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Vintage Suggestions?
I'm thinking more and more about the beautiful vintage tube receivers of the
past. I love the purposeful look, the glow of the tubes, and, of course, the performance. So, I'm looking for suggestions on some of the best tube SW receivers that are readily available on E Bay and elsewhere. Specifically, the Collins's, the Hammarlunds, and the Hallicrafters.(Please educate me on the other classic makes) My price limit is $500 give or take. Oh, and I know nothing about poking around the insides of these things so I need one in turnkey condition. Right now, I own an Icom R75 with all the Kiwa mods. Is it possible that some of the old receivers offer similar performance? I'm mainly interested in international broadcasts and to a lesser extent, ham and utility monitoring. So, start recommending. Thanks, and I hope this can be a fun topic. Lenny |
Vintage Suggestions?
Lenny,
7 years ago I got rid of all my newer "state of the art" stuff. You are right on the mark!---the lowly, maligned tube gear is a lot more fun to use. What I didn't know until I seriously started using 35 year old receivers was that performance was JUST AS GOOD as the newer stuff. As I see it, the only thing you lose is the digital readout of frequency and to anyone who ever learned how to use a slide rule in 7th grade, THAT should not be an issue. A few years back, in the IEEE Spectrum Magazine they ran a wonderful article titled, "Tubes Versus Transistors" in which, from an electrical engineering standpoint, clinically compared the two. The result? Tubes provided better audio. Anyway, there are several receivers I have bought and sold over the past 40 years. At one time I have just about owned every general coverage receiver made by Hallicrafters, Hammarlund, Collins, National, RME, newer companies like Drake and some of the kit companies like Heath, Knight and Lafayette (although Hallicrafters did produce kits on some of their products). The GENERAL COVERAGE receivers that I keep going back to and buying again a National NC-183 or NC-183D, Hallicrafters SX-42 and any Collins gear with the model number starting with "51" (51S1, 51J, 51J3). A very close second place is the Hammarlund HQ-180, HQ-180A or HQ-180AC and Hallicrafters SX-100. Obviously these are only my subjective opinions. Good luck! Smokey "Lenny" wrote in message ... I'm thinking more and more about the beautiful vintage tube receivers of the past. I love the purposeful look, the glow of the tubes, and, of course, the performance. So, I'm looking for suggestions on some of the best tube SW receivers that are readily available on E Bay and elsewhere. Specifically, the Collins's, the Hammarlunds, and the Hallicrafters.(Please educate me on the other classic makes) My price limit is $500 give or take. Oh, and I know nothing about poking around the insides of these things so I need one in turnkey condition. Right now, I own an Icom R75 with all the Kiwa mods. Is it possible that some of the old receivers offer similar performance? I'm mainly interested in international broadcasts and to a lesser extent, ham and utility monitoring. So, start recommending. Thanks, and I hope this can be a fun topic. Lenny |
Vintage Suggestions?
P.S.
I have also owned the military R-390/A. While an excellent receiver , I found cranking on the heavy tuning dial (which moves a complex Rube Goldberg mechanical assembly) too cumbersome for serious DXing. It's more of a "sittin'" receiver and not a "tune-in'" receiver. Smokey "Smokey" wrote in message ... Lenny, 7 years ago I got rid of all my newer "state of the art" stuff. You are right on the mark!---the lowly, maligned tube gear is a lot more fun to use. What I didn't know until I seriously started using 35 year old receivers was that performance was JUST AS GOOD as the newer stuff. As I see it, the only thing you lose is the digital readout of frequency and to anyone who ever learned how to use a slide rule in 7th grade, THAT should not be an issue. A few years back, in the IEEE Spectrum Magazine they ran a wonderful article titled, "Tubes Versus Transistors" in which, from an electrical engineering standpoint, clinically compared the two. The result? Tubes provided better audio. Anyway, there are several receivers I have bought and sold over the past 40 years. At one time I have just about owned every general coverage receiver made by Hallicrafters, Hammarlund, Collins, National, RME, newer companies like Drake and some of the kit companies like Heath, Knight and Lafayette (although Hallicrafters did produce kits on some of their products). The GENERAL COVERAGE receivers that I keep going back to and buying again a National NC-183 or NC-183D, Hallicrafters SX-42 and any Collins gear with the model number starting with "51" (51S1, 51J, 51J3). A very close second place is the Hammarlund HQ-180, HQ-180A or HQ-180AC and Hallicrafters SX-100. Obviously these are only my subjective opinions. Good luck! Smokey "Lenny" wrote in message ... I'm thinking more and more about the beautiful vintage tube receivers of the past. I love the purposeful look, the glow of the tubes, and, of course, the performance. So, I'm looking for suggestions on some of the best tube SW receivers that are readily available on E Bay and elsewhere. Specifically, the Collins's, the Hammarlunds, and the Hallicrafters.(Please educate me on the other classic makes) My price limit is $500 give or take. Oh, and I know nothing about poking around the insides of these things so I need one in turnkey condition. Right now, I own an Icom R75 with all the Kiwa mods. Is it possible that some of the old receivers offer similar performance? I'm mainly interested in international broadcasts and to a lesser extent, ham and utility monitoring. So, start recommending. Thanks, and I hope this can be a fun topic. Lenny |
Vintage Suggestions?
"Lenny" wrote in message ... I'm thinking more and more about the beautiful vintage tube receivers of the past. I love the purposeful look, the glow of the tubes, and, of course, the performance. So, I'm looking for suggestions on some of the best tube SW receivers that are readily available on E Bay and elsewhere. Specifically, the Collins's, the Hammarlunds, and the Hallicrafters.(Please educate me on the other classic makes) My price limit is $500 give or take. Oh, and I know nothing about poking around the insides of these things so I need one in turnkey condition. Right now, I own an Icom R75 with all the Kiwa mods. Is it possible that some of the old receivers offer similar performance? I'm mainly interested in international broadcasts and to a lesser extent, ham and utility monitoring. So, start recommending. Thanks, and I hope this can be a fun topic. Lenny Hi Lenny, Put the Drake R-4 line on your list ( R-4/R-4B/R-4C). Five nice advantages of the Drake 4 line over the Hallicrafters and Hammarlund: 1. Calibration/resolution is the same on each band- easy to resolve 1 KHz. On the Hally and Hammarlund, they have decent enough resolution on the 80 (maybe each 5KHz) , but by the time you get to 15 and 10M, it's a guesstimate. 2. The ultimate in passband tuning 3. Multiple crystal filter options 4. An optional NB that actually works. 5. They're small compared to many of the true boatanchors 73, Dale W4OP Downside is you will have to buy xtals for the SW bands you want to listen to |
Vintage Suggestions?
Thanks folks.
Keep em coming. Lenny "Dale Parfitt" wrote in message news:2vTtf.7292$7x.3997@trnddc03... "Lenny" wrote in message ... I'm thinking more and more about the beautiful vintage tube receivers of the past. I love the purposeful look, the glow of the tubes, and, of course, the performance. So, I'm looking for suggestions on some of the best tube SW receivers that are readily available on E Bay and elsewhere. Specifically, the Collins's, the Hammarlunds, and the Hallicrafters.(Please educate me on the other classic makes) My price limit is $500 give or take. Oh, and I know nothing about poking around the insides of these things so I need one in turnkey condition. Right now, I own an Icom R75 with all the Kiwa mods. Is it possible that some of the old receivers offer similar performance? I'm mainly interested in international broadcasts and to a lesser extent, ham and utility monitoring. So, start recommending. Thanks, and I hope this can be a fun topic. Lenny Hi Lenny, Put the Drake R-4 line on your list ( R-4/R-4B/R-4C). Five nice advantages of the Drake 4 line over the Hallicrafters and Hammarlund: 1. Calibration/resolution is the same on each band- easy to resolve 1 KHz. On the Hally and Hammarlund, they have decent enough resolution on the 80 (maybe each 5KHz) , but by the time you get to 15 and 10M, it's a guesstimate. 2. The ultimate in passband tuning 3. Multiple crystal filter options 4. An optional NB that actually works. 5. They're small compared to many of the true boatanchors 73, Dale W4OP Downside is you will have to buy xtals for the SW bands you want to listen to |
Vintage Suggestions?
Dale Parfitt wrote: "Lenny" wrote in message ... I'm thinking more and more about the beautiful vintage tube receivers of the past. I love the purposeful look, the glow of the tubes, and, of course, the performance. So, I'm looking for suggestions on some of the best tube SW receivers that are readily available on E Bay and elsewhere. Specifically, the Collins's, the Hammarlunds, and the Hallicrafters.(Please educate me on the other classic makes) My price limit is $500 give or take. Oh, and I know nothing about poking around the insides of these things so I need one in turnkey condition. Right now, I own an Icom R75 with all the Kiwa mods. Is it possible that some of the old receivers offer similar performance? I'm mainly interested in international broadcasts and to a lesser extent, ham and utility monitoring. So, start recommending. Thanks, and I hope this can be a fun topic. Lenny Hi Lenny, Put the Drake R-4 line on your list ( R-4/R-4B/R-4C). Five nice advantages of the Drake 4 line over the Hallicrafters and Hammarlund: 1. Calibration/resolution is the same on each band- easy to resolve 1 KHz. On the Hally and Hammarlund, they have decent enough resolution on the 80 (maybe each 5KHz) , but by the time you get to 15 and 10M, it's a guesstimate. 2. The ultimate in passband tuning 3. Multiple crystal filter options 4. An optional NB that actually works. 5. They're small compared to many of the true boatanchors 73, Dale W4OP Downside is you will have to buy xtals for the SW bands you want to listen to I really wouldn't recommend the R-4C for SWBC use, the R-4B would be the preferred of the three. And, the R-4 and R-4B DO NOT have a choice in crystal filter options, also, the noise blanker is standard in the R-4 and R4-B. dxAce Michigan USA |
Vintage Suggestions?
