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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
W2PA Rating: 2005-04-21
Minimal yet fun Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I was surprised to see this item listed but no reviews entered. Heathkit must have sold truckloads of them in the 60s and early 70s. I built this kit at age 11 and used it for SWLing until I got my Novice license in 1969. I then continued to use it to operate primarily on 40m (paired with a DX-60B xmtr) until I got a better receiver months later. So I might as well go first.

Aside from abysmal sensitivity, selectivity governed only by the audio section, grossly coarse calibration, and dynamic range just above zero, this is a fine receiver indeed. ;-)

Although it's not a very good ham radio receiver, The GR-64 was enormously fun for me and thousands of other beginners and SWLs back when it was sold. I recently saw one sell on eBay in original kit form on eBay for close to $1000! The price of nostalgia is high indeed.

The GR-64 will let you listen to the more powerful international broadcasters reasonably well and generally explore the radio landscape between 550kHz and 30MHz in four bands. It has a BFO so you can also use it to make CW contacts on 40 or 80. 20m should be possible but I've never tried it. 15m starts to stretch its capabilities.

The sensitivity falls off sharply as you tune above roughly 15MHz. Selectivity is non-existent anywhere; you can count on hearing every signal within a window as wide as your hearing range. Connecting the GD-125 Q-multiplier helps remedy this somewhat. Calibration is just enough to get you within 10%. For example, the 40m band takes up all of a quarter-inch or so on the main dial. The uncalibrated bandspread enables you to tune in stations more easily.

It's a minimal yet fun general coverage receiver, good for learning about how receivers work, tinkering with improvements - but not really suitable for communications. There are several sites on the Web that talk about modifications. It's roughly in the same class as many others from the late 40s through the 70s that all trace their heritage back to receivers such as the Hallicrafters S-38. Heathkit's "upgrade" model from the GR-64 was the GR-54 (inverse numbering, I guess).