[Boatanchors] Making a SX-110 Better?

[The Pollacks]

I don't think the SX62A was meant to be a real communications receiver, but
is great for BC and SWL.

Glen, your point about inexpensive receivers from the 40s and 50s being
limited is well taken.  I think, though, that there is a great variation in
quality between units of somewhat similar price, and that a small jump in
price brought a big leap in performance in some cases.  The original
poster's comment, comparing the SX110 and NC109 is a good example.  The 110
sold for $160 and the 109 at $200.  In my opinion, the extra $40 bought a
big performance increase.  The NC 188 sold for the same as the 110 but had
no crystal filter, voltage regulator or product detector.  I've never had
one of these, so I don't know how it would compare.

My first receiver was an S38C, and I made lots of contacts with it, first
with an AT1, then an Adventurer.  Then I got an R100, and thought I'd gone
to heaven!  I have duplicates of all those rigs, and the R100 isn't much of
a receiver by the standards of better ones of the day, but to me, age 14, I
thought I had a 75A4!  It's all in what you compare it to, which I believe
is Glen's point!

Ah, nostalgia.

-----Original Message-----
From: boatanchors-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:boatanchors-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of
WQ9E at btsnetworks.net
Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2011 6:26 PM
To: boatanchors at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Boatanchors] Making a SX-110 Better?

My starting novice receiver was a Hallicrafters SX-62A.  It had a crystal
filter but no band spread tuning and the 40 meter novice band occupies maybe
an 1/8 inch of the big dial.  Backlash was plentiful!  Fine tuning was done
via leaving the lid open and carefully moving a finger towards the tuning
cap to slightly change the frequency.  It had great audio and was a fine SWL
band cruiser but basically sucked as a communications receiver.  But I did
make a number of fun contacts on 80 and 40 including Puerto Rico and Canada.

After 2 weeks a local ham took pity on the 14 year old novice and loaned me
his spare SX-101.  The first week with the new receiver I called CQ on 15
and VQ9MI came back, the high point of my novice experience.

Recreating my Johnson Valiant/SX-101 1975 novice station was what got me
started with vintage gear in 1994.  I now have a couple SX-62 receivers but
they are not (and probably will never) be paired with a transmitter.   My
nostalgia does have a limit :)

Rodger WQ9E

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