http://www.ebay.com/itm/130622491649?ss ... 1397Please I know I payed way too much but what do you think of the Hammerlund 160 compared with say the 180? or another brand and yes lol I will be replacing caps. BTW what is my best source for tubes and parts. Thanks in advance Mark

The 160 is my favorite post war Hammarlund. Better audio, IMHO, than the 180. Who cares how much you paid, if you like it and have the money, go for it!

I think all you'll need to do is replace the power supply filters and the audio output cathode bypass, if it has one. As I recall this radio has ceramic disc caps which most likely won't need replacing.

John hit it perfectly. Maybe you would have been happier if you had paid $100 less. Fine, but how much do you spend on soft drinks/coffee/snacks in a month? That nice Hammarlund receiver will still be there long after the $100 worth of junk food is gone - or worse has become part of your body

The HQ-160 is a great receiver so congratulate yourself on getting a nice one and don't let cognitive dissonance get to you (questioning whether you made a good decision). Yea, I finally got to use one of my marketing professor terms on here

HQ-160 receivers are not that common so give yourself a gold star for finding one.

Rodger WQ9E

I envy you, these have always appealed to me. My science teacher in the 7th grade (1964) had one of these in the class room and some times I'd stay late after school to "play" with it.

Rodger I feel that rather then cognitive dissonance I feel it's more like I'm seeking objective dissidence or approbation. Seriously, No regrets but thanks both

I don't think you'll ever regret it. It's no fun playing with the toys you didn't buy.

Many of my "toys" were gifts from deceased friends. I treasure them far
more than stuff bought of eBay for outrageous prices in bidding wars.
For instance, there is a Hallicrafters collection that a dear friend left to
me when he passed at much too early an age. I'd never sell them for
any price, and I hope they find a good home when my time with them
has passed. Money NEVER buys happiness. Good friends are priceless.

Peter

I have one and paid less but it didn't work because it had a serious case of silver-mica migration disease in one of the dual frequency IF transformers, so much so that smoke was pouring out of it. But once repaired, re-capped and aligned, the radio is one of my favorites for DX work (I have a lot of favorites for some reason). It has plenty of performance features that will keep you entertained for a long time. Be sure to read the manual which describes all of their functions and how to use them. ( http://bama.edebris.com/manuals/hammarlu/hq160/ ) You'll love the way you can pick up signals out of the mud by using the slot filter along with the Q-multiplier selectivity and frequency controls...signals that often can't be heard on other sets because of intense QRM. The product detector (they call it a linear detector) makes it easy to listen to SSB but some people find the lack of AVC in this mode annoying. Good luck and enjoy your new radio!

Dave

Congratulations, I was watching that one and almost placed a last minute bid but decided against it. Looks like a beauty, well done.

VERY nice purchase - I, too, was watching and bidding, but dropped out early, so I didn't influence the final price any. My interest is the scarcity of the 160 and the superior audio. I have a working 145X and a working 180.

Bill

what's special about the HQ-160 audio? Is the a push-pull output stage?

Best regards,
Steve

I don't know why but for some reason people complain about the variable EQ introduced by their use of negative feedback depending the volume control setting. The response curves are printed in the manual. To my ears, this is what makes the HQ-160 more pleasant to listen to than most boatanchors with a single-ended output stage (like this one has) but do not use feedback. I got into a discussion about this many years back with a group here. When used correctly, you can vary the response depending on the type of listening you do by manipulating the volume and RF gain controls. Maybe that's what obbm meant.

Dave

Congratulations! The HQ 160 is one model of Hammarlund I have never owned or used. Was always curious about them though. They aren't all that common so I think you did just fine with this one. For their size, the Hammarlunds are lighter than other comparable boatanchors. I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun with this one.

As a coincidence, I was looking through some old photos and found one with my HQ145X and HQ170 in it and was lamenting the fact that I let them (and several others) go.

Glad you snagged it!

Edit: I just read the seller's description and really like the way he presented that radio. Good pics, No BS, No wild claims or anything. Just the facts and his observations. Bidding history looks pretty normal too. FWIW, I'm even more convinced you did well! Don't regret your purchase for even a second. Life is way too short for that.

I have no complaints about the Hammarlund HQ series audio either. I mostly use mine for amateur radio and the audio is fine for that but they also sound OK for SW/broadcast listening.

The HQ-160 was only produced for around a year and a half before it was replaced by the HQ-180 which added the 60 Khz. IF strip from the HQ-170 to the general coverage line. As such the HQ-160 is one of the less commonly found members of the HQ series and is a very good receiver.

