starman wrote:
Tom Holden wrote:

Sherwood Engineering rates the Drake R-4C as one of the
best receivers of all time. I have a R-4B.

Have you ever used the FS4 synthesizer with your R-4B? I
saw some plans for building a homebrew version of the FS4
but I can't find the website anymore.

Found these references to articles in Ham Radio - don't know if it's
homebrew or a review of the FS-4:
Aug-72 6 Frequency Synthesizer for the Drake R-4 W6NBI
Sep-74 74 Frequency Synthesizer for the Drake R-4 (mod. letter) NA

And this link to a digital read-out - the RAC Digital Dial:
http://www.wb4hfn.com/DrakeArticles/...talDial-01.htm still
available from http://www.radioadv.com/ham_radio_eq.../FreqMC/A2.htm

And a great collection farther up the tree at:
http://www.wb4hfn.com/DrakeHomePage.htm

A competing version of the RAC Digital Dial:
http://www.aade.com/dfd1.htm

Photo, description & schematic of the FS-4:
http://www.dproducts.be/drake_Museum/fs-4.htm
I see this is a substitute for the band-setting crystals so that you can
tune in 500kHz bands from 1.5MHz to 30 MHz instead of being rock-bound to
the ham bands plus a few others. It should be fairly easy to make something
that outputs at 500kHz steps from 12.6MHz to 40.6MHz with good phase noise.
But somebody else better design it!

Tom