Hammarlund For Newbie?
 

I recently discovered boatanchors and am dying to get my hands on one of
these behemoths. That said, I am not educated electrically. What model is
fairly easy to restore with good parts availability? I am most interested
in Hammarlund HQ series and Hallicrafter SX28. The SR600 looks great but
seems a bit complex. The others seem to be mostly a matter of replacing
caps and wire. Thanks for the input.
Phil C.

Diane wrote:
I recently discovered boatanchors and am dying to get my hands on one of
these behemoths. That said, I am not educated electrically. What model is
fairly easy to restore with good parts availability? I am most interested
in Hammarlund HQ series and Hallicrafter SX28. The SR600 looks great but
seems a bit complex. The others seem to be mostly a matter of replacing
caps and wire. Thanks for the input.
Phil C.


For ease of restoration and parts availability, get one of the better
Heathkit receivers. The manuals will walk you through everything and
help you easily identify parts. (Many caps and resistors darken and make
it hard to read values.)

My favorite big receiver, though, is the HQ-110C (the "C" is the model
with the clock). This was my novice receiver back 40 years ago.

Good luck on your project!

Wayne, KEØBZ

Diane wrote:
I recently discovered boatanchors and am dying to get my hands on one of
these behemoths. That said, I am not educated electrically. What model is
fairly easy to restore with good parts availability? I am most interested
in Hammarlund HQ series and Hallicrafter SX28. The SR600 looks great but
seems a bit complex. The others seem to be mostly a matter of replacing
caps and wire. Thanks for the input.
Phil C.


For ease of restoration and parts availability, get one of the better
Heathkit receivers. The manuals will walk you through everything and
help you easily identify parts. (Many caps and resistors darken and make
it hard to read values.)

My favorite big receiver, though, is the HQ-110C (the "C" is the model
with the clock). This was my novice receiver back 40 years ago.

Good luck on your project!

Wayne, KEØBZ

Phil,
Good question. First, let me say that the SX-28, although entirely
collectable and one of my absolute favorites, is a certifyable bear to
re-cap, especially the straight SX-28. Given that you're a professed
neophyte, you might want to hold off on that one unless it already been
accomplished and is running OK. The Hammarlund HQ-140 and the 150 are
excellent, yet fairly simple, receivers, very easy to work with and on,
and are quite affordable. All parts are accessible and readily
available, if necessary. The more modern HQ-145 and HQ-160 are also very
fine. The SP-600 with disc caps is fine; the one with "black-beauties"
requires (albeit at worst) the changeout of over 50 caps, some well
hidden and requiring some disassembly of the receiver. Again, I'd
recommend either the Hammarlund HQ-140 or the 150 as a starter.
Regarding Heath and other kits.. At the risk of offending some folks, I
don't know of a decent general coverage kit receiver I'd care to own. I
do have my original Heath AR-2 but its a poor receiver. The other
crapshoot is who built it to begin with. Any kit, Heath or others, if
built by a newby using their uncle's 300 watt American Beauty soldering
log will (or may be) a disaster. You really need to have a look inside
ANY kit unit to see the quality of construction. But.... this is my take
on "several" years of doing all this. Make your own decision....
Regards Jeep/K3HVG

Phil,
Good question. First, let me say that the SX-28, although entirely
collectable and one of my absolute favorites, is a certifyable bear to
re-cap, especially the straight SX-28. Given that you're a professed
neophyte, you might want to hold off on that one unless it already been
accomplished and is running OK. The Hammarlund HQ-140 and the 150 are
excellent, yet fairly simple, receivers, very easy to work with and on,
and are quite affordable. All parts are accessible and readily
available, if necessary. The more modern HQ-145 and HQ-160 are also very
fine. The SP-600 with disc caps is fine; the one with "black-beauties"
requires (albeit at worst) the changeout of over 50 caps, some well
hidden and requiring some disassembly of the receiver. Again, I'd
recommend either the Hammarlund HQ-140 or the 150 as a starter.
Regarding Heath and other kits.. At the risk of offending some folks, I
don't know of a decent general coverage kit receiver I'd care to own. I
do have my original Heath AR-2 but its a poor receiver. The other
crapshoot is who built it to begin with. Any kit, Heath or others, if
built by a newby using their uncle's 300 watt American Beauty soldering
log will (or may be) a disaster. You really need to have a look inside
ANY kit unit to see the quality of construction. But.... this is my take
on "several" years of doing all this. Make your own decision....
Regards Jeep/K3HVG

Bite the bullet and get an HQ 180, you will never regret it. It is a great rcvr
and worth buying even at eBay prices.

Bite the bullet and get an HQ 180, you will never regret it. It is a great rcvr
and worth buying even at eBay prices.

In article ,
(BOEING377) writes:

Bite the bullet and get an HQ 180, you will never regret it. It is a great
rcvr and worth buying even at eBay prices.

No argument there. My widow will give him a good price on my HQ-180 someday
:-)

But it's going to run him $300 and up, and if any major alignment work is
needed, it can get pretty tricky. I think he wanted something cheap and
simple, though we'd all like to see him graduate to a 180 later on. In its
favor, the 180 is recent enough to use ceramic caps, not wax paper leakers.

