I just bought a Hammarlund HQ129x.
We don't see as much of vintage amateur (or general coverage) receivers overhere in Holland (or the EU in generaly) as you do in the states.
After WW2 ended, there was a lot of surplus left behind, but civil equipment is more difficult to find.
Last week I was able to score an HQ129x for a reasonable price. The receiver had been in Holland for some years. It was used in the '50's as part of an AM Ham station. When the owner passes away, the receiver ended up in a private collection, and was never used since.
The seller had it hooked up to the power outlet, (I would have done it differently), and reported it still worked.
When picking up, he showed it again and I have to admit, it still has some selectivity and sensitivity. No signs of smoke
I ordered a repro manual. Got it today, so it's time to start a restoration and recalibrate and tune the RF stage and IF filters.
To keep a long story short
I do have some questions regarding the HQ129x.
1. What does the suffix X mean?
2. The "first" owner in Holland had replaced the 115v (US) hV transformer by a 220v (EU) transformer.
The secundary is 270v-0v-270v. That would mean a DC voltage of almost 380 volt presented at the capacitor input filter. It will probably sag a bit under load, but I would like to know what the original (nominal) DC voltage was. Or the original transformers secundary AC voltage.
3. The owner had repainted the outer cabinet light grey. I would like to restore it in it's original color. Did the cabinet had the same color as the dark grey bezel?
Was it a (Dark grey) wrinkle finish?
4. The serial number is 11115, and has the 15m band on the bandspread dial as well. Does that mean is was a later production model?
If it is, are there more updates done by Hammarlund to this later model?
5 Not seen on pictures of early models, but mine has an 8pins (tubesocket) accesoiree plug on the back. Is this original?
6. As with many receivers, the tuning knobs on mine have been replaced with larger ones. A bit more modern too.
Does anyone have the original knobs for sale?
7. The front panel is still usable, but it started to corode slightly. Next to the corosion, the paint has discolored a lot. Instead of the blue/grey color, it's more coffee colored.
Are there repro panels for sale in the US? Or is there someone who does silkscreen prints the HQ129x panels?
Plan of attack is as follows:
I've ordered capacitors to recap most of the parts. Will check on the resistors too.
Check all the voltages and finaly retune the RF and IF stages according to the manual.
Sandpaper the outer cabinet, and apply a light wrinkle coat (If the original had a wrinkle finish). VHT paint only sels black and red wrinkle paint overhere, but I plan to spraypaint the final color over the black wrinkle layer.
Anyway, every bit of info on the HQ129x is very welcome.
Thanks in advance,
Martin, PA4WM
