Tube Radio Restoration, Hammarlund HQ-120

Comments · 1.1K

• PH

  @phillipwalker8018 · 8 months ago

  Most people would pop open the top and look at the different tubes, maybe pull one or two to marvel at the connections inside and then put them back.  You spent several minutes explaining why the designer chose that particular rectifier tube. There were, based on your words, a couple of different options but they chose that specific one because of the need for a controlled warm-up.  Your sharing of the technical function of all of the different components that make up the radio, has a great value on its own merits. But the knowledge you add, answering the "Why?" question, adds so much more.  Thank you for that.

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• AW

  @awilensky · 10 years ago

  It is so.....beautiful...from the era when radio was still magic.

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• TO

  @tomw7751 · 7 years ago

  I've been an electrical engineer for coming on  40 years, working in digital signal processing, sonar, radar, detection and estimation - all fancy pants stuff - and I'm in awe of your knowledge and facility, and your dedication to the first-principles understanding it takes to do these restorations.  Carry on please, you're the master.

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• JO

  @johnharbor5914 · 5 years ago

  5 years later, this is still one of my favourite video's.......and those CBers sound just as funny

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• 00

  @007cohiba · 11 years ago

  Bringing back OLD memories. In 1958, I was stationed at Churchill Manitoba,Canada working as a &quot;Radio Operator&quot; Air Traffic, Coast Guard, Meteorologist. The HQ 120 never got turned off. It served as CW comm between ships at sea crossing the Atlantic into the Hudson&apos;s straits to port in Churchill. Gathering of weather from outposts in the Arctic by CW then re-transmitted by RTTY to get data consolidated into forecast centers. Air/Ground for International flights crossing from Halifax - Iceland- Greenland -England etc. on HF. &nbsp; There were other receivers but the HQ 120 was a dependable OLD workhorse used 24/7/365.<br> &nbsp; &nbsp;(This was the era of the cold war - B-52 with USAF having a base at Ft. Churchilll.)<br> I&apos;ve recently subscribed to your CH and relive your love of electronics.<br>I&apos;ve been an active ham for years holding call signs Ve3 Ve4, Ve5, and finally VA3-EI although no longer active after becoming glued to the Internet.

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• CO

  @commenter4799 · 4 years ago

  I don&apos;t know why, but I&apos;m glad a video like this gets so many views in an age that amateur radio is dwindling.

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• MI

  @misternewoutlook5437 · 7 years ago (edited)

  I do not have any knowledge about circuitry at all, yet you got me curious about the filter chokes and their measurement. Man, I wish I hadn&apos;t. You gotta know about induction, its importance to the circuits and measuring the henries. You sir are a very learned person of electronics. You are one of the people we need to have around if the asteroid hits or a super corona ejection happens. What a radio. Incredible restoration and patience paying off. I guess some guy in the 1960s did a very unimpressive restoration using what was available to him in those days. Yet you showed his errors and fixed everything. I&apos;m still glowing with transferred satisfaction you must have experienced. You convey it so well.

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• AB

  @abrew_abraham_alex · 4 years ago

  So i learned more analogue electronics in 2 hrs than i did in 4 years

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• JO

  @johncunningham5435 · 10 years ago

  That is the finest restoration I have ever seen; you practically rebuilt the HQ-120 from scratch, a most impressive achievement considering what you had to undo from prior probing hands. Congratulations on an exceptionally difficult task that you demonstrated so well.

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• FA

  @fazergazer · 4 years ago

  One thing you notice right away, you don’t say “aaaah”, “ummmm”. No filler. All substance!

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• CR

  @craigwall9536 · 8 years ago

  I have to say, &nbsp;you&apos;re one of the few people good at these sorts of videos- calm, well spoken, &nbsp;free of annoying verbal habits, &nbsp;and intelligent enough to make the viewing time well worthwhile. I&apos;m glad I found you.

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• BI

  @bigbandguru · 4 years ago

  Brought me back to the 1950’s when I got my HAM licenses and went on the air. &nbsp;Had a Hammarlund later model, a National receiver, a 75A4, Ranger with 11 meters,and then Drake transceiver for mobile. &nbsp;Miss the days and the fun with friends.