HR-10B

[Gareth Gammon]

Good morning,

The HR-10B receiver. Brings back memories. I built one about a year
before I got my first ham ticket. Had to build it with one arm mostly,
due to an accident during major sugery, during a year of recovery, but
that's another story. I can only guess as to what the quality of
construction was, but the thing worked right off. I did take it to the
Heath store for alignment as I recall, so maybe it was tuned as per
Guy's method.

It was my window to the world and provided many hours of entertainment.
It also provided valuable cw practice and was my receiver once I got my
ticket. Of course the DX-60B and HG-10B were built to accompany it
(Canadian hams were not restricted to crystal control at the time). I
worked hundreds (maybe thousands?) of stations with that set up and
because I had nothing to compare it to, thought it worked just great..

I sold the HR10B and the DX60B, kept the VFO and bought an HW-16. Yes, I
lost 20 meters, and phone but in those days we could only work 10m phone
after proving we had spent 6 months of active cw work and while I did
get the 10m endorsement, I can't remember working that mode much. What I
got was full break-in and a cw filter in exchange.

Was the HR-10B a great receiver? I thought so at the time. I now realize
that compared to the receiver in my TS520 or my SB301 its NOT a
particularly great receiver but it hasn't stopped me from re-acquiring
all my novice Heath gear (and some that I never owned) . I have  used my
"new-to-me" HR-10B a great deal with the DX60B/HR-10B and made many more
contacts. I have used it with my Tuna Tin 2 qpr rigs and I have used it
a fair bit on AM and enjoyed the fun of it. The worth of  a piece of
gear for me lies in how much fun I get from using it, making it work as
best as I can and, in this case, reliving a bit of my own personal ham
history.

On another note, regarding replacing caps, I tried replacing the
electrolytics in my HR-10B because that one note tune was getting louder
and louder. I tried to find a can with the required 20/20/20 sections.
Failing that, I got 3 22uf/450 volt caps and did it that way. It didn't
make any difference and actually seemed to have some effect (bad) on the
cw note so I tried 47uf caps at 450v and it still didn't really help.
What am I overlooking? The hum is really quite bad now. Any suggestions
would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks to Guy for the tip in aligning the HR-10B. I certainly have
noticed the effect when putting the bottom cover back on and listening.
As the bottom cover is brought near the chassis you can hear the
receiver tuning change as well as after each screw is turned into place.
I have an old junker HR 10B and am going to dry drilling out tuning
holes in that bottom plate to see if that makes any difference. Mine is
useable on 15m if the band is good,  but very deaf on 10m.

Thanks for letting me ramble on here.

73
Gareth VE7CGG

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