Best Boatanchor

[wd0ct]

This might not get much attention with the election so near but it is a favorite topic of mine. So here goes - in no particular order.

Swan 700CX
Hallicrafters SX 115
Heathkit DX100
Drake 2B
Heathkit Warrior
Hallicrafters SX 100
Yaesu FT 101E
Kenwood TS 520
Drake R7
Swan 350D
Heathkit SB 220
Amp Supply LK 500ZC
Alpha 76
Tempo 2001
Collins KWM 2
Heathkit SB 101
Drake TR 4C
Kenwood T599D - R599D
National NC 2000
Ten Tec Triton 4
Ten Tec Omni C
Pearce Simpson Guardian23
Heathkit SB 301


And some less memorable mentions:

Heathkit HW 100
National NCX 5
Swan 350
Swan 500
Siltronix 1011C
Hallicrafters SR 150
National NC 98
Hammurland HQ 129
Hallicrafters Sky Buddy
Swan 260

Some of these would hardly be able to be a dinghy anchor while others would likely suffice for the Queen Mary 2.

http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

[W5HTW]

Many nice rigs. The Pearce Simpson 23 was a CB, though. It could be converted to 10 meters very easily.

The Drake 2B was one of the hottest receivers around, and very much in demand. As was all the Drake equipment in the mid and late sixties and into the seventies.

The National NC 2000 was actually the NCL-2000. It was one of the last of the grid driven amplifiers as the FCC cracked down on CB amplifiers, amps that could be driven with very low drive power. It was a very good amplifier but I think the tubes are hard to find today. The Drake L4 and L4B were far more popular.

The Heath Warrior was a popular amplifier, though the Chippewa was more powerful. And more expensive. The Warrior made a good companion for the Marauder transmitter.

Drake TR4C was a great transceiver. I had one, and a set of Drake B Twins as well, all new in the early seventies.

The DX-100 was a very popular AM rig, though the Apache replaced it easily. I had both, (not at the same time) and liked both.

Anything Collins. Including mil surplus, such as the ART-13.

But your list left out so many great items!

National:
NC-183D, NC-300, NC-303, NC270, and any of the HRO series, from HRO-50 to HRO-500.

Hallicrafters:
SX-96, SX-115, SX-101A, SX-88 (the most sought after radio in the world, probably) R274N. Also SX25, SX28.

Hammarlund:
HQ170, HQ180, HX50A, HX500, HXL-1, SP-600 (all versions) and SP-400.

Gonset:
GSB100 and GSB101. G-76.


Central Electronics anything! 10-A, 10-B, 20-A, CE100.

Cosmophone!


Johnson:
Anything! But the most collectible units are the Navigator, Courier linear, Desk KW, and the Thunderbolt. Behind them are the Pacemaker, (was that the name??) the Invader 2000. Then the rest of the line.

Notable boat anchors. Of course, it depends upon the era. The FT101 series was one of the most famous of all ham rigs ever, but probably saw equal (at the very least) use as CB radios. The Kenwood TS-520 was one of the top selling HF transceivers 25 years or so ago.


Anyway, yes it is fun to run down memory lane. I was a trader - usually for a loss - and had quite a few of the notable and not so notable boat anchors in my 48 years in the hobby, but never kept one very long. Was always trading for something else. Only in my retirement years have I stuck with a radio. I've had my Drake B Twins for three years now, and my Icom 706 for seven years. Other radios I have, but not for so long.

Ed

[WA5KRP]

HEY!

Don't leave out the Viking Ranger I and II! A sweetheart of a transmitter for both CW and AM.

Another little gem is the Hallicrafters HA-1 TO Keyer. It uses tubes but is digital in operation (please don't argue it's analog when it sends dots and dashes). I still have mine and the Vibroplex Vibrokeyer to make it talk.

WA5KRP
Texas

[AB6ND]

Don't forget the Drake 2a. virtually the same as the 2b except for the Noise Limiter and something else I have forgotten. It's performance and stability beats the new stuff. I have had one for 30 years! It's not for sale.
Roy

[wd0ct]

Guys, I was just listing the ones that I owned. Well at least the ones I can remember.

http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[wd0ct]

Quote[/b] (W5HTW @ Oct. 30 2004,17:54)]Many nice rigs. #The Pearce Simpson 23 was a CB, though. #It could be converted to 10 meters very easily. #

The Drake 2B was one of the hottest receivers around, and very much in demand. #As was all the Drake equipment in the mid and late sixties and into the seventies. #

The National NC 2000 was actually the NCL-2000. #It was one of the last of the grid driven amplifiers as the FCC cracked down on CB amplifiers, amps that could be driven with very low drive power. #It was a very good amplifier but I think the tubes are hard to find today. # The Drake L4 and L4B were far more popular.

