The Lafayette HA600A is a lovely communications receiver. In this video, I show you around this particular model.
The Lafayette HA-600A is a classic Japanese-made, American-branded communications receiver from the early to mid-1970s. It was designed for amateur radio enthusiasts, shortwave listeners and anyone interested in receiving international broadcasts. With its large illuminated tuning dial, silver controls and substantial metal cabinet, it’s a fine example of 1970s communications equipment.
Unlike the earlier valve-operated Lafayette receivers, the HA-600A is fully transistorised. Although it looks like a traditional valve communications receiver, it uses solid-state circuitry throughout.
The receiver covers five bands, including long wave, medium wave and shortwave.
Band
Frequency range
This coverage made the HA-600A suitable for listening to international broadcasts, amateur radio transmissions, Morse code, maritime communications and other HF signals.
Features
- Mechanical IF filter: The 455 kHz mechanical filter provides improved selectivity, helping separate closely spaced signals.
- Product detector: Unlike simpler shortwave receivers relying entirely on a basic BFO arrangement, the HA-600A incorporates a dedicated product detector for SSB and CW reception.
- Bandspread tuning: A second tuning control gives more precise tuning across the 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10-metre amateur bands.
- RF gain and antenna trimmer: These allow the operator to optimise reception, especially when working with different aerials.
- Automatic noise limiter: Helps reduce certain types of impulsive interference when listening to AM transmissions.
The HA-600A was a comparatively sophisticated receiver for its price, although it was not in the same performance class as the more expensive communications receivers from Collins, Drake or higher-end Japanese manufacturers.