In article 305c471c-835e-4a0c-8d05-671be3e7ae07
@q16g2000yqq.googlegroups.com, says...
Hello,
How do the old tube type receivers such as the
Hammarlund ,Hallicrafter etc compare to the modern solid state
receivers in performance?
I am curious about the longevity of the tube radios on the market.
Thank you,
Mike McManus


Audio wise, many of the old radios are much better, but in most other
ways, especially stability, the radios from the last 30 years are
totally superior. Some of them have almost zero drift, like a few hertz
over hours.

I had an Hammarlund HQ-180 and it was a great radio. I had it for about
a year, and sold it at a nice profit. It was totally reliable for the
time I had it, and since then, the new owner reports in 10 years, it's
needed a couple tubes, that's it. Cost? about 10 bucks.

I've had an cheapie Hammarlund HQ-100 for about 6 years, with all kinds
of mods. It's really good on AM, and SSB is very good, since it has an
added product detector, but you can't just walk away and let it sit, as
it drifts around to the point it's annoying to listen to for long
periods without constant tweaking of the tuning knob. All I've had to do
to it since I bought it was to change two tubes that were getting weak,

I got it for $58 on Ebay, and I consider it one of the best bargains
I've ever had, only beaten by the vacuum desoldering station I got a
couple years ago for $24 shipped.

I've had a couple others, but they needed things from caps to tubes, to
a transformer (Worked for almost a month before it cooked itself), and
one needed almost everything in it replaced. A friend bought it for the
chassis, it was in great shape, and he transplanted the guts from his
radio into it, and then slowly fixed the guts from the original radio.
--

BDK..
Leader of the nonexistent paid shills.
Non Jew Jew Club founding member.
Former number one Kook Magnet, title passed to Iarnrod.