[Milsurplus] Need info on BC-221 usage as a VFO

[Bill Cromwell]

Clete said:

de WB2CPN
I never thought the BC-221 was all that stable.
It was OK back then, but one has to keep the
crystal on  frequency through all the ambient
temperature changes.  Why a 6L6 as a VFO
output?  I've seen QRP rigs run less than that.
73  Clete

Hi Clete,

Yeah... there is no crystal oven or anything like that in those old
heterodyne frequency meters. I got mine in the 80s for about five bucks
and I have been using it ever since. We always need to keep the
limitations of our equipment in mind. I don't use mine as a frequency
standard at all. I do use it to transfer a standard, though and for
amateur radio purposes I have found it suitable for that use for several
hours to several weeks. There are a lot of times when a signal that will
hold still for a little while is all that is needed and never mind how
many decimal points (fractions of a cycle per second). I have some
Heathkit signal generators and I think those are almost useless and
rarely even think of them any more. Those wander off frequency way too
far before I can move my hand from the dial on the generator to the
adjustment point on the radio I'm working on. Has anybody successfully
applied a huff n puff to any of those?

I also thought about using mine as a BFO/VFO to drive other gear and I
might yet. I think the BC-221 will stay "on frequency" long enough to
have several qso's and maybe have to tweak it after sundown or next
week. But I notice the heterodyne meters depend on strong harmonics to
have a useful range. That's not something I would dump into a
transmitter or receiver without tuned buffers to clean up the signal.
For only a little more trouble you can build a vfo to go with those
tuned buffers.

Just my own observations and 2 cent opinion.

73,

Bill  KU8H