[Hallicrafters] Halli SX-101A advice

[WA1KBQ at aol.com]

Purely from a value perspective a working SX-101(A) will probably  be more 
highly prized by most than a non-working original. 
 

Does restoring equipment to working order always enhance value or is  it 
sometimes preferable to leave it completely intact as an unrestored  original? 
 Whether to restore or not restore is always the decision of  the owner but 
it can be a divisive and often contentious issue  between the historians on 
one side and the users on the other. The only reason  I know of for keeping 
any piece of equipment completely original is if it  has historical 
significance or was built in extremely low production numbers  thus rendering any 
remaining survivors as very rare. Generally speaking  most post-war amateur 
communications equipment still has little historical  value and is in fairly 
abundant supply so it will probably have more value  restored to working 
order. Installing modern replacement parts would improve the  value and have no 
adverse impact. It is also generally true most  commercially produced 
pre-war amateur equipment does have historic value meaning  restoring one to 
working order may negatively affect its value. Where historic  value is 
important most collectors prefer to have an intact original record of  factory 
workmanship and will deduct for missing original parts due  to previous repairs 
or replacement work by an owner. Also, the  original performance of most 
pre-war equipment cannot match the much better post  war equipment so it could 
also be asked why anyone would want to  restore pre-war equipment to working 
order.
 
In the case of the SX-101(A) it is not critical, just use whatever  
replacements are affordable and easiest to obtain; orange drops, ceramic  discs or 
the inexpensive miniature yellow poly's from Mouser will all  restore the 
performance lost to degraded original capacitors. SX-101s are still  abundant 
and will not be a collector piece for a very long time (if  ever) so there 
is no reason to be concerned about keeping the factory record  intact. To 
most folks it is far more important to have an SX-101 that works  reliably than 
a non working specimen that occupies space on a shelf preserving  its 
original parts while speculating on a possible collector  value increase that may 
or may not ever happen. 
 
Possible examples of Hallicrafters equipment that might be better off  kept 
completely original and not restored are the Hallicrafters  FPM-200, DD-1, 
SX-12 or any SX-10 and earlier models. Some  Hallicrafters models have 
similar siblings that are still abundant enough  and not that big a deal to 
preserve originality that they can  sometimes become a substitute to restore for 
one that is. For  example, consider the case of the SX-10 where only 200 
were ever made and  sold; the more abundant SX-11 which is a similar model 
could  be obtained to restore which would yield similar performance to the SX-10 
 for an owner to sample and or experience without corrupting a rare SX-10 
with  modern plastic replacements. 
 
Merry Christmas Hallicrafters group,
Greg
 
 
In a message dated 12/24/2010 1:51:00 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
holden7471 at msn.com writes:

I know  this RX has been discussed many times here, but those e-mails are 
long gone.  Setting up my SX-101A at the new QTH in Reno, the power supply 
caps didn't  apparently like the move. This RX is mostly all original, but 
worked fairly  well since I bought it about 15 years ago, until we moved. While 
I have her  open, figuring I should replace all the black beauties in 
there, what type of  cap is best for the job? I am not interested in maintaining 
originality, just  in keeping performance reasonable. This is no museum 
queen, but a workhorse.  Any other major caveats on the SX101A? (And my 
alignment tools stay locked up  unless ABSOLUTELY NEEDED!) Thanks in advance.

Howie  WB2AWQ/7
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