Hiker's "Four"
Homebrew
Regenerative Shortwave Receiver
There's really no such thing as a
Hiker's 4...until now. This is the fourth variation of the
Hiker's project that I have built based on the info at http://www.oldradios.co.nz/hikers
This time I went with a pair of
'modern' 3Q5-GT battery tubes. These are considerably less costly
than the original 49 types. Being designed as a battery-operated
tube they work fine with a C-cell for the filament and a pair of 9 volt
transistor
radio batteries for the plate voltage. I mounted the battery
holders onboard as a convenience.
The tuning cap is a 100pf vintage brass Pilot miniature type using a
Pilot 'Kilograd' vernier drive and I have equipped the receiver with
two
coils, one tunes 3.0-5.6 MHz and the other tunes 5.4-10.5 MHz.
The lower left control is a 6pf ceramic type vernier tuning control.
Rigid brass rod of 1/16" diameter
is used for the set's internal circuitry wiring. Dual antenna
inputs are provided, one direct and the other using a 5pf cap for light
loading. No trouble with 'dead spots' when tuning with my antenna.
Coils are wound on homemade phenolic forms that use an octal
base. Three windings are incorporated - antenna, main rf tuning,
and tickler.
The cabinet features a 1930s "waterfall" design with burl veneer on the
top and front. Nicely toned with hand rubbed lacquer as the
finish.
As with the previous Hiker's projects this is a very good performing
2-tuber, particularly in light of the low voltage requirements.
...
5 August 2006
