My diminutive Heathkit HW-8 saw action last night for the first time in easily 25 years or more. Thanks to a technical overhaul from one of the gifted technicians in Benton Harbor, as well as the generosity of my friend K4VIZ, the little QRP wonder saw life again on 40 Meters yesterday evening. I was reminded of the high quality receiver in these beauties as I scanned 40 and found an abundance of signals, many so strong I had to attenuate the RF gain to keep the little HW-8 from dancing right off my operating desk. And I answered the first CQ I heard, and W3DF immediately returned my call. Dan and I proceeded to have a wonderful ragchew despite the ubiquitous QSB that haunts 40 at night, and we also achieved what I suspect is a bit of a rarity - a Heath-to Heath contact. Dan was enjoying his vintage station, he told me, running a Heath DX-60 and a Hammarlund HQ-170 receiver. And my 2-watt titan peaked at 599 on occasion some 700 miles away, and I doubted there were any more satisfying contacts on 40 that night. (73/72! WA4FAT)
Posted on: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 14:29:45 +0000
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