The Heathkit AR-3 Communications Receiver

[@tonyblackmon6356]

I bought one of these in 1958, and spent a few hours building it. Since then, I have went through a lot of equipment, but nothing will ever compare to the first radio I build from a kit. I wish I had another one already built, as my eyes are totally gone. I have very little vision and my hearing is bad as well. But the memory of building this radio will always be one of my favorite memories.

[@vonzigle]

This brings back memories! It is long gone, but an AR-3 was my first (and only) receiver as a novice ham in 1958. For several years, I used it on 40 and 15 meters with fair results. Used a Heath Dx-20 as a 50 watt transmitter, later adding a Knight VFO after getting my general ticket. It was eventually replaced by a home brew receiver, the HBR-16. Fun days!

[@garymckee4342]

How many of you remember tubes and how you could go into a local store that would have a testing machine and a supply of the tubes you might need. Great days to be a kid listening to short wave.

[@garymckee4342]

Boy does this video bring back memories. I built mine in 1959 when I was 13. As you can guess my soldering skills were pretty terrible and when I was finished, no sound would come out of the speaker so my dad had to get someone to find the problem. I had managed to ground both of the speaker connections. I later bought the QF1 but found it really didn’t make any difference

[@jasontwynn7356]

I have two of the AR 3 radios,paid 5$ each at thrift store. Love them,I use them with a old CB speaker hooked up. The speaker inside is very noisy. They work great with a 200 + foot long wire in backyard .

[@TerryMcKean]

Nice!... you have the whole setup now, , with this AR-3 receiver and the AT-1 transmitter and the recent VF-1 VFO acquisition. :-)

[@radioguy1620]

well done video and lots of good info .

[@AndyDaviesByTheSea]

Thanks for sharing that. I think the original owner would have been very pleased when he got this radio up and running and I guess he would have mastered that twitchy tuning knob pretty quickly, it looks like it's a direct connection to the tuning capacitor. I recon it would have been responsible for a bit of involuntary split frequency operation. Kind Regards ... Andy gw0jxm

[@HarleyFXS]

I bought one just like it at an auction, I put a piece of glass in mine, couldn't see through the plastic. Mine also worked after all those years. I got the assembly instructions that came with it and still a box with some spaghetti tubing that he had left over. I paid $5 for mine.

[@wa4aos]

Hi Jeff, I really enjoy your well done videos covering some of the earlier Heathkit pieces. I have an AR3 that I need to restore as well as an AT1. I have the Heath QF1 and would like to see if I can get enough selectivity to make a few Q's on 40 meters at some point. 73, Glenn WA4AOS

[@radioguy1620]

just found 2 at an antique store near me for 65 dollars each , one powered up and had some reception. other untried.

[@captlarry-3525]

I have a love-hate relationship with this receiver.. I express the love by not smashing them ! I got this kit as a Christmas gift when I was 12, and tried to build it in a marathon session with only a weller soldering gun ( !!) a screwdriver and a pair of needle nose pliers. naturally, the radio never ever worked. Not Heaths fault ! The problem with this as a beginners kit is that it requires things no beginner has.. chief among which is a signal generator. If there are problems, then you need a VOM to find even simple component failures. And you need the skill and knowledge to use them. If you had that knowledge, maybe you can use your ears and the broadcast band to get the IF aligned, and then work up the bands using WWV.. to get you close...and known signal freqs to work on calibration and peaking. But no beginner has those skills or tricks ! 40 m has to be a bear, and any higher band for ham use.. silly to contemplate. While the parts quality is quite high, and the manual is excellent ( typical heath), this is a $27 radio..and it has the stability and other attributes of one ( ok of a $50 factory job).Which is to say it is a glorifed multiband AM radio. It is miles ahead of the AC/DC Hallicrafter S-38 Abominations and the National SW54..but that aint saying much. I did buy a used AR-3 as an adult.. it worked for very casual SW listening, and in a pinch you might use it for 80m cw. On 40.. the total lack of frequency specificity requires your xmtr be xtal controlled... SSB ? surely you jest. Suggesting a general coverage rx for a new ham to operate with.. never very good advice. For aspiring hams they had their place. There is no comparable rx in the later heath line up.. because this thing was really kinda awful..it was at home with a lot of other bottom of the market recievers that were also kinda awful, and among them it's pretty good. ( knight kit regen folks.. don't write me ! )

[@fourfortyroadrunner]

I used one of these for awhile in about '65 when first licensed, bought used. 80/40 was it, NOone would try to use these on the 15M novice band. Every modern young amateur should be required to tune and listen on something like this just to see 'where they came from' LOL Freq calibration was not really all that important, as you used xtal transmitter control, and the senior locals could help you check that for freq as well as transmit spurs. Sort of like operating xtal QRP today!! I worked the far corners of the US and Canada on 80 with 75W input, the obligatory 6AG7 / 1625 homebrew.

