[Hallicrafters] Halli equivalent of Drake C-line twins?

[GARDGORE at aol.com]

Hallicrafters had their heyday in earlier years and a comparison with Drake 
is not really fair for trying to determine who had the best. The best answer 
to who was the best is "it depends." I suppose a respected manufacturer with 
a history of reliability offering the most desirable features with the latest 
and best technological advances combined with sound engineering constructed 
of high quality materials in an attractive package at a competitive price 
would be the best, or is it? By the time Drake was emerging Hallicrafters 
along with National and Hammarlund were at the very doorstep of beginning 
their decline as far as success in the amateur radio market was concerned. In 
order to understand more clearly what was happening then we must gain some 
other understanding about business in general. Please allow me to ask you a 
question. What is the purpose of a business? Most would probably answer "to 
make a profit" but you know... that's not really true! The purpose of every 
business is to "make more profit." If a business is to stay healthy and 
remain in business after a product is designed, engineered and brought into 
the marketplace they are continually challenged to cut costs and or raise 
prices to stay ahead of inflation. If they don't have competition they issue 
a new price list every 90 days. If they have competition they have to find a 
way to cut costs which means eventually going to cheaper materials and or 
cheaper labor such as we get now from overseas. It's difficult to make a fair 
Hallicrafters-Drake comparison because the market was and still is constantly 
changing and redefining itself with business and economic cycles. Emerging 
technologies and changing ideas of what Hams wanted and the success of the 
equipment manufacturers in reading that market all played a roll in who was 
the best at any given time. You might be right in arguing in the mid-thirties 
National was the best. In the mid-fifties National was proudly unveiling 
their new NC-300 with advertising calling it "massive in the modern manner." 
At that same time Hallicrafters offered the SX-101 along with their HT-32 and 
HT-33 which were very good but very big and heavy also. Hammarlund's HQ "me 
too" series was just about as big. As it turned out, how wrong they all were 
soon afterwards when in 1957 Collins and Drake in correctly reading the 
market brought out much smaller, lighter and more compact rigs like the new 
KWM-1 and 1-A receiver. This is not to say that the Hallicrafters, Nationals 
and Hammarlunds were not good, in fact they were very good mid-fifties 
designs with excellent performance but being about as predictable as stocks 
the ham radio market took a turn and decided to move in a different 
direction.  So I guess the best answer is "it depends." Ask the guy on a 
pleasant Sunday afternoon driving a restored 1936 Ford convertible why he is 
proudly smiling and having such a good time of it. A Honda Civic would cost a 
fraction of what the 36 Ford would cost now and would easily outperform it in 
every way. Which of these would you say was the best?

Regards,
Greg Gore; WA1KBQ