[Boatanchors] New Addition To The Shack!

[Michael D. Harmon]

Hi All,

I was browsing yesterday in my neighborhood electronics emporium, and 
happened to glance down at a large cabinet on the bottom shelf, amid the 
second and third hand VCR's, stereo speakers and CB radios.  Wow, that 
thing looks like an old Hallicrafters receiver!  Yep, sure 'nuff, it's 
an SX-101A!

The receiver had no price tag, which was surprising, because it's 
usually the first thing the store owner does to a new addition to the 
place.  I was expecting something like the $350 he has on an old HP 608 
signal generator that's been there a couple of years.  I went up to the 
teenyboppers who were at the counter comparing their nail polish and 
asked them where the owner was.  The one with the purple hair managed to 
tell me he was around somewhere, maybe in the basement, but she didn't 
know  for sure.  I hung around a few minutes, but he never appeared.  I 
went back and asked her again if she could try to find him.  She asked 
me what I wanted him for, and when I told her I needed to ask some 
questions, she replied that she could answer any question I had.

I asked her how much they wanted for the old receiver on the bottom 
shelf.  She asked me if I was talking about the "big old heavy thing", 
and I told her yes, the big old heavy thing.  She asked me what the 
price tag said, and I told her there was no tag.  Finally, with a great 
deal of effort, she put down her nail polish bottle and headed for the 
basement stairs.  I told her to tell the guy that I'd give him $50 and 
haul it away for free.  She came back and said OK!

I cleaned it up, checked the tubes, sprayed the pots and switches, and 
fired it up on a Variac.  By the time I got the line voltage up to 
normal, I could hear signals on the 75M band.   I need to clean the pots 
and switches a little better, because they're pretty noisy.  In the AM 
position, the receiver goes dead, so I have a little troubleshooting to 
do.  I need one of the small knobs used for the Notch Depth and Pointer 
Reset controls.  However, for $50 it's a real find!  It'll be a great 
addition to the AM boatanchor station I'm putting together.  Maybe I'll 
pair it up with my Viking II!

Does anyone out there have a file of mods for the SX-101A?   From my 
research, I believe it's the latest of the 101 family (after the Mk I, 
II and III).  Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong.  Does anyone know 
of any common problems with these receivers?

I'll probably replace the black beauties one of these days, but the 
receiver seems to be functional (at least on CW/SSB) as is.  I need to 
find out why the AM mode is dead as a doornail.  The AM detector tube 
checks OK, so it's probably a bad coupling cap or a bad connection 
somewhere.

73,
Mike, WB0LDJ
mharmon at att dot net