I was over on the ALPB website.
I just saw the radio shack and
lab of Neil, 8Z.
Oh man. So great. I don't know
how I missed it.
Neil, if you are out there - I recognize
the lower AM DX receiver - but I can't
quite identify the one is that is higher
up on the shelf.
I'm sure a bunch of us would like to know.
Bruce, DOGRADIO
Howdy Bruce,
Glad you liked the pic of the "shack" which is not a typical radio studio. The bottom AM monitor radio is a BC-1004-C and the one on the shelf is a Yaesu FRG-100 which provides coverage from 50 kHz to 30 MHz. This is connected to the outdoor antenna which is a dipole strung from tree to tree in the woods behind the house.
The BC-1004-C is connected to an indoor loop antenna and provides a "hi fi" monitor for my transmitter signal. The audio section of the receiver is considered by many to be one of the best available and it does sound really great with smooth bass and clean highs. I have replace almost all of the caps and many of the resistors in this 70 year old radio. The resistors were greatly (some as much as 300%) out of tolerance yet the receiver continued to work but there was a constant frying noise from the speaker. This is gone now and all the tubes checked good so it is reliable again. Before the recap, the unit would occasionally stop working and smoke would appear from the IF cans as the caps shorted and took out resistors. This is now fixed for another 70 years I hope.
Neil
Neil: What HQ series is the receiver?
I think it's the military version of the
Hammarlund Super Pro, which came either
before or near the beginning of the Hammarlund HQ
series. Neil can confiim this.
I knew a guy who was going to sell
every piece of radio gear he owned
so he could buy one of these radios.
That was 35 years ago. I don't know if
he went through with the deal.
I have an HQ-140X - it's great!
Bruce, DOGRADIO
John,
The BC-1004-C is the militarized version of the Hammarlund SP-200X series of receivers. In 1939 Hammarlund produced the HQ-120X model which was a "stripped down" SP receiver and thereby cut the cost by two thirds. The BC receivers are the military versions of the SP series. The HQ was priced at $129 and the BC-1004 was priced at $565 in the early forties. There is a big difference between the HQ series and the BC series in terms of appearance and circuitry so they are not the same radios. I would call them cousins perhaps.
Neil
My first receiver I used as a Novice ham operator was a Hammarlund HQ-129X. Great radio but it did drift a little with line voltage changes. Needed a regulator on the local oscillator filament.
Ah but alas, a young married buck raising kids I needed a few bucks to get us through and away it went.
I have a friend who has an
HQ-120X. Actually, I'm not sure
about the "X" in the model number...
Anyway, he rebuilt it in the 1970s or 80s,
and he says it's his favorite receiver, even
though he has other radios to listen to.
My HQ-140X is the second one for me.
I had the first one from about 1974 until
the early 1980s. I lent it out to a friend -
we had some kind of misunderstanding, and it
never came back to me. That's OK, he was
a really nice guy and it really was a misunderstanding -
so no problem there. (I don't know where the
radio eventually went.) I received the second
HQ-140X around the year 2000. I truly love it.
It is a little bit different from the earlier one -
in only one way. The first one had a square
illumunated S meter. It was orange. (I
had never seen an orange S meer on
any Hammarlund HQ radio.) The HQ-140X
I own now has a round unlit S meter. That's
the only difference between the two radios.
I also have an HQ-100, whiich is in horrible
condition. I don't even remember where it
came from.
The subject of resistors changing value over
time is very interesting. In your case, Neil,
I am amazed that the radio still worked at
all - but I have heard other stories about
this. (And what an acomplishment to replace
all of those caps and resistors.) It's
really something -all those parts values
change over time and the radio
still operates. I heard about some guy who
stripped a Heathkit DX-20 or DX-40 transmitter
and rebuilt the whole thing with new parts. It works great -
and has more output wattage than it ever did.
Ah, wonderful stuff - it really is.
Bruce, DOGRADIO
Thanks Neil and et al. I also "had" a 140X and wish I still had it. Mine had a round S-meter and the receiver worked great. I was my first "real" shortwave radio and I used it as a Novice and later as a General. Shortwave sounds best with tubes.