For practical usage, the 180 beats the SP-600, and is easier to pick up.
73, Mike K.


Oscar loves trash, but hates Spam! Delete him to reply to me.

In article ,
(BOEING377) writes:

Bite the bullet and get an HQ 180, you will never regret it. It is a great
rcvr and worth buying even at eBay prices.

No argument there. My widow will give him a good price on my HQ-180 someday
:-)

But it's going to run him $300 and up, and if any major alignment work is
needed, it can get pretty tricky. I think he wanted something cheap and
simple, though we'd all like to see him graduate to a 180 later on. In its
favor, the 180 is recent enough to use ceramic caps, not wax paper leakers.

For practical usage, the 180 beats the SP-600, and is easier to pick up.
73, Mike K.


Oscar loves trash, but hates Spam! Delete him to reply to me.

It's not that I want cheap but simple is good. The HQ180 by all accounts is
great but I like the looks of the older 140 and 150 better. If I really get
into this I will buy other models in future. The boatanchor crew sure is
helpful. Thanks all.
"Mike Knudsen" wrote in message
...
In article ,

(BOEING377) writes:

Bite the bullet and get an HQ 180, you will never regret it. It is a great
rcvr and worth buying even at eBay prices.

No argument there. My widow will give him a good price on my HQ-180
someday
:-)

But it's going to run him $300 and up, and if any major alignment work is
needed, it can get pretty tricky. I think he wanted something cheap and
simple, though we'd all like to see him graduate to a 180 later on. In
its
favor, the 180 is recent enough to use ceramic caps, not wax paper
leakers.

For practical usage, the 180 beats the SP-600, and is easier to pick up.
73, Mike K.


Oscar loves trash, but hates Spam! Delete him to reply to me.

It's not that I want cheap but simple is good. The HQ180 by all accounts is
great but I like the looks of the older 140 and 150 better. If I really get
into this I will buy other models in future. The boatanchor crew sure is
helpful. Thanks all.
"Mike Knudsen" wrote in message
...
In article ,

(BOEING377) writes:

Bite the bullet and get an HQ 180, you will never regret it. It is a great
rcvr and worth buying even at eBay prices.

No argument there. My widow will give him a good price on my HQ-180
someday
:-)

But it's going to run him $300 and up, and if any major alignment work is
needed, it can get pretty tricky. I think he wanted something cheap and
simple, though we'd all like to see him graduate to a 180 later on. In
its
favor, the 180 is recent enough to use ceramic caps, not wax paper
leakers.

For practical usage, the 180 beats the SP-600, and is easier to pick up.
73, Mike K.


Oscar loves trash, but hates Spam! Delete him to reply to me.

In article , "Diane"
writes:

It's not that I want cheap but simple is good. The HQ180 by all accounts is
great but I like the looks of the older 140 and 150 better. If I really get
into this I will buy other models in future.

Good enough. I'd say even my 160 looks a little nicer than the 180. For looks
(and plenty other reasons), you might want to make your next one an SP-600, or
even an earlier Super Pro.

Then there's a late model (I forget which) whose S meter is twice as big as
necessary -- see how you like it.

Though I think the best and meanest looking Hammer is the HQ-120, made just
before WW-II. But good luck finding one in original shape, not to mention the
original knobs. I've seen a couple, but not original.
73, Mike K.

Oscar loves trash, but hates Spam! Delete him to reply to me.

In article , "Diane"
writes:

It's not that I want cheap but simple is good. The HQ180 by all accounts is
great but I like the looks of the older 140 and 150 better. If I really get
into this I will buy other models in future.

Good enough. I'd say even my 160 looks a little nicer than the 180. For looks
(and plenty other reasons), you might want to make your next one an SP-600, or
even an earlier Super Pro.

Then there's a late model (I forget which) whose S meter is twice as big as
necessary -- see how you like it.

Though I think the best and meanest looking Hammer is the HQ-120, made just
before WW-II. But good luck finding one in original shape, not to mention the
original knobs. I've seen a couple, but not original.
73, Mike K.

Oscar loves trash, but hates Spam! Delete him to reply to me.

I think my Hammarlund PRO-310 is the coolest radio to look at. It is my
dream receiver. If I had a choice of one radio on my desk, it would be
that. Other receivers perform better, but it is one cool looking radio.

Problem is I have never decided on a really cool AM transmitter to go with
it. So much good equipment, but I need one that makes my heart beat faster.
Sure Rangers sound great and Globe Kings are loud - but nothing matches the
PRO-310.

But, the search goes on.

Colin K7FM


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I think my Hammarlund PRO-310 is the coolest radio to look at. It is my
dream receiver. If I had a choice of one radio on my desk, it would be
that. Other receivers perform better, but it is one cool looking radio.

Problem is I have never decided on a really cool AM transmitter to go with
it. So much good equipment, but I need one that makes my heart beat faster.
Sure Rangers sound great and Globe Kings are loud - but nothing matches the
PRO-310.

But, the search goes on.

Colin K7FM


---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.783 / Virus Database: 529 - Release Date: 10/25/04