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Reviews For: Heathkit shortwave radio GR-64

Category: Receivers: General Coverage

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Review Summary For : Heathkit shortwave radio GR-64
Reviews: 21MSRP: 45.00
Description:
1.5mhz-30mhz includes local AM band receives in AM mode only. Tube radio.
Product is not in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00212.9
KB0XR Rating: 2013-11-16
ok for what it is Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought one of these at a flea market about 30 years ago. Paid $2 for it. Took it home and restrung the dial cord. Cranked it up and heard plenty of stations. Gave it to one of my kids who promptly dropped it down the basement stairs which totaled it. He threw it away so I wouldn't know what he did. I forgave him.
W2PIR Rating: 2013-11-15
"Every journey has a beginning..." Time Owned: more than 12 months.
It was my first "big" project when I was 12 years old (I think I was 12, been so long!) when I saw the link at the top of the eham page, I was blown away to see my old friend.

My mom and dad bought it for me for $40.00. Took about two weeks to build, and it worked from the start. Spent many an hour tuning around. Heck, even receiving WWV was a thrill.
W2DDG Rating: 2013-11-14
Good for what it is Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Built one of these back in the day. Was fun. I have one now, carefully aligned it, and it's pretty decent for SW and BCB. Just make sure you align it and check the tracking. The BFO control can be tweeked a bit, like a old regen set to increase sensitivity. I also put a GD-125 Q multipler on it, and it does a fair job with CW. Not great, but nice.
KK4DBI Rating: 2012-10-06
RADIO IS GREAT Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I got a GR-64 secondhand, the radio is great for what it goes for price, just imagine the inflation since the sixties, pick this up for 60$ in todays money and you are getting great radio value. Don't buy this for the HAM bands as it was not designed with this as a priority, instead it gives you a broad range of frequencies to choose from. The tuning requires a little finesse but it is not difficult! I don't understand why people are grading this radio against a class it wasn't even designed to compete against. It deserves more than a 2.5 Cmon people!
WB3ILM Rating: 2011-11-02
Built while in USAF Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I built this radio while living in quarters for airmen with 1st Sgt's ok to leave out on my table during build. Had to clean up area and cover when not working on it. Had a friend in radio shop give me hand aligning it with shop equipment. Worked ok as had ant on roof of Quarters (100 ft plus long) 1st Sgt ok also.
Still have it and my son just got it running with only new tubes.
KL2TC Rating: 2011-11-02
My first radio... Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Hey, I could give this radio a 5 or a 1. This radio was given to me on Christmas 1964 by my Pop. For that reason alone I love it, therefore the 5. We put it together and it didn't work, we went to see one of Pop's ham buddys and after a quick scan by him, it did. I used the radio from 1965 until I left home in 1971. After that it sat on Pop's desk and he used it for listening to AM.

I grew nostalgic while spotting one on eBay and put a low bid in. I paid more for shipping than for the radio. The caveat was that the radio didn't work. When I got it I could see why. After fixing it up though, and hooking it up to all of the antennas that I have, it hears pretty good. Coarse tuning? Hell yeah. Sensitivity? None. What the hell though, I love this radio just for what it means. It also smells really good when the tubes heat up.

I'm going to be looking for another one just for parts.

73

Al
AE5KA Rating: 2011-01-14
It was a good kid project Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This was my first Heathkit after cutting my teeth on Radio Shack P-Box kits. It was fun to build and seemed very complicated at the time. Naturally, it didn't work when first fired up. I sent it off to Heathkit and they fixed it. Interestingly it came back with a big 2 watt resistor on the board where there was a 1/2 watt one before.

I pulled it out of a box last week and hooked it up to my vertical. Amazingly, all the tubes glowed and it works like it did.

The dial calibration was always non-linear, no matter how many times I re-aligned it, but it was still a cool thing to mess with at the time. Of course, I still lusted after the GR-54 my best friend's big brother had....
KD0FAT Rating: 2010-02-05
Is it worth rebuilding? Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Back in 1969, when I earned my novice ticket, my elmer loaned me a HQ 129x. After a few months, the Hammarlund went back. I saved up my paper route money and ordered a Heathkit GR-64! Building the kit was exciting, I could hardly wait to hook it up! And then...the poor thing was deaf to all but the strongest signals. After the HQ 129x, this was a real disappointment...

Well, I recently found the old wreck in my Dad's shed, and all the pieces are still there. Maybe, just maybe, if I put it back together, and align it properly, maybe use a preselector....

Or maybe not..... Al KD0FAT
VA3DXV Rating: 2009-05-06
I want it back :( Time Owned: more than 12 months.
My grandfather built one of these back in the day, and he gave it to me when I was very young and getting interested in radio. It had sat in the garage for many years before I plugged it in and started hearing the world. It wasn't great, but it was my first exposure to HF listening and I remember it fondly.

While still a kid, I made a trade with someone and like a fool I included this radio in the deal. I regret that now more than any other deal I ever made. This was the only radio of his I ever had, and he passed away a couple of years ago.

Over the years, tons of rigs have come in and out of my possession. None of them matter as much as this one. You can have them all, every last one, I don't care... Just give me back my grandpas GR-64 :(
KE5GK Rating: 2009-05-03
Not as good as AR3 Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Sold my AR3 to buy this kit.

Bottom line: Bad Mistake!