[ARC5] Hallicrafters receivers.

[Richard Knoppow]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joe Connor" <joeconnor53 at yahoo.com>
To: "Fuqua, Bill L" <wlfuqu00 at uky.edu>; 
<kgordon2006 at frontier.com>
Cc: <Arc5 at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Monday, May 13, 2013 11:02 AM
Subject: Re: [ARC5] Hallicrafters receivers.


I just wonder if Hallicrafters made a mistake after the War 
of trying to be too many things to too many people. Look at 
where they strayed beyond making solid communications/ham 
receivers (and transmitters):

1. Television sets;

2. Cheap receivers, such as the S-38;

3. Receivers for the wealthy but casual listener, such as 
the SX-62.

Perhaps this was the result of business necessity. I don't 
know.

Joe Connor

    Without internal records its pretty hard to know what 
motivated business decisions.  National also got into TV and 
cheap receivers (SW-54).  I think Hallicrafters model was to 
cater to a market that wanted good value at reasonable 
prices. They did that pretty well for a long time.  They 
also pushed features more than actual performance.  They 
also featured some of the latest technology but not always 
well implemented, for instance the Lamb noise blocker in the 
SX-28 and the beam deflection balanced modulator used in a 
couple of their transmitters.
    The SX-72 was intended to meet the specs for the 
SP-600-JX.  It may be more stable because it has filament 
regulation on the oscillator. That does make a difference.
    Collins always catered to the market for deluxe and 
expensive equipment.  Even during the depression when Art 
Collins started his business there were some rich people who 
would pay for prestige; I think Collins set out from the 
beginning to cater to those folks. He also got into making 
commercial equipment early and established his company in 
the aeronautical radio business and somewhat later in the 
broadcast industry.  These were markets Hallicrafters for 
the most part ignored, at least at the time. But 
Hallicrafters was unique in supplying _affordable_ equipment 
at a time when most people did not have a lot of disposable 
wealth.
      All of the companies who catered to the ham market got 
involved with military contracts during WW-2. Many expanded 
greatly. Once the war was over the contracts dried up and 
many smaller companies did not survive.  It was during this 
period that we find the proliferation of models and types of 
equipment being made, evidently an attempt to compensate for 
the loss of the military market. Collins did better than 
most but it was also in the period that they began to make 
receivers as well as transmitters.
     It is interesting that none of the "big three" 
(Hallicrafters, Hammarlund, National) survived and Collins 
was driven out of the ham market by newer companies like 
Drake.


--
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles
WB6KBL
dickburk at ix.netcom.com