After I found a GSB-1 SSB adapter for my TMC GPR-90 receiver I moved my Hammarlund HC-10 (external SSB adapter with the 60 Khz IF strip/AGC/product detector and audio system) over to the HQ-160. Under good conditions for commercial broadcast stations the base HQ-160 sounds a little better than running the signals through the highly selective HC-10.

Rodger wQ9E

Congratulations on your new toy. To me, that seems to be a somewhat uncommon receiver. I peruse the Hammarlund listings, along with the other old names on an almost daily basis, and I don't remember seeing a 160 for a very long time. That's possibly why it was so cheap.

Let us know what you think of it after a few weeks of use. Enjoy!

You can't put a price on the enjoyment and education/learning you will get from your HQ-160. Of course, we all want you to use and enjoy it in good health. Are there any younger folks, neighbors, students you can share your HQ-160 and other radios with?...today's young folks can also enjoy and appreciate them if we take the time to explain them.

Interesting that you got a 160. I had read your earlier "what to get/" thread and was thinking of suggesting a 160, or more to the point my 160. I have had it 6 years or so, it's a great receiver ( and I have a 180 also...I actually prefer the 160.

As Dave Doughty mentioned you may find issues with the micas in a couple of the IF transformers (T1&T2..maybe, been a while) I replaced the micas in mine because of "static" and poor sensitivity , it's an "interesting" but not impossible job.

To answer your questions the tubes are common and easy to get from any of the tube dealers, most of the caps are disc and should be fine, the filter caps should be replaced but you can get the elect. caps from any of the normal sources (Mouser, etc) and resuff the can or not as you like.

I was thinking of selling my 160 just to thin the herd. I won't tell you what I would have sold it for ( don't want to make you cry) but it would be pick up only so wouldn't have worked anyway.

You will enjoy the 160. You made a good purchase.

Andy

I seem to recollect a few on ARF complaining about Ebay setting unrealistic highs and now praising that purchase. Its still a $200-250 radio at best until the new standard was set. Watch others appear soon.

Dave

The internet selling (Ebay, Craigslist, etc) I think is alot to do with psychology (illogical and otherwise) along with a bit of intelligence. For example, a few years ago I remember a person described themself as being a teenaged girl who was selling a Hammarlund HQ180A that had belonged to her grandfather, who was recently deceased. She had good pictures on Ebay, but had absolutely no description of the radio, along with two long paragraphs of how distraught she was over her grandfather's recent death. When that auction ended, she fetched significantly more money than any 170 or 180 had previously on Ebay. So, it paid her dollars simply to tug on everyone's heartstrings. She had no need to have to write up any description or to know anything about the radio, or to ask anyone if they knew anything, as her marketing scheme trumped them all. For all we know, she may have been someone else, making up that grandfather story. As ILikeIke wrote above, there's definitely a market value range for the radio, but there's often on Ebay the extra required amount to cover the extra perceived value that certain brands/models have with the buyers & collectors on Ebay. Case in point.. good Heathkit tube testers models TC's and Knight KG-600's will every day of the week fetch alot more money than a perfectly "mint" Triplett model 3413, even though the TTT3413 was factory-assembled-calibrated & much higher quality components than the kit-built brands...it has to do with the perceived online values, which often have little basis in the actual market value of the item. The TC's and KG's are exact copies of the TTT3413. Another example, the Coletronics model B-16 add-on tubesocket box I purchased off Ebay ten yrs ago for $14 now gets at least $75; even though its actual market value is about $20.

Fred

Since there is actually a product detector (as opposed to earlier designs), the lack of AVC on SSB appears to only be due to the grounding of the AVC line in the SSB position. Looking at the schematic, it appears you can have AVC if you want it by simply removing the ground from the front wafer of switch S6-F (the SSB-CW/Manual/AVC switch). Make sure you retain the ground on the rear wafer though (S6-R). The down side is that it is then also ungrounded in the Manual position although I've seldom had any use for disabling an AVC so it's not much of a loss. Whether the time constant will be acceptable is another matter.

Of course you could always mount a miniature toggle switch "under the hood" so you could choose whether or not you want AVC by using a switch selectable ground.

If you want the S-Meter to work as well you would also have to jumper the connections on S6-R that connect one leg of the S-Meter to the center of R28 the Zero Adj. potentiometer. Of course this could also be done with the toggle switch above if you use a DPST switch. Then wire it to Open the AVC Ground on one pole and Close the S-Meter connection on the other pole. If you used a 3PDT switch you could even patch in an additional capacitor on the AVC line if the AVC action was too fast for SSB.

I used an Audio Derived Hang AGC on an HQ-129X and it worked great on SSB. There was no product detector so the above trick was not an option. The circuit used a twin triode, a couple of dual diodes and a hand full of resistors and capacitors. I now have a semiconductor version of the design I never had an opportunity to try (the HQ-129X is long gone).

Curtis