Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012 — I tempted fate and once again set out to reroute some cables in the shack and was successful this time — no distractions, no tangents (well, a few, but the task was completed anyway). The distraction this time was taking a closer look at an old friend of mine — my Heathkit HW-8.
I haven’t operated the HW-8 in … forever, it seems. Because it requires high-impedance headphones, years ago when I bought the rig I mated it to an aging set of WWII-era cans (that’s slang for “headphones”) … you know the kind — every war movie with a B-17, B-25, B-24, B-29, you found the crew wearing these headphones. I have used the headphones since my SWL, pre-ham radio days, and they have always worked great with my old boat anchor rigs. My first “real” receiver was a Hammarlund WWII-era RBG-2, the Navy version of the HQ-120X, which I still own.
The ‘phones were down the shelf behind the HW-8, so I had to dig them out. The HW-8 hadn’t been on forever … would it still play? I threw the switches to hook the rig to my antenna system (I have 3 8-position switches, one on each table of the shack), put on the ‘phones and turned it on.
The headphones filled with signals from the 40 meter band. I took time to get reacquainted with the rig, re-remembering its lack of RIT, inadequate CW filtering, the direct conversion receiver, etc., hi hi! Actually, the rig
The rig is no PROIII, but it wasn’t intended to be. It’s good and stable, though I haven’t taken time for a QSO. When I assembled my shack, I routed the keying lines to the rigs around the back of the shelves, and I have to figure out which line goes to the HW-8 and which goes to the HW-16. Those cables are terminated in RCA plugs, so I have to find one of my adapters to put on the Speed-X Model 500 bug I’m using. Listening to the HW-8 reminds me of the good time I had with the HW-16 .. chirps and all. I have the HG-10B VFO, so at least I’m not rock bound. I need to give both rigs a workout. Since I work most of my CW in the winter months, now’s the time to get on the air. Even as nostalgic as I tend to be, I find myself really missing the features of a modern rig when I’m on the air. One improvement I made to the HW-16 was to add a Datong FL-3 audio filter. I own two FL-3s and one FL-2 (the main difference is the FL-3 adds an auto notch filter), and these are superb filters, even for audio filters. The HW-16’s bandpass is fairly wide (even with the stock CW filter), and the Datong makes it easy to work CW even in crowded band conditions.
Time to get some ether flowing! Di-di-dah-dah-di-dit?