[Milsurplus] Opinions on comm receivers ?

[Michael Hanz]

Walt is apparently still active in breeding and selectively selling his 
Whippets at his farm near Lexington, VA - https://timbreblue.com/about-us/

- Mike  KC4TOS

On 6/2/2025 1:48 PM, Mike Feher wrote:
>
> Hi Jim – I do not know if Walt is an SK or not. When he got married 
> later in life, he fell off the face of the earth it seems. We were 
> pretty close and I knew him well when I also lived in VA. Another 
> friend did the same thing, haven’t heard from him either since. 73 – Mike
>
> Mike B. Feher, N4FS
>
> 89 Arnold Blvd.
>
> Howell NJ 07731
>
> 908-902-3831
>
> *From:*milsurplus-bounces at mailman.qth.net 
> <milsurplus-bounces at mailman.qth.net> *On Behalf Of *Jim Whartenby via 
> Milsurplus
> *Sent:* Monday, June 2, 2025 1:27 PM
> *To:* milsurplus at mailman.qth.net
> *Subject:* Re: [Milsurplus] Opinions on comm receivers ?
>
> I am of the same opinion as Glenn, they are fine receivers.  I have 
> worked on several of the FRR-23 and SRR-13 general coverage versions.  
> I have perhaps been lucky in that I have never replaced a bad 
> subminiature tube nor found a bad lever arm.  I have found several bad 
> coils in the antenna and RF modules.  It seems that these coils do not 
> tolerate high power RF!
>
> I attended the auction of Dr. James Blackmon, K5VZ (SK) radio holdings 
> back in October, 2012.  It was a fast moving auction with about 450 
> lots.  I bought perhaps a dozen of the FRR / SRR receivers.  Most were 
> in a decent physical state, a few had been through a fire and had 
> smoke or heat damage and other fire related residue.  The examples 
> with the most damage were scrapped and the hardware and modules 
> saved.  It is not obvious but the SRR and FRR receivers although 
> similar, are not identical.  The Antenna and RF modules are completely 
> different.  It appears that all of the other modules are 
> interchangeable but I am not 100% certain about this.
>
> The biggest problem in restoration was replacing the tank coils in the 
> antenna and RF modules.  Instead of rewinding the coils, I just 
> replaced them with similar coils form the second module in the 
> lineup.  I did not find any bad or weak subminiature tubes.  Perhaps 
> they are the most reliable tubes ever mass produced? In all of the 
> KWT-6 and FRR/SRR modules repaired, I have only found one bad 
> subminiature tube.  It was in a KWT-6 TGC module.  It was easy to find 
> since it had an open heater.  It seems that in the KWT-6, the 
> mechanical filters are the biggest problem, not the subminiature tubes.
>
> Walt Hutchens, KJ4KV (SK?) wrote an article back in 1991 on these 
> receives.  His experiences are vastly different then mine.  I feel 
> that the receiver he repaired must have been either dropped or badly 
> damaged by the dreaded previous owner since he even ventured into the 
> solder sealed main tuning capacitor!
>
> Jim
>
>
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-- 
Michael Hanz - KC4TOS
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