Favorite pre and post WWII General coverage receiver to use.

[AA1OH]

OK what pre and post WWII General receiver did/do you like to use. And why. It does not have to be the best performer, just the most fun. My oldest is the most fun, a 1922 Kennedy model 311 It has a "sw" switch for that below 200 meters crap. It is a one tube regen. Fine tuning is done by waving your hands near it and then holding still as it has no shielding. Post war-A National NC-183 NBS1. Far easier to use that the HRO Series.

[NQ6U]

Drake R4 series.

[WØTKX]

I don't have it anymore, but the Hammarlund SP-17 SuperPro that I restored and tweaked as a kid kicked ass. Home brew FET (blasphemy) preamp for the upper frequencies and a Q-multiplier made for a powerful receiving station. The "ARC" tank radios were fun, and got repurposed for VFO duty for a while too.


Have a number of cool late 70's / early 80's rigs, but I'm big into SDR these days.

[AA1OH]

Drake R4 series.
You did not tell us why you like the Drake.

[KG4NEL]

I've heard the R4 from more than a few people that I trust, technically...

I have a hankering to get a DC-powered regen for portable use, just something to dick with when camping. My first SW radio was a battery-powered solid state regen.

[AA1OH]

Oh yes Drake made fine radios-I had a 2B with the Q-multiplier that worked very well. TRF and regen radios are great. Were I lived in California (Tustin) I used a 5 tube trf set from 1924 and could pick up WWL/WLS almost every night.

[NQ6U]

You did not tell us why you like the Drake.

Good sensitivity and selectivity as well as being easy on the ears with that nice, smooth tube sound. I could listen to it for hours without aural fatigue, which is more than I can say for any of my more modern radios.

[N8YX]

Drake R4 series.
Drake R7. Interfaces easily with my TR-7s, is general overage and a darned good performer...takes me back to the high-school daze and the CB craze. Yes, an area buddy and his dad had a complete 7-line station set up for 11M. :roll:

Kenwood R-820. Interfaces easily with my TS-820S, but only if you have the Special Cable. While not quite general coverage, it does have a few features that the Drake lacks...such as Variable Bandwidth Tuning.

Yaesu FR-101. All "conventional" (non-WARC) ham bands plus selected SWBC bands, 4 Aux ranges (though somewhat limited coverage due to the rig's IF scheme). Had provisions for an FM detector and 6 and 2M receiving converters. Apart from an optional CW filter there isn't much in the way of interference reduction on this one...but an external AFDSP unit seems to handle most objectionable noises. I like the FR-101 because it features a completely analog signal chain - no synthesizer hash at all. Is very pleasant to listen to, and it's the rig which monitors our local 10M hangout 24x7.

[KK4AMI]

I liked my Realistic DX-150 (maybe not on technical merit) but because my Dad bought it for me and it took me through my teenage years. Best listening radio I think was the R-390, but obviously not for your night stand. I finally settled for an R-71A, not because it was soothing to the ears (that hiss started to feel like somebody pouring sand in your ears), but because of its frequency accuracy (I'd discovered the World Radio Handbook by then).