[Hallicrafters] Why I'm a Hallicrafters Guy

[Gerry Steffens]

On January 4, 1954 the local radio TV guy my dad knew brought a
Hallicrafters TV to out house along with the crank-up ground based tower,
Alliance Tenna Rotor and antenna to our house, the 12th TV set in a central
North Dakota town of about 12,000.  Why, TV had become available in central
North Dakota recently!  Dad told me that Hallicrafters was good stuff and
made equipment for the military.  It always worked well.

About five years later as a ninth grader, Christmas yielded the S-38E I had
sought for a couple of years.  Within a year I had a Heath HD-11 (self
powered QF-1) Q-multiplier, HD-20 crystal Calibrator and a Hallicrafters
S-meter kit (meter like that in the SX-99, no microvolt scale) in a Bud
meter box all hooked up to "The Radio" (with a fancy shrouded light above
the meter).  And that was happier than a pig in, well you know.  

Now my fun radio on the work bench is the SX-100 with matching speaker that
was only dreamed of in the Allied catalog.  Completely stock and unmodified
except for an added fuse I put into the B+ line underneath.  And yes, I have
checked the power consumption with a freshly calibrated watt-hour meter (I
work for an electric utility) and it is right on spec so there is not much
extra leakage anywhere.  I confess I don't believe the filter caps are still
good but that's the way it is.

And so, is it heredity or environment?  I guess I vote the latter.    

Oh, yes, I have completely duplicated that original S-38E system with mint
condition equipment.

Cheers from Minnesota,

Gerry


Collecting & Restoring E.H. Scott, 
McMurdo Silver, Hallicrafters, Zenith 
Transoceanic and any other interesting 
radios since the 1960s
Gerald Steffens P.E.
Oronoco, MN


Collection stands around 281 radios, 3 1/2 Oldsmobiles, 1 Eldorado, 1950 GMC
1/2 ton and 3 Suzukis plus a couple of daily drivers