[Hallicrafters] S-38EB

[Bill Gerhold]

I now have the complete S-38E line.  The S-38E, S-38EM and now the S-38EB.
I received a very nice S-38EB. "B" stands for Blond believe it or not.
Anyway, the rig was very close to mint prior to my receipt of it.

I received it with the following problems:

1) Shattered front glass
2) Shattered 50C5 and 35W4 vacuum tubes
3) Bent chassis
4) Dial string all tangled and off rollers
5) Main tuning cap mounting bracket bent.
6) Dial light smashed
7) DC filter cap mounting bracket broken loose

The radio was packed very well, but the USPS used this box as a football
probably because it was marked as "Fragile", "Glass" and "Sensitive
Electronic Equipment".  The box itself looked like hell but it was sealed.

As hard as this is to believe, the case (fortunately) was untouched.
I say fortunately because, repainting this case would have been very
difficult with this color and pattern.

I straightened out the chassis, cleaned up and picked up the broken shards
of glass, replaced both tubes, replaced the # 47 bulb and re-strung the
original dial cord.  The main tuning caps sheave was at a 5 degrees angle
off center with the other sheaves so the dial cord would just slip off the
edge of the sheave.  So, I unbolted the main tuning cap and straightened out
the main tuning cap mounting bracket which brought the sheave into alignment
with the others.  How this bracket got bent is a real mystery since it is
deep into the radio and did not take a direct impact - it just bent from a
sudden stop.

However, after these fixes, the radio really does work great.  It needs an
alignment and a new piece of glass which I will have Sears make tomorrow.  I
still can't believe the amount of damage this radio received.  And with that
damage, remarkably, the case was untouched and is very near mint condition.
Not a scratch.  It is as though someone hit the glass with a baseball bat
but went no further since the scale and fragile slide rule pointers directly
behind the glass are also untouched.

Another strange thing, I tried to put the pieces of the broken glass
together (like a puzzle) to measure the original size for the replacement
glass but guess what!  All the pieces are not there, yet when received the
box was sealed!  I'll bet this box was opened at the USPS and inspected for
damage or some other reason.  Anyway, I will save this beauty for the next
generation of vacuum tube lovers, its an obsession.

K2WH