[Hallicrafters] Hallicrafters transceivers

[Mike Everette]

I once owned an SR-150 and found it had a tendency to
be rough on the 12DQ6 tubes, for some reason, I forget
what.  Anyway, I converted it to use 6883 tubes, a
12-volt-filament version of the 6146.  

These tubes are not too uncommon.  They were used in a
lot of Motorola and RCA land mobile radios.  They tend
to be cheap at hamfests due to the somewhat
nonstandard filament voltage; you can often pick up a
NIB pair for less than $15.  Since the supply in the
SR-150 was already 12 volts, they were perfect.  

The mod is very easy to perform and the results are
super.  A minor bit of rewiring the sockets; replacing
the plate caps with a larger size; resetting the bias;
and you get a much more stable and robust final with a
little more power output.  I don't even recall having
a problem with neutralizing the tubes.

The 6146 and 6883 are much cheaper and easier to find
than sweep tubes of any description.

This would also work in the SR-160.  I don't know
about any of the other transceivers, but it is worth
looking into.  You won't be sorry you did it.  Yeah,
yeah, I know, it's not "original"!  BFD.  It works
much better.  And the outside, just like a Volkswagen,
looks the same.

73

Mike
WA4DLF

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