|
New to Ham Radio?
My Profile
Community
Articles
Forums
News
Reviews
Friends Remembered
Speak Out
Strays
Survey Question
Operating
Contesting
DX Cluster Spots
Propagation
Resources
Calendar
Classifieds
Ham Exams
Ham Links
List Archives
News Articles
Product Reviews
QSL Managers
Site Info
eHam Help (FAQ)
Support the site
The eHam Team
Advertising Info
Vision Statement
About eHam.net
|
|
You can
write your own review of the Heathkit HW-16.
|
K9PU
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Jun 5, 2009 22:04
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Good RTTY rig
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
I ran the HW16/HG10 back in my early general days (mid '70's), mostly on RTTY (I had far more primitive rigs as a novice). A good 90 Watt rig, zero beat your freq., and you are good to go. For RTTY I did a slight mod to the VFO (for FSK), then a HB tty demod, and a model 19. Actually a pretty decent rig on 80 and 40 meter RTTY as I remember (maybe back off the power a bit for 100%duty). As I understand it worked on CW as well, what more could you want? Never figured out why they didn't make a 5 band HW16. Good times.
Scott
|
|
KE0MT
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Jun 5, 2009 15:36
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Great CW Rig
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
Now here's one of the most under appreciated rigs out there...I mean QSK 500 hz filter good rx good tx what more do you want? I've had a couple of these the one I have now I did convert 15M to 20M per QST and was a worth while Mod Change Xtal and Output taps retune rx for 20M an easy mod and makes the rig much more useful.
I use mine about once a week or so its just a fun rig and those tubes glowing...this is a
REAL RADIO
|
|
WA7NCL
|
Rating: 4/5
|
Apr 23, 2009 15:34
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
good in its time
|
Time owned: 6 to 12 months
|
I had one as a novice in the early 70's.
It had a good RX. Filter was set up for CW only so selectivity was great. It covered the CW portion of the bands so tuning was good with plenty of bandspread. The price was good for a novice and it was a kit, so you learned by building it.
It also had some not so good things. No SSB RX due to the CW filter only. The side tone was disgusting. The neon relaxation oscillator was horrid. It did not have a loading control in the pi network so impedance matching was limited to 50 ohms.
For modern use there are also several things not so good about it. The compactron tv sweep tube in the final must be hard to find now. It was Xtal controlled so you need a VFO for modern use.
It might be interesting for a new ham, but only if it could be had for less than $50. I wouldn't pay $100 for it. On the whole its the sort of thing I'd expect to see given away to a good home.
I would never consider one for my primary rig in the 21st century.
|
|
W8ZNX
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Apr 19, 2009 13:00
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
runs and runs
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
after a few years
had to re post yup it still works
this is one of the most for the least
radios ive ever had
its one great simple runner
mac dit dit
|
|
KL7AJ
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Oct 13, 2008 13:56
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Warts and all
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
One of my elmers had this rig, sans VFO, when I was first licensed. Put a lot of hours on the thing back in 1972, till I got my own station.
I now have my own HW-16 and HG-10 VFO as an integral part of the "vintage corner" of my shack. I don't know how many novices got on the air because of this rig, but it has to be countless.
Like any CW rig of this style, the way to operate it is with the audio gain way up high and just enough R.F. gain to do the trick. The break-in on this rig when operated like this is silky smooth....as good as anything out there, even by today's standards.
It should be required by law that every ham operate this rig once in his life.
eric
|
|
W5JH
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Sep 17, 2008 13:46
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Great Old CW Radio
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
|
Like a lot of other hams, I owned one of these radios when I was a novice (about 1970). I bought it used from a local ham. It was the first time I had used a transceiver. My previous radio was a SX-99 and a Globe Scout Deluxe. I fell in love with this radio. I sold the radio somewhere along the way and have regretted it. A couple of years ago a member of the local radio club was selling 2 of these units for a very fair price. He said one was working and the other one had "major problems." I grab them both thinking I would find the time to rebuild them and use them again. Well it took a couple of years but I finally found time. My friend was correct. One was working and the other one....well it needs some work. I obtained a re-cap kit from Tom at http://www.Hayseedhamfest.com. I recapped the one working and it works very well. There is a simple mod to improve receiver sensitivity which I made and the receiver hears about as good as any of my other radios. Recently, I purchased 2 more HW-16s. I gave the 1st one to a friend who loves the thing. I have rebuilt one of the other radios I recently purchased. I use it with HG-10B VFO and it is performing very well and is a pleasure to operate. I am still working on the other two left to be fixed. I am not sure what I will do with these radios once they are working but I really enjoy fixing them and then operating them. The QSK works better than any I have ever heard. The double conversion receiver (someone below mentioned it is single conversion but that is wrong) works extremely well for such a simple design. I truly believe that this radio represents one of Heathkit's "finest hours." Find a Hw-16, rebuild it, use it. You will be a happy camper.
