[Hallicrafters] SX-28 competitors in the 1940's

[Gary Pewitt]

Barry, first of all, don't stop.  I find this interesting.  I have an AR-77 
too.  It was a popular rig before WWII if you could afford it.
The military was probably over reacting with the worries about local 
oscillators being picked up by German U-boats.  According to the German 
records this was never used to attack any ships.  But they sure did make 
some nice receivers because of it. The sonar operator on the U-boats could 
hear the screw noises from quite a long way off and they were directed by 
radio to form wolf packs in areas the convoys would be passing 
through.  Their unjustified faith in the Enigma machines and the idea that 
short transmissions could not be used by direction finders was their 
downfall.   I have 3 or 4 of the Scott SLR's and an RBO also made by Scott 
for the same use.
Shortly after the war Scott was selling SLRM's to the public.  I've seen 
the adds.  Hallicrafters also sold SX-28A's after the war.
RCA was a real stinker about the patents they owned.  Anyone who wanted to 
use them paid through the nose and had to show the labels.  Col. 
Armstrong's widow finally won the law suits against RCA over the patents 
but it was long after his suicide.  He invented regeneration, 
superhetrodyne radio, and FM radio and got screwed out of all of them.  Big 
money beats genius.
73  Gary




At 07:22 PM 1/22/03 -0500, Barry Hauser wrote:


>Gary Pewitt wrote :
> > Aside from the SX-28 itself the RCA AR-88 was a very good receiver if
> > you   could get one.  Most went overseas to our allies.
> > I sure like mine.  It has audio just as good as my SX-28A.
>
>That reminds me, Gary, when I referred to the AR88, I was thinking of the
>whole series -- AR-77, AR88/AR88LF, CR91/91A.  The pre-war design was
>established with the AR-77.  The differences between them are fairly
>subtle.  I had also mentioned the E.H. Scotts, like the SLR and the RCH.
>I'm not sure which of these may have been sold non-military as they were
>designed for low radiation -- back through the antenna and otherwise.
>Someone recently told me that conventional receivers could radiate their
>local oscillator signals and probably mixer byproducts as far as 200
>miles over the ocean.  Not too swell if you're trying to get your convoy
>past the wolf packs.
>
>This reminds me of another thing -- and then I'll stop -- promise ;-).
>On the back of the chassis of many Hallicrafters, and even the top
>turret cover of the Hammarlund SP-600's -- and many other radios, is some
>boilerplate text with words to the effect "This equipment uses designs of
>the Hazeltine Corporation and Radio Corporation of America .   " etc. and
>then lists a bunch of patent numbers.
>
>I believe this began sometime in the 30's and continued on into the 50's.
>  Did RCA hold the patent on the superhet circuit?  Anybody know the
>history on this?
>
>Barry
>
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Gary Pewitt  N9ZSV  gpewitt at execpc.com
6120 W. Calumet Rd. Apt 204
Milwaukee, WI  53223-4132
Sturgeon's Law "90% of everything is crap"


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