The Heath Warrior was a popular amplifier, though the Chippewa was more powerful. #And more expensive. #The Warrior made a good companion for the Marauder transmitter.

Drake TR4C was a great transceiver. #I had one, and a set of Drake B Twins as well, all new in the early seventies.

The DX-100 was a very popular AM rig, though the Apache replaced it easily. #I had both, (not at the same time) and liked both. #

Anything Collins. #Including mil surplus, such as the ART-13.

But your list left out so many great items!

National:
NC-183D, NC-300, NC-303, NC270, and any of the HRO series, from HRO-50 to HRO-500. #

Hallicrafters:
SX-96, SX-115, SX-101A, SX-88 (the most sought after radio in the world, probably) R274N. #Also SX25, SX28.

Hammarlund:
HQ170, HQ180, HX50A, HX500, HXL-1, SP-600 (all versions) and SP-400.

Gonset:
GSB100 and GSB101. #G-76.


Central Electronics anything! # 10-A, 10-B, 20-A, CE100.

Cosmophone!


Johnson:
Anything! #But the most collectible units are the Navigator, Courier linear, Desk KW, and the Thunderbolt. #Behind them are the Pacemaker, (was that the name??) the Invader 2000. #Then the rest of the line.

Notable boat anchors. #Of course, it depends upon the era. #The FT101 series was one of the most famous of all ham rigs ever, but probably saw equal (at the very least) use as CB radios. #The Kenwood TS-520 was one of the top selling HF transceivers 25 years or so ago. #


Anyway, yes it is fun to run down memory lane. #I was a trader - usually for a loss - and had quite a few of the notable and not so notable boat anchors in my 48 years in the hobby, but never kept one very long. #Was always trading for something else. #Only in my retirement years have I stuck with a radio. #I've had my Drake B Twins for three years now, and my Icom 706 for seven years. #Other radios I have, but not for so long.

Ed
Yes, the pearce simpson was a cb and I used it as such. It had one or two nuvistors in the front end and had the best ears around.

I had forgot that I owned a NC 300 too.

Thanks for bringing up a lot of great rigs. A good friend has a growing collection of Hallicrafters and a few Hammarlund, and National receivers. He has an old semi trailer out by his shop. It is about 1/3 full of boatanchors.
I keep telling him to get the old machine tools out of his shop and put the old rigs on display.


I also loved to trade although I don't do much anymore.

[KF0RT]

Got a TR-4C on the bench as we speak. No TX, but the RX is hot.

I've been looking over the wiring in the bottom of this TR-4C for awhile now, and it just amazes me. Y'know, we (U.S. Industry) couldn't build something like that today? This thing was 100% hand-built. Every resistor, every solder joint. There's no way to automate this kind of assembly.

73, Rob (KFØRT)

[wd0ct]

Fun to look at and marvel isn't it?

[K9STH]

Go to http://home.comcast.net/~k9sth

The photo link is near the bottom of the list.

Glen, K9STH

[wd0ct]

Whew, what a collection!

[w3sy]

Ah, this thread brought a BIG GRIN to my face. You named a lot of rigs I either owned or at one time coveted.

But when I think "boat anchor," I think froggin' BOAT ANCHOR. There were some venerable, but rather petite and delicate, rigs on the list.

To me, the PRIMO ULTIMO boat anchor setup would be an SP-600 receiver and a DX-100B transmitter. (Both built like tanks.) Maybe toss in one of those filing cabinet sized Henry amplifiers.

You gotta get a DOUBLE HERNIA carrying the thing down to your basement, or it doesn't count!

[ai4ep]

Whew ! All the rest of you folks can use & keep those old tube - type rigs.....I have owned a

kenwood 520
kenwood 530
yeasu ft 101 e

they all get way too hot even when just receiving, and you have to ( gosh ) tune up the transmitters when changing bands or going from one end of the band to the other...but that is the way they were made to operate ( ok for you folks, but not for me )

Me ? I prefer the newer solid state rigs with digital readout, and smaller size...like icom 706mkIIg or yeasu ft-100d or something similar........to each his own.

One reason I dont like tube-type rigs is...tubes are high to buy and some are supposed to be getting scarce, which makes folks who HAVE them able to charge whatever they want to for them.

I DO like the way they "glow-in-the-dark" for a good night light.

For those of you getting offended, I dont mind it if YOU own those kind of rigs, they arent for me. Just like some of you dont like the SMALL rigs for various reasons.

73

ai4ep

[KA9VQF]

I like my Tempo one. I also like the few Hallicrafter receivers I have here. Gotta agree that tubes are much more of a hassle these days than they were when I obtained the rigs.

[K6BBC]

I had a Hallicrafter SX 101 and a Johnson Viking Ranger. I only wish I had a picture of that station. I listened to the first Chinese satellite on that receiver. Can I go back to 1969 now please?

