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I used this hefty 80 pound
transmitter for many years before buying a Heathkit Transceiver.
The separate transmitter-receiver combination was pretty universal
in the years before the Japanese took over the amateur radio
market and introduced the transceiver. Not only was the latter
much more convenient to use, it became a work of art compared
with the very functional design of the older separates. One didn't
any longer buy a new rig on the strength of its name but more
what it looked like in the glossy brochures, when one usually
worked out comparative value by an extraneous feature such as
£'s per knob..
The HT37 is down to earth and
provides SSB, switchable to upper or lower; DSB or AM and CW.
It uses a VFO and covers the old HF amateur bands 80/40/20/15
and 10. The last band is limited to the section 28.5 to 29 MHz
unless one plugs in different heterodyne crystals.
Power output is rated at an
honest 70-100 watts PEP SSB, 70-100 watts RMS CW, and 17-25 watts
of AM.
18 valves are used with a pair
of 6146s in the final amplifier. On the front panel are a couple
of controls for reducing the carrier and it's possible to reach
extremely low levels by turning on the receiver whilst the transmitter
is powered up (not forgetting to turn the mic gain to zero!)
and nulling out the residual carrier. Voice operated transmit
is selectable together with special contacts on the rear for
nulling out feedback from a local loudspeaker.
Originally the rig was powered
from 115 volts AC but at some time I converted it. I have a recollection
of the old transformer failing which would imply that I fitted
a new 240 volt type.
Soon I hope to fire up this
old rig and again operate it on 80 or 40 meters. I'll use either
an AR88 or an RA17 receiver but first I'll have to organise an
aerial relay and the external cabling that these, unlike modern
transceivers, require before they can be used. |
