Saturday, Sept. 21, 2012 — I attend a lot of hamfests as Section Manager, though at times I spend little time browsing the hamfest boneyards as I would like. This isn’t necessarily by accident; my shack runneth over with hamfest and eBay refugees. My wife hasn’t fallen for the “look what followed me home” routine for 20-plus years (though it took me a decade to figure that out, of course!), and while I may admire (aka drool, pant, lust, obsess) over lots of the gear (read “boatanchors”) I try to limit my acquisitions to “truly gotta have it” stuff.
At the Rickmond (Ky.) hamfest the other weekend I was drooling over a beautifully restored Hammarlund HQ-170 and matching speaker. This restoration wasn’t a simple recap and clean-up — the guy completely rebuilt and rewired it. It was priced right at four bills, and I’m sure it was worth it. But the XYL would have relegated me and the lovely HQ-170 to the barn had I brought it home.
Elsewhere at the hamfest was another Hammarlund, an HQ-129X. The HQ-129X was Hammarlund’s “new” post-WWII receiver for the SWLs and ham market released in 1946. The HQ-129X was an updated version of the HQ-120X that entered the market in 1939. There’s not much difference in the look and function of both rigs, and the HQ-129X had a slight redesign of the bezel that covered the dials and the S-meter.
The HQ-129X is a single-conversion receiver, as was the 120X up through the HQ-150X, I believe. They had good sensitivity up to about 12 MHz, but above 20 Meters they grew increasing deaf. Outboard preamps like the Ameco line were a big help.
Why the HQ-129X? Well, it was priced right and it works. It’s clean inside and unbutchered. It reminds me of my first true communications receiver, a Hammarlund RBG-2, the U.S. Navy’s World War II mil-spec version of the HQ-120X. I still own the RBG-2, and I should write about it and how I did my best to press it into service and used it for many years. The RBG-2 would probably work if I plugged it in now, but I digress.
The HQ-129X will go in the library to my corner reading chair operating position. Right now I have the Hallicrafters SX-130 and the Gardner-Wells BC-348Q at the ready. I’ll need to clean off another bookshelf or move one of the rigs out of its present spot to make room for the Hammarlund. That reminds me, I need to come up with a better antenna scheme before winter sets in. The longwire I have is a little low, and my hamstick-equpped Dodge clips it. Thankfully, electric fence wire is plentiful and inexpensive.
My 16-year-old son is my hamfest companion these days, and he enjoys them. Since I’m usually tied to my official duties, he knows my shack well enough to serve as my spotter. I send him out and he returns with photos of every boatanchor he spots, along with prices. I haven’t really purchased anything with this method, but its been fun for both of us — he enjoys the hunt, and I enjoy seeing what’s available. Shopping by proxy, eh?
My new acquisition is still in the back of the Dodge; I need to bring it in and fire it up, which I’ll do soon (once I clear off enough table/desk space, or a shelf in the library).
That’s it this time, there’s always more to come here in Bluegrass Ether Clippings.
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