Good Morning All, Well, I spent the better part of the day yesterday retrieving a set of Drake Twins from a fellow Ham living some 2+ hours away from me (one way!)...was the drive worth the bother...?
In a word, YES! My initial impression of the receiver (a "first generation" all-tube R-4) is VERY positive: I love the passband tuning feature, and that calibrated main tuning knob --- in 1-KHz markers --- is clever, and effective. It's also a very pleasing rig to the eye, and looks FB sitting next to its matching T-4X transmitter. I have no doubt whatsoever in my mind, that, had I known better back in 1983 --- when I stood "...at the crossroads" and took the quantum technological leap from my Heathkit SB-400 & Hallicrafters S-77A, to a brand new Yaesu FT-980 --- I would surely have shopped around for a good used set of Twins then... I was really racked with guilt about throwing my lot in with a microprocessed technology that the FT-980 presented, having had the ability of repairing anything & everything in my shack up to that time...and, like a fool, I did not even consider the possibilities of taking the Drake route, and instead, pondered the chances of buying a good, used Collins S-line, instead, back then. I ended-up passing the S-line by, because it did not incorporate 160-meters. Well, it took some 24 years, alright, but an old wrong has been righted at VE3CUI --- and I could not be happier with this self-presented Christmas gift, I can assure you! Merry Christmas to all, & my vy ~73!~ Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ
