A Video History of Ham Radio HF Rig Visual Design—Military to Modern

@K8QS Thanks for reply. B40's are my personal favorite vintage receivers. Below link to manual for reference.

Murphy B40 : https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0EGn6N7ZpQyS1ROWnZuQVJ5Xzg/view?usp=drivesdk

 

tags --> Debeg |Telefunken | Hilberlung | Geschichte | Funkgeräte |Kurzwellenfunkstation | Seefunkempfänger |usw
Great video for the most passionate thread.

Oliver

 

Intresting and well done. Thanks for the cavalcade.
73 de SA6NAN

 

Hilberling, of course! wouldn't misspell using one

 

NOW that I agree with 100% U-Tubers and the like There is so much BS a new ham doesn't know where to turn ..
These two guys have the age and experiences to make some really good stuff, So lets not spend hours poking fun at old radios ...
Good Stuff please !!!

 

Great point, Richard. In fact, I think the Viking equipment in general deserves a look for classic design -- even the matchboxes. It would be interesting to take one brand and track the equipment in terms of design. Quin, K8QS

 

We hinted at some of the international differences since form is always somewhat related to area culture. But Hilberling deserves special treatment. Often money can make a difference in design quality. Quin, K8QS

 

I actually had a guy show up at my door with a like-new 75A-4, offering to let me use it as long as I would like. I was about 16 years old. He heard me on the air, what I was using, looked me up in the Callbook, and suddenly showed up. I am going to tell that story in a future video on the great things about the ham hobby, one of which is collegiality/fellowship. Quin, K8QS

 

Yes, Karl-Arne. What a great piece of equipment with unusual design. I have never operated one. I have not even known anyone who had one!

 

Thanks so much, Marco. Welcome to the hobby! Looks like you have the old Kenwood duo -- fine rigs. I spent some time in Sweden about 15 years ago. Wonderful people and beautiful. Quin, K8QS

 

The LF variant, the B41, was the most common here.

I operated such receivers while in military service, and saw them
again at the Enköping radiomonitoring station when I got employed at the Swedish Administration.

One B41 reeeiver was still in use for receiving time signals on 16 and 60 kHz. But for general purpose use they had been replaced with the Hammarlund SP-600-VLF-31.


Above is a quite typical 1960s operating position using the B41.

73/
Karl-Arne
SM0AOM

 

Very nice job, as usual, guys. I too spent a lot of time at the surplus shops south of the loop. mostly remember Arrow sales and the piles of surplus gear almost reaching the ceiling.... Good job reviewing the designs, although a more ergonomic assessment is kind of what I was expecting. Although a bit 'chinsey' looking, I was always partial to Drake gear, and still own and use a B and a C line. And I think you missed the Centerfold of radios..... The Gonset G76. Anyway, keep on keepin on.
Frank

 

This is a good try and worth the time watching it for sure! but please allow me some comments.

I understand that the time of the video was limited but you could say less "chatty" things in the video and at the same time fit more rigs and styles to it.
For example, nothing was mentioned about rigs like Yaesu FRG-7, FT-101, FT-301 (analogue dial), all very beautiful and distinct rigs (ok, in the 301 there is similarity to the collins S-line), many very popular. Also kenwood rigs from the 90s (vfd displays), some of them of very good quality much like dodays!

Yaesu always made rigs with classic appearance with something of very high quality look into them. Well apart from a few latest waterfall rigs that look like a cheepie 7300. I do not say anything about their function, but their look. Take for example the ft1000mp, but there are so many others to consider.

I agree about the 7300 cheepie look, it is darn cheap looking, I would never buy such a rig, just because of this. It seems to me that icom cheats on this rig, it reduced the hardware (knobs etc) cost a lot (good for them) and asks for the price of a nicer quality rig! I believe people are buying it, because of it's price in balance to the features. One who does want to "keep up with the new waterfall tech" will like this, but the 7300 is actually a modest rig in performance, not to mention in usability. To access a setting through the multi-level menus is just not usable. The time you have taken to do so, is so much, meanwhile the propagation conditions have changed and the setting has no meaning anymore! On HF you have to be quick, or weak signals are lost!

The example of the kenwood TS480 is a great one, as well as the rigs with more buttons. The settings are mostly accessible through the buttons (single press/long press etc) and it is super easy to try them to better receive a signal even without reading any manual. This is success ergonomics, at least on HF. And with the punching power of 200W for the HX version and the dual antennas, wow, this is something only high end rigs have. The pig-nose is not so pronounced in this rig, compared to the TS2000, but I understand that they had to fit more buttons on the ts2000, which I do not like much (too pronounced pig nose).

A very good approach of the style and function idea in the video, thank you.

However, you concentrated only in the "general appearance style". I would expect to go into more depth on the face of the rigs. The different dials approaches (disc, linear, back-lighted, led, LCD, VFD etc), the buttons orientation, shape and type, the different marking styles etc. Things like these may help more to understand what makes a good looking rig and a cheap one.

A great first try, but we would definitely like to see more on the topic, maybe on a next video of yours?

73
DE sv3ora

 

Thanks You