[Hallicrafters] Model S-38A Assembly Instructions

[Tim Billingsley]

First of all let me say "Thank you" to all of you that have taken the time
to reply to this query. Unfortunately I have not been a ham but just a very
few years and I still have much to learn and folks like you and the
gentleman helping me figure out this S-38A are great resources. In addition
to the many things that Melvin has assisted me in replacing and or
correcting we/he discovered that the C41 was there but it is/was a single
cloth covered wire and that C42 does not exist. With only C41 in place it
creates an ominous heterodyne across the entire spectrum of the receiver.
With C41 disconnected it receives very well in AM mode. With that in mind I
would like to thank Ken for this suggestion and hope that someone could
provide such a photo or even a series of photos as my eyes are not so good
...

> As far as I know there was never a set of assembly instructions for the
> S-38A.  C41 and C42 are a few picofarads.  The capacitors are called
> "gimmicks" and are made by twisting two pieces of wire together.  This
> is not an area of great precision.  I no longer have an S-38A, but
> perhaps you could get someone who does to tell you how many twists there
> are in the gimmick.  Maybe you can get someone to take a digital photo
> of that area of the radio and armed with the photo and the schematic,
> you should have everything you need.  Good luck.

Also,again stating I am a young fella and haven't seen it all, in looking at
the schematic of the circuit previously mentioned it appears that C42 takes
the current on the tube through the inductor and directly to ground ...

But, ....

If C41 and C42 are infact twisted pairs with individual alternate ends
connected to their respective terminals then that would explain the "Wire
Capacity" and the appearance of it going directly to ground, given the fact
that the only example we have to work from is the fact that C41 in this
S-38A is in fact a single wire and apparently should not be.

Correct me if I am making incorrect assumptions and/or all of that didn't
make sense.

Tim Billingsley KD5CKP
http://www.qsl.net/kd5ckp/start.htm