[@vonzigle]

fourfortyroadrunner There's always exceptions, I guess--I used my AR-3 on 15 meters quite a bit! The sunspot cycle was at its max, so reception was amazingly good, and collected many QSL's. This was in the 1958-1960 time frame...

[@nobodyyouknow222]

Only B+ above the chassis would be on the coils supported by the bracket . Hard to get fingers in there with the cover on.. but most of us had no covers. Not an issue even then. AC/DC competitors could be deadly.. as wall sockets and plugs were unpolarized, and wall socket wiring was not standardized for hot and neutral wire placement ! W6WUH

[@CALNWNC]

Looks like your 3:1 main tuning drive is stuck solid. Drill 3 small holes in the larger part of the main tuning shaft between the cap and the pulley for the string drive, deep enough to penetrate the larger one gaining access to the inner shaft but not too deep to mangle the inner shaft. Soak with penetrating oil. Takes several days of doing this and working it back and forth and you will restore the proper tuning action. If you use WD40 instead of real penetrating oil, be sure to work in a goodly amount or real oil afterwards. WD40 will mess up the ball bearings eventually.

[@jefftranter]

+Clint Wilde I don't have a full manual and it was not at all obvious that this was a vernier drive. I have seen this problem with some Heathkit test equipment. I'll see if I can get it unfrozen, hopefully without resorting to drilling. Thanks for the tip.

[@jefftranter]

+Clint Wilde I spent the last few days applying WD40 and periodically moving the tuning cap, and sure enough, the reduction drive started turning! I oiled it and put some grease in the bearings and it is now turning nicely with a 6:1 reduction ratio.

[@captlarry-3525]

DeOxit D5.. and then light oil . Save the WD-40 for displacing moisture in your ignition.. all it is good for. The overspray from deOxit wont mess up your tuning cap !

[@KennethScharf]

I think that the GR-64 would be a logical replacement to this radio.

[@nobodyyouknow222]

Jeff, thanks. The AR-3 really was pretty miserable, with mechanical stability too poor to worth anything on CW... although it could work on 80M . I built one xmas of 1957 when I was 12 with a 100 w Weller soldering GUN. It never worked ever, and I was too young to know how to fix it. I bought a used one in the 80's which did work. Compared to the AC/DC Hallicrafters SX-38 or National SW-54 ( also ac/dc) this WAS a better radio. But it is a glorified AM radio. Beginners didn't know better. Compared to the war surplus BC-312 or Arc-5 it was crap. $5 more for the cabinet was a LOT in those days. If your transmitter was a homebrew 6V6 with a plug in coil.. this looked Good !

[@fourfortyroadrunner6701]

Not nearly as miserable as an S-38. I recently acquired a 2nd Hallicrafters S-19 "Sky buddy" and for all the fancy, it's no better, really, than an AR-3

[@mikesamyn7054]

I just purchased one on eBay. My dad in the 50's built it or the AR-2 but is now long gone and I wanted one for memory sake. Do you have the kit's manual for the AR-3 and would you consider making me a copy, paper or PDF? I'll pay for your time. Or maybe where I can get one? Thanks for the video.

[@jefftranter]

There are some partial manuals on sites like tubularelectronics.com and mods.dk. If you need the full manual or specific pages, let me know and I can scan them.

[@mikesamyn7054]

Jeff Tranter , Thanks I'll do some research and let you know. - Mike

[@jefftranter]

I just checked, and the manual on mods.dk is a complete one.

[@mikesamyn7054]

Hi Ron, Thank you for the tip! They indeed had the complete manual. I very excited about receiving the AR-3 I purchased on eBay yesterday. It is supposed to be in working order but I'm sure I may need to replace the capacitors. Do you have any experience on this process and/or how to evaluate the condition of the capacitors? Best Regards - Mike KM6KWG

[@jefftranter]

You could check the caps for leakage with a cap tester like the units Heathkit used to make, but I would automatically replace the electrolytic caps with new ones. I would also replace any wax paper caps but my notes indicate that, at least on my unit, there were none in this radio. Other caps should generally be okay.

[@jefftranter]

You should be able to download a partial manual from the site mods dot dk (KZbin won't let me post a link).

[@goldenwonderland]

How much do you think these are cost today?

[@jefftranter]

You can check eBay completed listings for "Heathkit AR-3" and see some recent prices -- in the US$40 to $100 range, depending on condition They tend to sell for less at hamfests and flea markets. The original selling price of US$27.95 in 1956 is equivalent to over $250 today.

[@goldenwonderland]

Jeff Tranter Okay, thank you for your response!

[@imjustpassinthru]

A heathkit in a box unopened would go for an astronomical price, even the AR-3. There is so much nostalgia about them. Vacuum tubes were much more fun than circuit boards and computer chips.

[@ralphmacdonald7928]

I bought one of these on EBAY a few years ago. It was inoperable then. I had to clean up a bad connection within an IF transformer. Converted the tube rectifier to solid state and changed out the power supply capacitors. Found a replacement for the missing volume control knob. Great working radio on my bench today.