[Hallicrafters] Hallicrafters

[Charlie]

Jeeez, I can't help myself.  I've just gotta get my Hallicrafters Nostalgia
out there.

My dad new a guy who could get a good discount at the Electronics
Wholesalers store in Washington DC, so for about $74 worth of grass cutting
money, I obtained a brand new S-53A (which normally sold for $89.95).   I
listened for about a year and got the hots to move up the chain, so an SX-99
became the next receiver, along with a used Globe Chief 90A ($29), also from
the DC  "EW" store.  Had the station all set up a month before the Novice
(KN3ICH) finally came in the mail.  Two local guys, K3HFF and K3GEY would
come over and operate, probably just to taunt me during that intermediate
time.   Later, I built an outboard product detector for the '99, complete
with a crystal controlled BFO and a dual loop AGC system from some QST
article.  It worked great, but if the DC transit bus went by out house, the
station I was working would wobble off frequency.  I was limited to a 40
meter dipole and would operate in the afternoon.  I never worked past
Pennsylvania from my parents location in Forestville MD.  Them someone
suggested that get up in the wee hours and try for some DX ( DX = anything
over 300 miles!)  I about fell out of the chair when WV6HAO answered my 3AM
CQ.  The really amazing thing is that a couple years ago, I saw a Virginia
ham call auto tag that had WA6HAO on it.  Sure enough, it was the same guy.
We had a nice phone chat about "good-old-days" etc.

I was convinced back then that Hallicrafters made the best radios on the
planet.  This attitude was obviously due to Bill Halligan's advertising
skill rather than his engineering staff's expertise.  If you want proof of
this, follow the S-20R, S-40, SX-99 and SX-110 production.  They're
basically identical radios.   Hallicrafters was still using metal octal
tubes in their production well into the 60's when Hammarlund and Collins
went miniatures in the early 50's  Sell the sizzle etc.

73' Charlie k3ICH


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "skip" <k3cc at fast.net>
To: <Hallicrafters at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Friday, 29 April 2005 9:11 PM
Subject: [Hallicrafters] Hallicrafters


> I grew up in the 60's.  My first taste of Ham radio was in 1958 using a
> Zenith Transoceanic with the suction cup antenna.  It was fun listening to
> the radio, AM then.
>
> Later abt 1962 I got a Lafayette KT200 rcvr.  This was a mess.  A CB'er
> bought it and tried to build it.  It was here kid you can have it, maybe
you
> can make it work.  Abt a month later it worked and I had my Novice license
> KN3ZTJ. Along with a 6L6 transmitter and a knife switch that was my
station.
> When I was in high school I could afford to buy a Hallicrafters
SX101mkIII.
> It was beautiful, along with a R46B speaker. That is when I fell in love
> with Hallicrafter products.  Maybe it was because I worked and earned the
> money to buy the radio, or the big slide rule dial, I don't know. I really
> didn't care if it worked , it was mine and I paid for it.  It was the
center
> piece in my small shack along with a xtal 6L6 xmiter.  When my Novice
> expired I got my technician license and the SX101 was used for converters.
> I couldn't afford the HA 6 or 2 but I made HB jobs with parts from Western
> Electric.
> I took and passed my general just before I went to college.  When I came
> home for the summer my SX101 was gone.  Iwas almost heartbroken.  My dad
had
> sold it and bought me a SX117.  This was not a Hallicrafters, it's small,
no
> slide rule dial, fluorescent Orange pointers and a Gray case.  well, I
found
> a Globe Chief and got back on the air for the summer.
>
> It's now 2003 and I have another pristine SX101mkIII back agn.  Something
> inside me snapped and I seem to be going backwards.  I also have a Viking
> Valiant to match.
>
> I also own a Orion and Yaesu FT1000MP/mkV and believe me or not the SX101
> hears everything the new rigs hear.  I think it's amazing that a 50+year
old
> radio still performs as well as the new ones.  Some guys don't believe me
> but when they are here and listen to all three they are believers.
>
> Ok. whats the moral??????  It seems in more then 50 years we still haven't
> made that much headway in rcvr performance.  Alright, they have digital
this
> and that, computer control but the bottom line the old ones still work.
>
> de Skip    K3CC
>
>
>
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