|
|
K5LG
|
Rating: 4/5
|
Jun 3, 2008 08:12
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
fun little rig
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
|
had the rig in the late 70s. was fun to op cw and gud qsk. also had the vfo with rig. a fun rig
|
|
N3QE
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Jan 22, 2008 11:16
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Further comments on a fine radio
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
I wrote a review of this a while back, and have some further thoughts:
The HG-10 (or HG-10A or HG-10B) VFO is a fine addition if you don't want to be crystal-bound. In fact, I find that chirp to be less of a problem with the VFO than with crystals. I'm not sure whether this is a knock of the ancient crystals I'm using or of the HW-16's oscillator circuit! (My old crystals chirp in other vintage rigs too.) There's a mod that involves a VR tube to help stabilize the 6CL6 oscillator but it's not a cure-all.
Again, the QSK on this radio is excellently simple and transparent. Did I mention transparent? It really honestly feels like I can hear the band with my key down.
CW selectivity is pretty good but not as good as a modern "contesting" rig. More than good enough for casual QSO's but combine with the rig's lack of ALC, and it really does abuse your ears if you try to use it in a contest with some big guns.
From that last comment you can assume that I worked the 2007 Sweepstakes and CQ WW DX contests with my HW-16. Did pretty good. The QSY'ing tedium (having to turn both the VFO and receiver knobs) is an admitted limiting factor during contest operations and you won't get the rate that you get with scanning the band with a single knob.
Especially on 80M I work other HW-16 owners pretty often. It really is a necessity to replace the filter caps on these if they're 40 years old. I get compliments on my rig's tone, but if you have 40-year old electrolytics in yours you will get a raspy 60Hz buzz rather than a nice tone!
|
|
AE4GM
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Nov 28, 2007 07:02
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
HW-16 praise
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
|
I purchased my first rig, the HW-16, in 1985. It was, and still is, a fantastic rig. I am only interested in CW. Tried other modes. Not interested. After a while my rig began to smoke from ancient electrolytic capacitors. My #1 Elmer ,Carl K4ME, gave me a parts list of replacement equivalents and then installed them for me. Back on the air!! Eventually I got an HG-10 VFO (was using crystals) to chase CQ's. I used that rig for about 10 years before getting a solid state TenTec Triton 4. After many years in storage I found a relic CAQZ "flameproof" straight key while cleaing out my late dad's attic. The key plug fit the HW-16 and works great. At first the rig took a while to get going. After a thorough cleaning, sanding rust off the base plate and painting it (bad storage arrangement), it is back on the air and doing great. I am still amazed at the sensitivity of the receiver. The HG-10 is still with its original paint job and looks super. However, the exterior condition of the HW-16 was pretty awful when I got it through a high school radio club. I painted it black and re-lettered the front panel with gold transfer lettering. Sorry to change it but you had to be there. Anyway, the HW-16 is a fantastic rig and deserves honor in the vintage rig department. 73's. Brock AE4GM
|
|
KC8JRV
|
Rating: 4/5
|
Aug 27, 2007 13:56
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Initial problem with dial
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
Now that I think back to the assembly of the HW-16, I recall that the lamination of the tuning dial was poor on my first dialface, resulting in a "hitch" when rotating the dial. It would tend to "hang up" at that point.
My father and I wrote to Heath, describing the problem, and without problem, we received another in less than two weeks. (We lived on the other side of Michigan!)
However, installing the replacement proved to be a challenge, as the unit had to be dis-mantled, and unbolted to allow the plastic dial to be bolted back onto the faceplate. However, with small fingers and much determination, I succeeded, and I suspect my original dial face still sets in a drawer someplace in my father's house, awaiting rediscovery when it is sold off.
Did anyone else have difficulty with this? In know that the VFO that was the companion piece more than occassionally had fracture problems with the lucite band tunning roll bar. Can anyone confirm this, or if there were replacements ready available?
Just wondering!
|
|
If you have any questions, problems, or suggestions about Reviews,
please email your Reviews Manager.
|
|
|
|
|
