[Boatanchors] Comarison?

Fri Dec 18 15:12:39 EST 2009

Id rather have (and do) a TS-830 with the remote VFO. A much better receiver 
when you have the cascaded SSB and CW filters, robust low IMD 6146B's or 
other versions, great ergonomics, digital display....PLUS features such as 
adjustable noise blanker, adjustable TX processor, selectable AGC, 
selectable RX attenuator, RIT/XIT, all HF bands except 60M, IF shift, 
adjustable IF notch, passband tuning, tone control, very stable no phase 
noise VFO,  no crud generating synthesizer, great VOX CW and SSB, self 
contained, minimal and generic IC's, fantastic manual. What is there not to 
like? Oh I forgot to mention, its reliable. I actually have 4 of them now 
with 3 dedicated to IF's for VHF to microwave transverters.

Prices are going up but deals are out there. One with all the filters, mike 
and full manual cost me $250 and another $175 for the remote VFO which isnt 
required for many. All were in the $200-250 range and I added filters when 
needed and a couple of remote VFO's. Thats even cheap enough for Eddy (-;

No Heathkit can handle strong signals, at least Drakes improved with each 
model and there were several quality aftermarket improvements.

Carl
KM1H

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Edward Swynar" <gswynar at durham.net>
To: "Singley, Rodger" <rbsingl at ilstu.edu>; "Bob Macklin" 
<macklinbob at msn.com>; "Boatanchors list" <boatanchors at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Friday, December 18, 2009 2:20 PM
Subject: Re: [Boatanchors] Comarison?

> Rodger makes a very strong case in favour of the Drake Twins, to be 
> sure...
>
> I am lucky enough to own, or to have owned, both sets here---i.e. an
> SB-301/400, & A "vanilla" R-4/T-4X---and while the Drake receiver does 
> offer
> the possibilities of relatively easy-to-incorporate WARC bands & 160, if 
> all
> you're ever going to operate is the "traditional" HF Ham bands, then the
> simplicity of the Heathkit is hard to beat...ditto the price!
>
> Similarly with the T-4X vs. the '400: unless Topband and/or AM is in your
> future anytime soon, the Heath is tough to beat.
>
> Irregardless, BOTH marques---IMHO---are INCREDIBLY affordable these days! 
> I
> purchased my R-4, T-4X, matching Drake speaker, AC-4 power supply, and ALL
> the manuals for a paltry $350.00 two years ago! (NOTE: that'ds CANADIAN
> dollars, too!).
>
> That'd hardly make-up even the down payment on a "rice rocket" in to-day's
> Ham retail world.
>
> Plus---and to me this is a VERY big plus!---both the Heath & the Drake 
> stuff
> are still VERY serviceable by most average Hams (have you looked into the
> innards of any of the new "appliances" on the market to-day...?).
>
> ~73~ de Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ
>
>
> *********************************
> .
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Singley, Rodger" <rbsingl at ilstu.edu>
> To: "Bob Macklin" <macklinbob at msn.com>; "Boatanchors list"
> <boatanchors at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Friday, December 18, 2009 2:08 PM
> Subject: Re: [Boatanchors] Comarison?
>
>
>> Bob,
>>
>> I own Heathkit SB-301/401 and 303/401 stations along with all of the 
>> Drake
> 4 line versions.
>>
>> The Heathkit gear is very good but from my experience the R-4A or 4B
> outperforms the 301 and matches the 303.  The R-4C, once equipped with the
> proper filters, will outperform the earlier 4 line gear and is thus even
> better.  Additionally the Drake line covers 160 through 10 (the SB series
> doesn't cover 160) and WARC bands can be added to the 4 line.  The 
> receiver
> has either a standard or in the case of the 4C optional noise blanker, 
> this
> is not available on the SB-303.  The Drake passband tuning works very well
> on both sideband and CW.  If you are interested in AM the T-4 series
> transmitters do provide AM transmit capability.
>>
>> The SB series is attractive and the SB-401 does offer "real" transmitting
> tubes instead of the Drake sweep tubes but I have never run into an issue
> with the sweep tubes in the Drake.
>>
>> If I had to choose one or the other, it would clearly be Drake.  For the
> best performance, the crystal filtering system in the R-4C works well but
> they are optional (except for the standard SSB filter and a resistor 
> jumper
> which enables AM).  So for the R-4C make sure it has the filters you need 
> or
> prepare to buy them.  For most use, the standard sideband filter plus a 
> 500
> cycle CW filter is a good setup.  One of my R-4C's is equipped with the
> standard SSB plus 1.5, .5, and .25 filters; the other is the same except 
> it
> has a Sherwood narrow filter.  The 1.5 khz. filter is useful for SSB 
> contest
> usage.  My R-4C with the Sherwood filter is the best receiver I have found
> for weak signal CW on 160.  The early R-4C receiver had positions for 2 CW
> bandwidths (total of 4 bandwidth positions), the later production adds a
> 3'rd position for a total of 5.  If the R-4C does not already contain the
> noise blanker prepare to pay a lot for it.  It is a pretty sophisticated
> circuit and does a
>>  good job but it is expensive if you have to find one.
>>
>> The Drake R-4B uses the final IF to provide the selectivity and thus all 
>> 4
> bandwidths are standard.  The filtering is good but doesn't have the same
> sharp skirts as the R-4C.  Passband tuning works well on both receivers 
> but
> it works extremely well on the R-4C and you can make loud interfering CW
> signals disappear with a small turn of the passband knob.
>>
>> Good luck with your choice.
>>
>> Rodger WQ9E
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: boatanchors-bounces at mailman.qth.net on behalf of Bob Macklin
>> Sent: Fri 12/18/2009 12:39 PM
>> To: Boatanchors list
>> Subject: [Boatanchors] Comarison?
>>
>> I would like to know how the Drake R4/T4 twins compare to the Heath SB
> twins.
>>
>> I have had a Heath SB-301/SB-401 pair for many years. The SB-301 has all
> three filters so it's as good as it gets.
>>
>> My question is how do the Drake twins compare to the Heath twins. I have
> had friends that preferred the Drake twins over the Heath twins.
>>
>> The Collins S-Line is outside my budget and I don't see a major
> improvement for the money required. I think the Collins thing is mostly 
> SNOB
> APPEAL!
>>
>> Bob Macklin
>> K5MYJ
>> Seattle, Wa.
>> "Real Radios Glow In The Dark"
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>
>
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