[Hallicrafters] Finely crafted memories

[Glen Zook]

I never owned an S-38, but my first "real" shortwave
receiver was a Heath AR-3.  Slightly better than the
S-38 if for no other reason that it had a power
transformer.  Traded it in on a Hallicrafters S-107
(S-53A in the "new" style cabinet) between the time I
passed my Novice Class exam early in February 1959 and
when I actually got the license at the end of May
1959.

Now I have said this before, but here goes again:

A good number of the receivers used by the majority of
amateur radio operators in the 1950s and into the
1960s were basically "junk" by today's standards. 
They drifted, they were "wide as a barn" in terms of
selectivity, most were basically deaf on any band
higher in frequency than 20 meters, and so forth.

One developed a "cebreal filter" to get rid of QRM. 
You learned to keep one hand on the bandspread dial to
keep up with the drift.  And, you developed a "real
good" set of ears to pull out stations on 15 meters
and 10 meters.

However, no one ever told us how bad our receivers
really were.  Therefore, we used them, we made
thousands of contacts, and, basically, "had a ball".

Glen, K9STH


--- "Thomas C. Dailey - Dailey Services, LLC"
<daileyservices at qwest.net> wrote:

Finely crafted memories - that's what they are. When I
was a kid of 13 in 1956, I LUSTED (thanks for the
line, J. Carter) for an S-38D.  At only $49.95 it was
well, sort of affordable.  I lived in Kansas City, so
my buddy and I would ride the bus (imagine that, a
bus) downtown to Burstein-Applebee (B-A), for whom I
worked later on, and being issued our figurative drool
cup, we would be loaned a pair of TRIMM or ACME
earphones (very hard & uncomfortable, those), so that
we could listen to the receivers.









Glen, K9STH

Website:  http://k9sth.com


       
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