HEATHKIT HW-9

A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY:
THE HW-9 IS THE 3RD IN HEATHKIT'S QRP TRANSCEIVER SERIES. THE FIRST ATTEMPT, THE HW-7, SUFFERED FROM SOME SERIOUS PROBLEMS ON RECEIVE. THE NEXT RIG, THE HW-8, FIXED THOSE PROBLEMS AND BECAME THE POPULAR RADIO IT STILL IS TODAY. FOR $130 IT WAS A GREAT DEAL FOR MY BUDGET AND SERVED TO GET ME ON THE AIR. SOMEWHERE IN THE EARLY 1980'S THE RUMORS BEGAN THAT SOMEONE WAS GOING TO PRODUCE AN ALL BAND WELL EQUIPPED QRP CW RIG. SO IT WAS WITH MUCH ANTICIPATION FROM THE QRP COMMUNITY THAT HEATHKIT INTRODUCED THE HW-9 IN 1984.
THE HW-9 WAS A BIG STEP UP FROM THE EARLIER RIGS. OF COURSE ONE OF THE BIG DIFFERENCES WAS THE SUPERHET RECEIVER VERSUS THE OLD DC RECEIVERS. ANOTHER HUGE DIFFERENCE WAS THE INCREASED POWER. RATED AT 4 WATTS OUT (3 ON 10 METERS). TO GO ALONG WITH THAT WAS THE FULL BAND COVERAGE. (YOU HAD TO BUY THE BAND PACK OPTION TO GET 30, 18, 12, AND 10 METERS - BUT FOR THOSE WHO DID IT WAS WORTH THE EXTRA BUCKS.) ANOTHER NICE FEATURE IS THE RIT. AND YOU COULD COMPLETE YOUR QRP STATION WITH A MATCHING TUNER, SWR/POWER METER, SPEAKER, AND POWER SUPPLY.
BUILDING THE HW-9:
BUILDING THE HW-9 WAS A BIT MORE COMPLICATED THAN THE HW-7 OR 8. THE HW-9 HAS 2 FULL SIZE CIRCUIT BOARDS WITH MANY MORE PARTS. HEATHKIT, HOWEVER, HAD CONSTRUCTION MANUALS DOWN TO A FINE ART SO ASSEMBLY WAS NOT HARD AT ALL. THE EARLY HW-9'S HAD THEIR PROBLEMS JUST LIKE ANY RIG. MOST NOTABLY WAS THE VFO ASSEMBLY. AS THE PROBLEMS AND FIXES WORKED THEMSELVES OUT, BY THE END OF PRODUCTION IN 1991, THE HW-9 WAS A CLASSY RIG.
TECHNOLOGY WAS QUICKLY OVERTAKING THE HW-9 AND HEATHKIT. BY 1991 HEATHKIT DROPPED THE KIT BUSINESS ALTOGETHER AS MORE PEOPLE WENT TOOK THE "APPLIANCE" OPTION AND OPTED FOR THE MANUFACTURED RIGS. SO WENT THE HW-9. ALTHOUGH WHAT A TESTAMENT TO RIGS LIKE THE HW-8, AND 9 THAT THEIR POPULARITY STILL EXISTS TODAY - AS DOES MUCH OF HEATHKIT EQUIPMENT.

DX'ING WITH THE HW-9:
ITS HARD TO BELIEVE BUT (OTHER THAN THE K2) THERE'S NOT BEEN A QRP KIT ON THE MARKET THAT HAS AS MANY FEATURES AS DOES THE HW-9. SURE YOU CAN GET A MANUFACTURED RIG, BUT THERE'S SOMETHING SPECIAL ABOUT OPERATING A RIG THAT YOU BUILT. THE HW-9 WAS NERVER MEANT TO BE A DX MACHINE. BUT FOR QRP PURISTS THE RIG HAS SOME MAJOR ADVANCES OVER THE HW-8.
FIRST THE FEATURES:
1) ALL BAND CW COVERAGE
2) SUPERHET RECEIVER
3) 4 WATT OUTPUT (3 WATTS ON 10)
4) RIT
5) FULL CW BREAK IN
6) 250 HZ FILTER
NOW THAT MAY NOT SEEM ALOT BY TODAYS STANDARDS, BUT HOW MUCH DO YOU REALLY NEED. THE RECEIVER IS ACTUALLY QUITE SENSITIVE. THE 250 HZ FILTER WILL TAKE CARE OF MOST QRM EXCEPT IN THE BIGGEST CONTESTS. OUTPUT IS ENOUGH TO MAKE MOST CONTACTS IF THE BAND IS OPEN. IN FACT MOST HW-9'S WILL EASILY PUT OUT MORE THAN 4 WATTS ON THE LOW BANDS. (5 WATTS OR BELOW IS QRP) I RUN MINE AT 4 OR 4.5 WATTS. 3 WATTS ON 10 METERS IS PLENTY TO BAG SOME GREAT DX.

