[Hallicrafters] Opinions on the SX-110

[David Thompson]

Hallicrafters followed the time honored tradition of building a receiver and
then making slight modifications and renumbering them.

The S-40 became the S-85 and then probably the S-108.  Add a S-meter and
filter and its the SX-99 which became the SX-110.

The SX-101 moved up to the SX-115 and was downsized to the SX-111.

But all the manufacturers did it.

I started out with the S-40B.  All right on 80 and 40 and it did hear
alright on 15.  I remember listening to I1CVS on 15 AM in the late summer of
1956.  Once I got my novice I tuned my transmitter into a light bulb (very
lightly) and found my crystal frequency.  Now I was ready to CQ and of
course I tuned up and down keeping a firm mark where I heard my signal.  15
was a trip as you were working a person
and when you turned it back over three things happened...two bad.  First you
could hear the station you were working (great) but you did not need to bang
on the table as the S-40B was capable of moving 50 kcs all by itself.  The
other thing that happened was the band closed and the station was gone.

I am still mystified by all the pictures in CQ and QST of hams with S-38's
or Heath AR2/3's.  How did they hear anything?  My favorite is the story
told by W2BBK.  He took a Viking I and a Hallicrafters S-72 (the wooden
portable) to the Caribbean in the mid 1950's.  The S-72 had a whip antenna
and if you wanted a better antenna you either had to solder a wire onto the
antenna circuit or clip a long wire onto the end of the whip.  W2BBK opted
for the latter.  He went on 20 AM one day from W2BBK/VP2V and when he
listened above (what he thought) was 14200
(hey that was the band edge then for USA) all he heard was one big squeel.
A local felt sorry for him and loaned him an SX-43.

Geez and now we complain about our rice boxes that are more accurate than
the lampkin Frequency meters we used back then.

Ignorance is bliss!

Dave K4JRB