Picked up the HW8 today from Chuck KD9DVB at the Brownsburg IN Hamfest. It came with a matching Heathkit power supply, the venerable HWA-7-1, a set of Hi-Z head phones and an adapter for the antenna connection to go from RCA to SO-239.
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| Photo by Jeff KE9V |
Got it home and gave it a visual inspection and my heart went pitter patter the whole time. I installed it on my desk and got it all hooked up and started calling CQ. The first thing I noticed was the dial is off by about 23 K too high. Dial says 7075, actual freq is more like 7050. Not a big deal as half my radios don't even have a dial read out. I wonder if I can find a Freq Mite ( http://www.4sqrp.com/freq-mite.php ) for this thing?
So after calling CQ a few dozen times I checked the Reverse Beacon Network to see where I was transmitting, and how loud my signal was. The RBN is an invaluable tool for any HF operator.
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| Click to Enlarge |
I settled on a SKCC frequency of 7050 (reported as 7049.9 by W4PCA) and called CQ twice and was answered by Carroll down in Maryville TN. We exchanged signal reports, he was 589 and he gave me a 589 but said I dropped to 579 at the end. Band conditions were terrible. (SSN:14 SFI:75 A:20 K:2) We had some QSB trying to thwart us but we carried on. Carroll is a 79 year old ham and he's been at it for 62 years. His TS-590G and 100 watts to the inverted vee, was making it through on the HW8 just fine. My HW8 was pumping out 1800 mW according to my WM-2 watt meter. I used my Nye Viking Master Key.
So my first state with the HW8 WAS quest is Tennessee. Only 49 more to go!
de KB9BVN
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