Our friend Dean KK4DAS is about to start the rehabilitation of his dad's old HQ-170A. A search for that receiver led me to Jay Rusgrove's very interesting measurement and analysis of old tube type radios. Jay's results appear in the links below. More important is his very clear description of how the tests were done and what the results mean (link below). Also included is one link showing a discussion of Jay's work.
Jay notes:
The decision of which boat anchor receiver(s) to own is seldom based on performance alone. A combination of favored manufacturer, period of manufacture, features, collectability or even just 'looks' often rank higher on the priority list than receiver performance. Even if one were interested in performance specs much of the available information is subjective as few receivers manufactured prior to the mid 70s have undergone standardized testing. Hard data on minimum discernable signal (MDS), blocking and two-tone IMD dynamic range is interesting to some operators and important in an historical context as it shows the progression of receiver development.
Jay designed the very first real transmitter that I homebrewed (The VXO 6 Watter from QRP Classics). Jay has been mentioned many times in the SolderSmoke podcast and blog:
Jay's results: http://www.w1vd.com/BAreceivertest.html
Jay's methods: http://www.w1vd.com/Receivermeasurementbasics.html
Discussion: https://www.antiqueradios.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=96872
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