[Hallicrafters] In defense of the SX-42

[lrlayton at cox.net]

Mmm... that receiver must have been seriously out of alignment ! The SX-42 that I have owned (and enjoyed listening to) for about 25 years does not have an image or overload problem any worse than other receivers of the day and is better than many,  also the selectivity is quite good . Is it a better radio than the SX-28?  Most would say no, but Hallicrafters did need a new high end product to sell after the war.  Like other vintage receivers It wasn't designed for SSB, but where the SX-42 really shines is in the audio department. The choices for IF bandwidth and tone are excellent and when connected to a R-42 speaker you would be hard pressed to find a better sounding receiver for AM reception. 

The two FM bands aren't especially sensitive  and the bandwidth is wide  but do work quite well for local reception. Remember that in 1946 FM broadcast  was still evolving. The FM  band had just been shifted in 1945 from the previous 42-50 Mhz to 88-108 Mhz and FM stereo hadn't been perfected, so including these ranges was a selling point to be exploited. 

 The SX-42 was only manufactured from 1946 to 48, so probably wasn't  a great success for Hallicrafters, but its near twin electrically,  the SX-62,  was a pretty good seller  to the affluent SW listener and was still listed in the catalogs as late as 1965. With its finer tuning and separate  bandspread dial, the SX-42 is a better radio in my opinion.
 
Anyone that buys either receiver and plans to actually use rather than display it needs to be prepared for some very  involved recapping.

Maybe I just like this radio because it's same age as I am!


Les Layton
Las Vegas, NV

  





---- wa1kbq at aol.com wrote: 
> 
> They have a following due to a misconception of being sensitive. What you are really receiving at any given dial setting is images, birdies and other signals 10KC's away. Makes it seem like it's hot.
> 
> Greg
>