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A good vacum tube receiver?
QUESTION: I'm wondering what would be a good performing boat anchor receiver for
SWL(other than the R-390) that's also able to hear SSB?
The only vacum tube receiver I ever owned was a Hammurland HQ-110, and I loved it
but it needed a lot of work so I got rid of it.
Would like to hear comments from some of you more experienced folks out
there
ANSWER: I'm assuming that you are not looking for perfection, so virtually any of
the old receivers that had a Beat Frequency Oscillator (BFO) for copying CW
will do a creditable job of copying SSB. It just takes getting used to
tunning both the VFO and BFO when you change from one side band to the
other.
I used an old Hallicrafters S40B with a Heathkit Q multiplier and was able
to copy SSB.
The Hammarlund HQ-180( ) is a nice one, although I don't like the audio, at
all. Any of the general coverage HQ-series would do nicely, from the HQ-140,
145, 150, and the 160 (The 170 is ham bands only). Any of the Hallicrafters
will do OK, too.. such as the S-85, SX-99, and the SX-100. One has to watch
the prices, however, especially on Ebay. I would recommend going to a hamfest
so you can see and touch what you're buying (and hopefully get to smoke test
it). There are many many more very good receivers, but all too many are
fetching high prices these days. Look around and bide your time..the right one
will pop up in good time!!
And the HQ-150 has a Q-multiplier that can be used as a remarkable noise
filter for SSB.
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