K6BBC

[wd0ct]

Darn, I somehow forgot the Hallicrafters Loudenboomer! I don't know how as the one belonging to a friend has been in my basement for several years.

[wd0ct]

Quote[/b] (w3sy @ Oct. 30 2004,23:40)]Ah, this thread brought a BIG GRIN to my face. You named a lot of rigs I either owned or at one time coveted.

But when I think "boat anchor," I think froggin' BOAT ANCHOR. There were some venerable, but rather petite and delicate, rigs on the list.

To me, the PRIMO ULTIMO boat anchor setup would be an SP-600 receiver and a DX-100B transmitter. (Both built like tanks.) Maybe toss in one of those filing cabinet sized Henry amplifiers.

You gotta get a DOUBLE HERNIA carrying the thing down to your basement, or it doesn't count!
I know what you mean about big hulking behemoths. Reminds me of the KWS-1 that I helped load into a trailer to go to Dayton 10 years ago. Also in that trailer was a 75A4, 390, and numerous other items of sufficient weight to require a 17 foot, double axle U-Haul trailer.

A BC-610 transmitter would go well with your Primo setup.
I know a fella that has the BC610 and SP-600 combo in his basement. Too bad he never uses em.

This will fit the double hernia bill! I think these were also known as the Hallicrafters HT4 ?

bc610 (http://hug-a-bug.com/BC-610.html)

[WA2ZDY]

Quote[/b] (wd0ct @ Oct. 31 2004,05:18)]. . . I think these were also known as the Hallicrafters HT4 ?

bc610 (http://hug-a-bug.com/BC-610.html)
That's a fine example of an 610 indeed. I must say, the pic of the rear "before clean up" looks quite clean to me!

But yes, BC610 was the military designation and HT4 was the civilian designation for that transmitter. Many folks have included the BC610 in the list with the US submarines (fleet boats,) crystal controlled transmitters, and the B17 as among the top factors that helped the US win WW2.

I'm a little saddened to see the Hammarlund HQ129 on the list of duds. Perhaps you had a bad one . . .

[K3UD]

My favorites were the..... NC-303, B&W-5100B, Johnson Ranger II, DX-100, DX-40, SX-110, Hammarlund Comet Pro, SX-101, HQ-170, Drake 2B, Drake B & C Lines, Swan 350 and 500, Clegg Interceptor-B, Zeus, Venus and Apollo. We can also toss in the Heath SSB single banders, Twoer and Sixer, The PolyComm 6n2, The Gonset Communicator 3 and 4, The Utica 650 and the Ameco 6n2.

Had all of this at one time or another and wish I had it back.

73
George
K3UD

[w3sy]

OM AI4EP.... Well, my Yaesu FT1000MP is a technological marvel too, but there was something fun and adventuresome about tuning and retuning those old tube rigs -- adjust the grid... dip the plate... watch the meters swing and the room lights dim... throw about 20 switches to go from receive to transmit... AAAHHHH, that was RADIO! heh...

[W5HTW]

Most of us, I think, who came along in the days before radios became so automated, enjoyed the 'operating' of the radio when it meant more than rotating the volume control and pressing the mic PTT. For example, in the Viking II, one had to tune the oscillator, the buffer, the driver, all before getting to the dipping the plate and loading the finals. Changing bands was not a matter of just rotating the one knob and going back on the air.

Those of us who were in non-ham radio in the 50s and 60s and into the 70s, found the same thing in commercial rigs. Some of them actually took several minutes to tune up on frequency. I frequently used a Collins 231D, which was a 5 KW output AM transmitter the size of a kitchen (not the sink - the whole darned kitchen) and it could taken ten minutes to get the thing up and running, maybe longer. A Collins 204U could be tricky to tune, and was all manual. The newer 208U-10 was automated - set the exciter (which in itself could be a bear) and punch a button and the rig tuned itself. As I look back, I find myself with the question -- "Which was more 'operating' - the 204U or the 208U?" And the answer is the 204U, for it required operator/technician skill, while the 208U just required pushing a button.

That comes down to the idea "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." It is the standard shift versus the slush stick concept. It is what one wants out of a radio. If one wants to get on the air quickly, with a minimum of effort, my 706 fills the bill nicely, and it gets a lot of use around here. But if one wants to 'play radio' then the Drake T4XB gets more use, and if one wants to REALLY play radio, the Viking II goes on the air.

The best of all worlds.

Ed

[ai4ep]

Ih yes...tuning up can be quite fun with one of the older rigs.

I did NOT mean to put them all down, just merely stating that I like the simplicity of the 706 ICOM, but if the price is right, I might consider trading or buying another used tube-type rig, but not to be used as an every day use rig. ( plus the "night light " deal ).

Now dont every one get any ideas of trying to SELL me one of your old rigs to go in my shack... my money and me dont part easily.

happy halloween

ai4ep