Heathkit HW 8 Vintage QRP Transceiver

My latest vintage radio restoration project. I have now restored three classic HW-8 transceivers and really enjoy working on them. This one has a unique S/RF meter and a few nice upgrades. Also featured are the outboard Radio Shack DSP unit and a museum-quality HW-8.

[@billhensel7418]

Great job...I have had three HW-8s...fun radios indeed.

[@randyminnick5832]

Very nice! I ran the HW-7 for several years back in the '70's and 80's. QRP is fun stuff!

[@wxfield]

Hi Bob, I just received my Tech license after an expired Novice from the early 80's. I dusted off my HW-8 I built with my grandfather in 1979 and I know it's "normal" for new Techs to go to 2m phone straight away..but I discovered I was too mike-shy and it was easier to QSO with CW..my wpm is still on the low side..but my copy is getting better. LOVE the HW-8 too. Cheers and 73. KC1JWG.

[@captlarry-3525]

Velly nice bob. You have reason to be proud of the resurrection of a radio that was such a mess into what you now have. Kudos.

[@N4KRX]

Nice work...very impressive!

[@retro440]

Bob, I restore and operate, too. I have put many vintage rigs back on the in CW, SSB, and AM. Similar to your HW-8, I have encountered a number of 40 and 50 year old radios that never worked until they found their way to my bench. Getting an old boat anchor (or canoe anchor, for that matter) back on the air or on the air for the first time is quite a feeling of accomplishment. As I write this, I'm listening to some CW on 75 meters with my HR-10, DX-60, HG-10, HD-10, and Johnson Match Box vintage combo. See you down the log!

[@richardarland8894]

I honestly think you and I are twins....separated at birth!! I have restored about 4 or 5 of the HW-8s and at least 2 HW-7s over the years. Great job on the paint, "body work", love the meter.....and I totally agree, that R-S DSP unit really works on these rigs. Now, since I viewed this vid, I am going to find another HW-8 to play with. (I found good homes for all the others....unfortunately I didn't keep one for me!) Vy good job. Rich K7SZ

[@radiok2ua]

Nice video, Bob. Nice job on the radio also.

[@AnthonyJones-vk6xq]

Bob, awesome video, now for me this is amateur radio at its best, look forward to working you when i get an antenna back up here in our new house in France. CW...QRP.....old radios what more could you want !

[@TheRudydog1]

NICE! A fellow restorer and collector. 73.

[@jstrunck]

Excellent work!

[@TinkerJohn_W5CYF]

Very nice restoration of the HW-8. Hope to meet you on the air. 73 John/W5CYF

[@Varianna12]

Hyper cool mods. I cut my QRP teeth on one as a novice. Astounded to be able to work west coast on 15, most states on 40. Pretty good for a novice in 1975.

[@cooker4409]

the meter looks cool....looks like it works both ways, eh?....my first transceiver was an HW-8 kit for my 15th birthday....also ran a donated dx-40 with a knight VFO, a handful of crystals, and two receivers....an old s-53a, and a dx-160 I got for some sweat equity at a guys' house one weekend....excellent for 40M CW...blew the front end of the rcvr out by forgetting to hit the standby switch when I replied to a guy....man....back in the day....

[@marknesselhaus4376]

Bob, back in my younger ham years in the 70's I bought and wired up a HW-7 and HW-8 and was forever hooked on QRP operation. Strictly homebrew now. I just received a HW-8 off of ebay and so far the receiver seems to be good to go but have yet to test the transmitter section. The loading cap C303 is stuck so I need to try to free that up and the PCB has sagged in the middle to where some of the trim cap lugs were touching the bottom case. Plus the soldering looks a bit wonky but no cold joints that I can see. Any ideas from your end on those too issues? I might try heating the PCB with a hair dryer and see if I can reduce the warp but do not want to damage any parts along the way ;-) Anyhoo, hope you have a Happy New Year de WA4JAT

[@chuckyocom5684]

Bob, great pair of hw-8 radios. It was my 1st radio back in 1980 as a Novice. Picked up a 2nd one many years later that had zero mods to it! What is the meter you have on the 1st HW8 you talk about, and what info can you pass along about the digital dial output mod on your 2nd HW8?

[@aerobob427]

Thanks John, I hang around the QRP frequencies, particularly 7.040. Hope to hear from you!

[@aerobob427]

eBay is always the best bet, but be careful how the item description is written. Some sellers will say things like, "Puts out good power and receives on all bands" or something similar. But they're not telling you the VFO jumps, the transmitter chirps, or some other defect. I got stung on one of these last year but was able to restore it with MUCH work and 28 years of experience in industrial electronics, plus 45 years of hobby experimenting and kit building. Good luck, hope you find a good one!

