| hamelectronicsmagazine.com -- August 2011 |
Hammarlund HQ-180 (ac)
General Coverage Receiver
General Coverage Receiver
I recently purchased almost all the ham radio components and equipment from an older ham who was moving out of town and down sizing. This "excellent" condition..
perhaps "mint" HQ-180AC was the prize piece. This fellow must have had a dust cover on this beauty. I know I have now. A soft cloth cover to keep it in good condition.
It came with the matching hammarlund speaker and the manual. Even the manual was in excellent condition. The only thing I have done so far is to install a new dial lamp
bulb. The insides look excellent shape as well.
The clock works too! I am having fun listening to AM on the AM Broadcast band at nights. What I want to do this fall..is have my Galaxy R530 and the Hammarlund HQ-180
on the same operating desk and with a two position coax switch..I will compare the two receivers side by side to see which one performs and sounds better.
perhaps "mint" HQ-180AC was the prize piece. This fellow must have had a dust cover on this beauty. I know I have now. A soft cloth cover to keep it in good condition.
It came with the matching hammarlund speaker and the manual. Even the manual was in excellent condition. The only thing I have done so far is to install a new dial lamp
bulb. The insides look excellent shape as well.
The clock works too! I am having fun listening to AM on the AM Broadcast band at nights. What I want to do this fall..is have my Galaxy R530 and the Hammarlund HQ-180
on the same operating desk and with a two position coax switch..I will compare the two receivers side by side to see which one performs and sounds better.
e.ham.net review of the HQ-180
I like the eham.net web site and the reviews of equipment are particularly good for shoppers. I checked
out the Hammarlund HQ-180 and it has over-all great reviews for this receiver. There is one bad review
(0 out of 5) that brings the average down to 4.6 out of 5, but 11 out of the 12 reviews are 5 out of 5. Even
the 0 out of 5 fellow concedes the circuitry is pretty good. It is just the mechanical dial and quality of
components that he doesnt like.
I find the dial OK. Takes a bit of getting used to the calibration and I plan to use an oscillator with some
crystals (very simple to build up)..perhaps just use some crystal oscilator packs to set up a marker
system of say 1 MHZ, 3.5 mhz and 7 mhz. and 14 mhz ..to get the ham bands well marked out and so I can
find the band edges precisely and quickly.
Another option in this regard is an external frequency counter that has a probe coupling to one of the
tubes and you will have digital readout without modification. The AADE almost all digital electronics
company has frequency readouts for all kinds of older rigs.
out the Hammarlund HQ-180 and it has over-all great reviews for this receiver. There is one bad review
(0 out of 5) that brings the average down to 4.6 out of 5, but 11 out of the 12 reviews are 5 out of 5. Even
the 0 out of 5 fellow concedes the circuitry is pretty good. It is just the mechanical dial and quality of
components that he doesnt like.
I find the dial OK. Takes a bit of getting used to the calibration and I plan to use an oscillator with some
crystals (very simple to build up)..perhaps just use some crystal oscilator packs to set up a marker
system of say 1 MHZ, 3.5 mhz and 7 mhz. and 14 mhz ..to get the ham bands well marked out and so I can
find the band edges precisely and quickly.
Another option in this regard is an external frequency counter that has a probe coupling to one of the
tubes and you will have digital readout without modification. The AADE almost all digital electronics
company has frequency readouts for all kinds of older rigs.
This article is being worked on September 2011. I hope to add more to
it soon ..when fall rolls around ..I will have more time to do indoor
activities like ham radio. I will then do some serious listening with my
new HQ180AC. 73 earl ve3ab
it soon ..when fall rolls around ..I will have more time to do indoor
activities like ham radio. I will then do some serious listening with my
new HQ180AC. 73 earl ve3ab