NOW FOR THE QUIRKS:
1) PROBABLY THE MOST NOTICABLE LIMITATION IS THE LACK OF A SECOND VFO. THAT WOULD HAVE MADE A NICE ACCESSORY. IN ADDITION THE RIT IS ONLY 1 KHZ. FAIRLY STANDARD IN 1984, BUT NOT THESE DAYS. THE GOOD NEWS IS MANY DX'PEDITIONS WORK THEMSELVES OUT AND TOWARDS THE END THEY NORMALLY GET TO "UP 1" OR ON FREQUENCY. ANOTHER QUIRK IS THE UPPER SIDEBAND SUPPRESION COULD BE BETTER ON THE HW-9, BUT SOMETIMES YOU CAN PICK UP A FAINT (BUT READABLE) SIGNAL ON THE UPPER SIDE OF THE BFO AND STRETCH THE RIT A LITTLE. (WELL YOUR NOT STRETCHING THE RIT REALLY BUT YOU GET THE IDEA.)
2) THE HW-9 NEEDS ABOUT A 30 MINUTE WARM UP. AFTER THAT THERE IS LITTLE OR NO DRIFT. BUT IT CAN BE DISCONCERTING WHEN A NEEDED COUNTRY GETS SPOTTED AND YOUR VFO DRIFTS A LITTLE.
3) THE ANALOG DIAL! WELL, THIS ISN'T REALLY A QUIRK, BUT ITS NOT DIGITAL. IN ADDITION THE HW-9 DIAL IS NOTORIOS FOR LACK OF LINEARITY. MOST OLD TIMERS ARE USED TO ANALOG DIALS AND ONCE YOU KNOW THE DIAL VARIATIONS, ITS REALLY NOT A PROBLEM. IF YOUR QRP DX'ING YOUR PROBABLY SEARCHING FOR STATIONS, NOT CALLING CQ. YOU CAN ALWAYS ADD A SIMPLE 25 KHZ MARKER.
4) SPEAKING OF THE DIAL, THERE IS NO BACKLIGHT. THIS MEANS AT NIGHT ITS A GOOD IDEA TO HAVE A GOOD LIGHT AVAILABLE.

A HW-9 WITH THE WARC BAND PACK WOULD COST ABOUT $520 DOLLARS IN TODAY'S DOLLARS. YOU CAN USUALLY FIND THEM ON LINE IN THE $200 - $400 RANGE. NOT A BAD PRICE FOR A SOLID RIG WITH SUCH GREAT PERFORMANCE. THE KEY IS YOUR OPERATING SKILLS AND AN EFFICIENT ANTENNA. AND YOU DON'T HAVE TO SPEND A TON OF MONEY TO HAVE AN EFFICIENT ANTENNA. (SEE ANTENNA PAGE). CONTRARY TO WHAT THE BIG RADIO AND ANTENNA COMPANIES WOULD HAVE YOU BELIEVE - DX'ING DOES NOT EQUAL DOLLARS.
IF YOU DO COME ACROSS A HW-9, TRY TO FIND ONE THAT DOESN'T HAVE ANY MODS DONE TO IT (OTHER THAN THE HEATHKIT RECOMMEDED FIXES). THE REASON IS USUALLY A OLD RIG WILL RETAIN ITS VALUE (OR INCREASE IN VALUE) IF ITS ORIGINAL, ESPECIALLY IF THE CASE IS ORIGINAL. IF YOUR NOT CONCERNED WITH KEEPING YOUR HW-9 ORIGINAL, THERE ARE MANY MODS OUT THERE ON THE WEB AND ALSO A PRINTED BOOK, "THE HW-8 HANDBOOK", THAT ADDRESSES MODS FOR THE HW-7, HW-8, AND HW-9.

CURRENTLY I USE THE HW-9 MOSTLY IN CONTESTS WHERE THE MAJORITY OF QSO'S ARE SIMPLEX. THE CHANCES OF FINDING ONE OF THE LAST 50 OR SO DXCC ENTTITIES OPERATING ON FREQUENCY AND/OR WITHOUT A PILEUP THAT NEEDS SOME GOOD FILTERING IS SMALL. BUT FOR FUN AND JUST THE NOSTALGIC VALUE ITS STILL A GREAT RIG TO OPERATE AND OF COURSE, YOU JUST NEVER KNOW. THAT'S WHAT MAKES QRP SO MUCH FUN.

OVERALL THE WORST LIMITATION FOR DX'ING WITH THE HW-9 IS THE LIMITED RIT. EVEN A 2 KHZ RIT WOULD HAVE MADE A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE. WITH NO SECOND VFO AND A 1 KHZ RIT LISTENING INSTEAD OF RELYING ON SPOTS, MAKING A PLAN ON WORKING DX'PEDITIONS, AND AVOIDING LARGE PILEUPS ARE A NECESSITY. I HAVE FOUND THAT CONTESTS ARE THE BEST PLACE TO INCREASE MY HW-9 DX TOTALS. A GOOD KEYER AND A GOOD AUDIO FILTER COME IN HANDY FOR CONTESTS. I AM USING A HEATHKIT AUDIO FILTER THAT MATCHES THE HW-9 EQUIPMENT ANOTHER GOOD FILTER IS THE NESCAF FILTER. IF YOU CAN FIND A FILTER THAT WILL GET YOU BELOW 100 HZ YOU SHOULD BE IN GOOD SHAPE.
THE HW-9 IS A FUN RADIO TO OPERATE. OBVIOUSLY FOR SERIOUS DX'ING, EVEN AT QRP LEVELS, OTHER RADIOS WITH NEWER TECHNOLOGY WOULD BE THE ROUTE TO GO. BUT THE HW-9 CAN HOLD ITS OWN FOR CASUAL DX'ING. WITH GOOD OPERATING TECHNIQUES YOU CAN HAVE A BALL WITH IT. OF THE 289 ENTITIES I HAVE WORKED, I HAVE WORKED 236 OF THEM WITH THE HW-9. SOME OF THEM LIKE 9Q, HV, A7, AND YB, I HAVE ONLY WORKED WITH THE HW-9.