Dear Lenny,
This is indeed a "fun" topic and I find all the comments posted thus far to be very interesting and enjoyable to read. Therefore, I hope that you and everyone ese here, will take my comments in the spirit in which they're meant. Back when I was in high school (three weeks after they had invented fire!?!) there were several of us who got involved in shortwave listening. One fellow had a National SW-54 (as I remember), another had a Hammarlund HQ-100, another had a Blaupunkt, another had a Grundig, one particularly wealthy fellow had a Zenith Trans-Oceanic (a tube model), and I, being the "poorest," had an old Philco console. (But I had the best antenna and ground!) Later, after high school, I was able to save up enough money to buy a Lafayette HE-10, a Lafayette HE-11 speaker, and a pair of Clevite Brush BA-200 headphones. Total price was $102.60 (and NO sales tax at the time!). I still have them all and they are still in superb condition - they work as well as they did when new. (I had the receiver last aligned and tested about fifteen years ago. The technician stated at the time that, while he made some adjustments, they were all very minor and the internals were really in very fine shape.) I used that set as my main receiver up until 2000 when I got a Grundig Satellit 800. In 2004 I purchased my AOR AR7030 Plus, which was customized by the factory. I have to tell you that, though I still "trot out" the Lafayette once or twice a year (for old-times' sake) and though I never had a great deal of experience with most of the better tube shortwave sets (I did have an acquaintance later on who owned a Hammarlund HQ-180A which I listened to quite a bit until he moved away), there is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY I would ever go back to those tube sets for daily use. For collection purposes, for impressive "looks," and for "cachet," they can't be beat. But NONE of them can even approach the performance of my AR7030 Plus and that includes sound quality. I run my AOR through my Hafler DH-101 Preamplifier and my Hafler DH-200 Power Amplifier into my Klipschorn speakers and, as the man said, "you ain't heard nothing yet!" Even with my cheap ($29.95) Radio Shack RCA-labeled external speaker, which I use when listening to news or talk programs, the sound is far better and far more intelligible than that of my Lafayette or any other tube radio I have ever heard. I hate to "bust" anybody's bubble, and please note that I have the greatest respect for others' serious opinions which may differ from mine, but it is my firm opinion that today's shortwave receivers are far, far better than anything I could have bought, regardless of price, back in 1958. They're far more reliable too. You younger guys can't remember a time when the radio/tv repairman was like a member of the family. He came to your house more often than your favorite uncle! I often wish that I could have a "time machine" and take one of today's radios back to that young kid who was just starting out in shortwave back in 1958. He'd have been absolutely astounded! But I do agree with those who state that those radios looked better than today's and their tuning knobs, heavily fly-weighted, were far more pleasurable to use than todays "lightweights." However, nostalgia aside, they just don't perform like today's! Best, Joe (Opinionated but Lovable) |
Vintage Suggestions?
On Sat, 31 Dec 2005 20:23:37 -0500, "Lenny"
wrote: I'm thinking more and more about the beautiful vintage tube receivers of the past. I love the purposeful look, the glow of the tubes, and, of course, the performance. So, I'm looking for suggestions on some of the best tube SW receivers that are readily available on E Bay and elsewhere. Specifically, the Collins's, the Hammarlunds, and the Hallicrafters.(Please educate me on the other classic makes) My price limit is $500 give or take. Oh, and I know nothing about poking around the insides of these things so I need one in turnkey condition. Right now, I own an Icom R75 with all the Kiwa mods. Is it possible that some of the old receivers offer similar performance? I'm mainly interested in international broadcasts and to a lesser extent, ham and utility monitoring. So, start recommending. Thanks, and I hope this can be a fun topic. Lenny Scott made the best looking radios ever, IMHO. http://antiqueradio.org/scot03.htm |
Vintage Suggestions?
Like that guy once told Mr.Packard,,, If you want a better
Automobile,build it yourself,and Mr.Packard did.Packard,Peerless,and Pierce Arrow Automobiles.But,Mr.Henry Ford put the World on Wheels. cuhulin |
Vintage Suggestions?
Seems to me that was a Scott radio my older brother brought home in
1948. cuhulin |
Vintage Suggestions?
My brother owned an old crapped out Chevrolet car that was all worn out
when he bought the car second hand.It's coming back to me now,he traded that car off for the radio.He got the best end of that deal.I remember the front leaf springs of that old car would sometimes get out of wack and he would be outside wrenching on that front suspension system of that old car and cussin.My dad bought an old second hand Doodlebug motorscooter for twenty five dollars for me to ride around on around the neighborhood.My sisters rode that motorscooter more than I ever did. cuhulin |
Vintage Suggestions?
In article .com,
"Joe Analssandrini" wrote: Dear Lenny, This is indeed a "fun" topic and I find all the comments posted thus far to be very interesting and enjoyable to read. Therefore, I hope that you and everyone ese here, will take my comments in the spirit in which they're meant. Back when I was in high school (three weeks after they had invented fire!?!) there were several of us who got involved in shortwave listening. One fellow had a National SW-54 (as I remember), another had a Hammarlund HQ-100, another had a Blaupunkt, another had a Grundig, one particularly wealthy fellow had a Zenith Trans-Oceanic (a tube model), and I, being the "poorest," had an old Philco console. (But I had the best antenna and ground!) Later, after high school, I was able to save up enough money to buy a Lafayette HE-10, a Lafayette HE-11 speaker, and a pair of Clevite Brush BA-200 headphones. Total price was $102.60 (and NO sales tax at the time!). I still have them all and they are still in superb condition - they work as well as they did when new. (I had the receiver last aligned and tested about fifteen years ago. The technician stated at the time that, while he made some adjustments, they were all very minor and the internals were really in very fine shape.) I used that set as my main receiver up until 2000 when I got a Grundig Satellit 800. In 2004 I purchased my AOR AR7030 Plus, which was customized by the factory. I have to tell you that, though I still "trot out" the Lafayette once or twice a year (for old-times' sake) and though I never had a great deal of experience with most of the better tube shortwave sets (I did have an acquaintance later on who owned a Hammarlund HQ-180A which I listened to quite a bit until he moved away), there is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY I would ever go back to those tube sets for daily use. For collection purposes, for impressive "looks," and for "cachet," they can't be beat. But NONE of them can even approach the performance of my AR7030 Plus and that includes sound quality. I run my AOR through my Hafler DH-101 Preamplifier and my Hafler DH-200 Power Amplifier into my Klipschorn speakers and, as the man said, "you ain't heard nothing yet!" Even with my cheap ($29.95) Radio Shack RCA-labeled external speaker, which I use when listening to news or talk programs, the sound is far better and far more intelligible than that of my Lafayette or any other tube radio I have ever heard. I hate to "bust" anybody's bubble, and please note that I have the greatest respect for others' serious opinions which may differ from mine, but it is my firm opinion that today's shortwave receivers are far, far better than anything I could have bought, regardless of price, back in 1958. They're far more reliable too. You younger guys can't remember a time when the radio/tv repairman was like a member of the family. He came to your house more often than your favorite uncle! I often wish that I could have a "time machine" and take one of today's radios back to that young kid who was just starting out in shortwave back in 1958. He'd have been absolutely astounded! But I do agree with those who state that those radios looked better than today's and their tuning knobs, heavily fly-weighted, were far more pleasurable to use than todays "lightweights." However, nostalgia aside, they just don't perform like today's! Well, I guess this makes me an old timer as I used to be that TV repairman in the early 80's. Tube sets, solid state and hybrids of the two were the fare of the day. How to you make the connection from 7030+ to the stereo amplifiers? Did you make a cable to the auxiliary jack and use the line outs, the loud speaker jack or the headphone jack? Have you experimented with all these outputs and found the line outs to be the best? -- Telamon Ventura, California |
Vintage Suggestions?
Joe Analssandrini wrote:
Back when I was in high school (three weeks after they had invented fire!?!) Aw, man, they didn't have fire until I was in eighth grade. And since we had the kind of global warming back then that they have now, it was always too cold to learn anything in school. We thought about electing a student to burn for heat, but we couldn't burn him because we didn't know what burning was. -- If John McCain gets the 2008 Republican Presidential nomination, my vote for President will be a write-in for Jiang Zemin. |
Vintage Suggestions?
Joe Analssandrini wrote:
They're far more reliable too. You younger guys can't remember a time when the radio/tv repairman was like a member of the family. He came to your house more often than your favorite uncle! Being older, I started being the TV serviceman in 1967. Funny, my family after that time was incredibly much bigger than it was before. -- If John McCain gets the 2008 Republican Presidential nomination, my vote for President will be a write-in for Jiang Zemin. |
Vintage Suggestions?
Telamon wrote:
Well, I guess this makes me an old timer as I used to be that TV repairman in the early 80's. Tube sets, solid state and hybrids of the two were the fare of the day. Ah, yer still a kid. I started full-time in 1967. Transistors were for UHF tuners. -- If John McCain gets the 2008 Republican Presidential nomination, my vote for President will be a write-in for Jiang Zemin. |
Vintage Suggestions?
Looks like some great radios.Too bad he is having some tax problems.
cuhulin |
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