http://www.ebay.com/itm/330699372727

I bought it. I figured with this I at least have a case for the R-390A that came today (the last case on ebay sold for 500), and with the HQ-180AX in there with the IF silencer, I'll be able to make a good working one out of this one, and the 180A I currently have.

Anyone have some spare feet for this thing?

Wish me luck! The seller is already trying to bilk me out of 6$ insurance because they underestimated the cost (against ebay rules), AND asking how to pack and ship this thing.....which will undoubtedly lead to the seller asking for more $$$.

Good score! There's something a bit odd about the escutcheon on that cabinet though.... what's with the curved corners?

Only thing I see weird is the custom fab plate around the edge of the 180 face to mate it to the cy-979a cabinet. Is that what you mean?

If anything, getting your hands on a noise blanker is the real score.
Not everyone knows what the concentric knob on the limiter does.
I have two 170-A/VHF's that have that as a factory option. I find mine quite
effective and helpful as I have an electric fence.

Peter

Agree about the Lamb Silencer, it came stock in my HQ-180.

Carl

And heeeeeeeeeeere we go!

Check out this message I just got.

"Dear quadlibet2001,

Wow that was fun to wrap! Finally on it's way as we speak! Took $10.00 of packing peanuts and 2 rolls of tape. Craziness. My hubby wanted to make sure it was arriving safe.

- collectorgnwild"

$10.00 worth of packing peanuts, and 2 rolls of tape...

Can't wait.

Yeah. It's pretty well done, whoever made it.

I don't like the sound of that...

Hope for the best...

Oh CRAP!! I thought it was coming from Indiana..... It will leave the Spokane sort station to VA today....

Nice score indeed - good spotting! It would be interesting to know the story behind this - HQ-180's didn't normally have an R-390A style Twinax antenna connector did they?

and the twin fuse holders are another military trait.....

Please post some photos and let us know about any identifying info you come across.
cheers,
Nick K4NYW
http://www.navy-radio.com

I figured it well worth the 300+ dollars just for the case, IF silencer, and X additions.
Looking at the photos there is some internal framework not stock to any 180 photos I've seen either.
Will be interesting to look under the hood.

Someone did such a good job with knocking off the original decorative ring on the 180 face and mounting this bracket to fit the cy-979a case, that I may have a hard time scrapping the idea. I have a 180A here that's looking like it will need even more work to bring it around (see my numerous posts on the fits this thing has given me). If this 180AX is operational, then I'll use it when my wrist tires from a r-390a I have here, or if I feel like doing a quicker bandscan, or SSB. Also, I've been trying to come up with ideas to patch the r-390a 455kc out to the 180A via a relay/switch so I can have a HC-10 of sorts (I guess.... Will definitely be hearing questions from me later on about this).

But let me not put the cart before the horse. It's being shipped in packing peanuts from more or less Spokane to DC.

And here's the pix.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 0a1716eba8

Not too sure what this relay is about (pictured next to the main tuning flywheel weight).
But I hear it clicking when selecting either the VFO or crystal selection.



I brought it up on an isolated variac. At first it was pretty bad. No reception save for the broadcast band, and only once tuning up the dial a bit it would come through.

This thing has sat, for a LONG time. I wiggled tubes in their sockets, and it came to life. Not more than 10kC off on any band either.
The 60kC IF could use some help, as it's more of an attenuator than a filter.
I can't make sense of that burn mark above the big choke. Been cooking it all day with SSTV on 40, and it's only slightly warm to the touch.

All in all. It's ok for being bounced around from basically Spokane to DC in packing peanuts, and paper towels.

There's a 6AU6 where a 6BA6 (IIRC) should be. Every tube is the military spec number (1978 date codes). The missing tube shields don't make sense, but then again neither does mounting this radio in a CY-979A cabinet.

The dual fuses are one to each leg of the AC line. 2A in one 3A in the other. The twinax connector is soldered to the balanced screw leads on the antenna terminal. That extra framework??? Who knows!

Someone put a lot of time and effort in this radio, and judging by the thickness of the front panel adapter, they sacrificed quite possibly an r-390(a) panel to do it.

Too cool for school. I think I'll leave it, and wait for another case for the R-390A
For 300+ $ I think I lucked out.

I think you're gonna wait quite a while before you find another real R-390 case (at least at anywhere near that price), Mike! However rack cabinets that will fit your HQ are a dime a dozen, you just need to keep looking.

Anyhow, VERY nice score! Your 390A looks quite stately in its new home.

The missing tube shields are "on purpose" as Hammarlund removed most of them in the 180A. It seems that the tubes run cooler without them and I'm sure the bean counters loved that. If you find a 180a that has shields on all the tubes, it's because somebody added them because they thought they were missing.

Looks like another great score. You have been on a roll here lately Mike. You need to start spreading it around a little bit.

Tony

I forget what they're called, but there are shields that dissipate heat from the tubes.

The IERC shields are excellent but scarce as the audiophools found they have magic properties. In the late 60's thru 70's when I was refurbing 390A's for a dealer most already had them installed.

Carl

I forget what it's called, but I have another 180A here that removing the tube shields while the radio is on most definitely changes the reception/tuning.
This has me wondering if the removal of the shields can be compensated by an alignment. Like there's an alignment with the shields on, and an alignment with the shields off.

I also wonder about that 6AU6 in a 6BA6 socket. A sub called for because of a mod?

I just happen to have an update document here with updates from Hammarlund, including mention of the shields and tuning cap covers. Here is what it says:

"It has been found on the HQ-180A receivers that the tubes will have longer life with the tube shields removed/ Therefore, the tube shields on tubes V1, V4, V6, V7, V10, V16, and V18 have been eliminated.

Also, after extensive environmental testing, it was found that under certain conditions the plastic dust covers for the main tuning and bandspread capacitors served very little useful purpose and in some cases caused system degradation. These dust covers and tube shields have been elminated on all present and future production runs of the HQ-180A communications receivers and do not appear on the receiver as shown in the illustration of the top view of the chassis in the present manual."

I would expect that shields would affect alignment for some tubes like the oscillators, but it seems likely that the set was aligned with everything as-is (unless your shield complement differs from the list above). Some radios (like the tube Zenith TOs) need to be aligned while in the case because the surrounding materials affect the alignment.

If I remember right, the 6AU6 is not a good sub for a 6BA6 if the stage has AGC applied to it because the cutoff characteristics are very different.

Tony

I have a question that might be shot down right away, but is there a way to run the 455kC out of an R-390A to one of the crystal sockets on the panel of the 180AX ala instant hc-10?
Seems way too easy, but then again, I haven't a clue so that's why I'm asking.