes and run continuously.  I later rewired it to use an external Astron supply to supply the 12 volt (and through it 5 volt) power needs so all the internal supply had to cope with was the 24 volt finals and it did OK with that.  Fast forward 10 years and I had ordered a new FT-1000MP with a full set of Inrad filters and my first major use of it was a friend and I operated in a 160 meter CW contest.  I had built a homebrew triple 4CX800 amp to conservatively run the legal limit in any mode and was using a Hy Gain Hy tower modified as a full power inverted L on 160.  We worked quite a few South American and Caribbean stations but several hours in nothing from Europe.  I then checked my email and found several EU amateurs questioning/complaining about me not answering their calls.  I went back into the shack and added the R-4C with Autek QF1A as an external receiver to the FT-1000MP and started hearing EU CW signals that were inaudible on the Yaesu.  That solidified my respect for the performance of the R-4C.
> 
> Rodger WQ9E
> 
> Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for Windows 10
> 
> From: w5sum at comcast.net<mailto:w5sum at comcast.net>
> Sent: Friday, July 14, 2017 5:43 PM
> To: Howie WA3MCK<mailto:wa3mck at gmail.com>; Heathkit<mailto:heathkit at mailman.qth.net>
> Subject: Re: [Heathkit] WTB: Stand alone HF Receiver
> 
> Unless you have unlimited funds I personally would steer away from the R4C.
> They are GREAT rx's, BUT.. you have to buy filters, you have to buy the NB,
> and have to buy this and you have to buy that.  Buy yourself a Drake R4B and
> be done with it. It comes with all the stuff that drake did NOT put in the
> R4C, so they could sell accessories and boost their sales.  Even a 2B would
> be a better choice in my opinion.
> 
> NOW..  IF you can find a R4C that someone will sell REASONABLE that has all
> the accessories in it, and you can afford it, buy it.. as I said, they are
> great rx's. Most people nowadays that sell them, take all the accessories
> out to sell seperateley so THEY can boost their sales profits LOL
> 
> Ronnie W5SUM
> 
> 
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