[@tookthe5th182]

Great work Bob! Picked up one of these recently for $100 in pristine condition with no mods! Worked when I fired it up but did an alignment, QSK board and audio amp board as well as the s meter mod and top lighting for the dial and meter. Have not made any contacts with it yet due to real crummy band conditions and I think everybody is running FT8. Do you know or anybody else know how many of these were produced by heathkit? Mine is ser #9868.

[@aerobob427]

Yes, if you look at my channel you'll find one. Both work quite well with just some minor upgrades. In my book, anything green is a fun project!

[@mark2727]

WB3T DE KD5SMF, I own a HW-8 that isn't working. fortunately the rest of the station products that came with it do work like the HW- Antenna tuner for the QRP handles 100 watts out, and the power supply. I have not had time to chase the circuits as I wanted to get my HW-7 working first but that one isn't either. Unfortunately, I haven't had the time or the money to invest in their repair. I wish someone would just write a definitive book on the HW-7 & 8 transceiver's covering their original specifications through the mod's & how to repair, restore the radio's. Nice job on your project & I enjoyed the video... 73's de kd5smf

[@zappatx]

Look up the HW-8 Hotwater Handbook - all sorts of mods and I think it's been remade. It's becoming a big hit thus everyone paying a premium for HW-7 and HW-8 on the ham classifieds.

[@jamesgeorge1709]

Where did you get the Heathkit green paint? Ace hardware scanned it and gave me a perfect match.

[@cooker4409]

well....there was an HA# station at about four minutes in....sounded good out of the HW-8....had one in the early 80's....run K1 Elecraft rigs now, one at the mancrib/hamshack, and one that stays in the backpack for SOTA's and campouts/hikes….cool.

[@randyminnick5832]

HA3FTA 599! Wow!

[@Varianna12]

They come up on eBay, de temps en temps. 73, Charles

[@MARRANCA2]

ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE! Very tastefully restored and in QUITE useable condition. (Do you restore HW-7s??) John KB2HSH

[@aerobob427]

Oh and by the way, eBay items listed as "untested" means "broken, does not work." They provide some excuse for this like "no power cable" but you know they could test it with clip leads or similar. Sometimes the radio will fire up, transmit, and receive but has some malfunction that could require a part that is long obsolete and can't be found, like in the case of the HW-8, the T/R relay. Don't fall for the "no antenna" excuse either, a resistor works fine for testing. Just feel for the heat.

[@retro440]

"Used" which, by definition, means has some wear, but, works as intended. In practice, it means 'broken' just like 'untested' does.

[@MooneyDriver74531]

Bob, have you thought about finding a basket case HW8 and removing the analog dial and replacing the front panel to include a digital dial and DDS vfo? That is my current project and think it should be fairly easy to do since the vfo does not need to worry about band switching. Very nice video. Jim, WA7DUY

[@stormshadow5555]

I would love to hear and see an A/B comparison between the DSP outboard filter and your analog outboard filter you show on your webpage. Which sounds better and which is more effective?

[@cwolf8277]

Nice Job! I have the HW-8 my dad I and I built in the late 70s. What is the freq counter you have there?

[@janetwinslow2039]

Great looking HW8. But how do you go about restoring the front panels? One-off screen-printing costs a fortune, so how do you do it? Thanks.

[@aerobob427]

Sorry, I found that around the shack, I've had it for quite a few years. I can't say I have any idea where it came from. 73.

[@YabbaRays]

What colour do you use for respraying? I have one needs repainting. Does 'Heathkit Green' have a close colour equivalent in auto paint? Thank you.

[@richterdfr]

Hello Nick, Heath used several different shades of green over the years, feel free to change shades, it's your property. Some equip. has a dark faceplate/light cabinet and some the reverse. Look around for a paint store, maybe a Home depot, that can laser read the paint and make you one or more spray cans of paint. If you want the exact factory-new shade look under the front escutcheon and you will see what I mean. One technique is to clean the cabinet/faceplate and then use a small water color brush to prime and then paint the places where the paint chipped and then to overspray with clear satin finish paint. Much better results than you might think. 73's

[@TheHarleynut]

Do you have any information on the S-meter you have installed? Thanks Bill/WB5UEP

[@torch39]

Outstanding Bob! Now I'm motivated to restore mine and as well the Heathkit HM 2102 SWR Meter. On that subject, do you know the color code/name for the HM-2102 main Chassis? Secondly, if you have a web site I can refer to for HW-8 parts I'd appreciate it. It appears that you know what you're doing. 73s! KJ6UFY.

[@danielbulckaen6562]

Hello i am french 70 years old and i am looking all aroud the world to find and bUy a HW8 from heathhkit . in France it is quiet impossible to find one of them and i like very much trafic in qrp mode.. is it possible to get one of them in U.S.A Where . a Good bargain ? Thanks for the answer 73 DANY