Communications Receiver Advice

[BDM123]

Words of wisdom Token, and I'm not trying to berate gpsblake in any way. Just well said when it comes time to consider a receiver.

 

[ratboy]

Sounds like you're havin fun with it do you run the ol' Hammarlund? I bet that one is a kick to operate.

The HQ-100 is one of the first things I bought on Ebay. It was like $58, and I would give it a 7 on looks, and compared to a stock HQ-100, about a 12 on performance. It's been modded, big time, with a true SSB product detector and a crystal filter. It's the equal of anything under $500, except it drifts a bit. Right now, it's dead, it just hisses when I power it up. Hope it's just a tube. I bought a tube tester to check them out and hopefully one of the original ones (most are) just gave out after all these years. It had been recapped before I bought it, so a tube is likely. I have a couple of replacements, but with my luck lately, they won't be the ones I need. Other than this latest problem, the only thing ever wrong with it was when the original 12AX7 audio amp started to fail and made the audio really nasty sounding. It makes a nice heater to keep my room warm in the winter, too.

 

[ridgescan]

Hope you get it going again RB

 

[ratboy]

I'm quite surprised that the Willco boards are even still around, much less available. I should note that I know of at least 2 that have told me that installation of those boards is not for the average hacker (one is an extra class ham, and works in the broadcast media center as a technician). If you do go this route, line up someone that will do it for you.

Another source of replacements for that battery is here...

ICOMPROM ICOM Non-Volatile RAM Module - $69.00 : Piexx Company, Computers & Electronics

I know of more than a couple of R71s that have had the PROM fail - not surprising, given the age of the radio. As I understand it, the battery only comes into play when the set has no power. If it's left connected to the AC all the time (not a recommended practice during lightning storms) you probably won't have an issue.

Better safe than sorry...Mike

I've put Piexx and Willco Ram boards into 4 or 5 R71A's. Nothing difficult about it. Hardest part is unplugging the old one. A set of hemostats is the way to go it you're fat-fingered. Some people, extra class hams included, can pass a test, yet be totally unable to actually do something in the real world. My dad was one of those people. The Army Air Corps had him fixing B-29's in WWII. That's both funny and scary at the same time, as he couldn't even fix a minor issue with my bike. Worked out well for me, as I had to learn how to do it myself very early on. I used to put my own Christmas presents together with my dad holding stuff for me, etc. He was embarrassed that his 6 year old kid could put a bike together and a 50 year old guy was helpless. When I was soldering at age 8, he asked me to teach him and that was just a train wreck. He couldn't do it! He could play pool very well though, so he wasn't a total klutz.