[Hallicrafters] SX-100 oval power cord, etc

[Bruce Wright]

Mike, et al...

Okay, my comments cover no new ground here, but some ideas worth 
remembering.

Certainly Mike's external fan is a good idea insofar as it is also cooling 
other components, including the power transformer and filter cap next to the 
5Y3...the former, very expensive if not near impossible to replace for some 
gear.

It does amaze me to see operating desks and tables with vacuum tube gear 
having other equipment and accessories stacked (or tightly packed) atop one 
another...sometimes 3 and 4 tiers...This observation is true from the early 
pages and covers of amateur radio literature as well as current shacks of 
local friends and acquaintances...This practice is, potentially (no pun 
intended), all the more dangerous today because much of the vintage gear 
designed to run at 110 to 115 volts is asked to run on AC mains at or above 
120 volts, creating even more heat.

In addition to the regard for adequate ventilation of the radio chassis and 
cabinet, I have also replaced the standard shiny metal tube shields with 
IERC types to help lower the operating temperature of the 7- and 9-pin 
miniature tubes...Although expensive today, INMHO, these shields are worth 
the investment.

73,
Bruce
WC5CW






>From: TchrMe at aol.com
>To: shortwaves at msn.com, hallicrafters at mailman.qth.net
>Subject: Re: [Hallicrafters] SX-100 oval power cord, etc
>Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 20:07:50 EDT
>
>Fellow List Members,
>      I also have an early Mk II with the original knob style. Recently I
>replaced the filter caps, the wax caps as well as any out of spec 
>resistors, and
>realigned it. My rcvr is sitting in a bookshelf with a small pancake fan
>(fastened to the bottom of the next shelf up) blowing across the top over 
>the
>rectifier tube to help it run cooler. After the first few min of operation, 
>it is
>stable on SSB and I have not had any drifting problems. These fans are 
>cheap and
>really help the tube gear run cooler.
>    As far as the pwr cords, I always thought they were all two conductor
>hardwired to the chassis. I have never seen the 3 wire cords stock on a 
>Halli. and
>I have a lot of them in my collection.
>                                             73 Mike KF6KXG