[Hammarlund] Super Pro receivers

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

On Sun, Jul 22, 2012 at 7:49 AM, Al Santangelo <ve3ajm at gmail.com> wrote:

> All very informative replies..thanks guys. I think I will get both of
> them. I haven't seen many of these at the local hamfests in southern
> Ontario in the last 20 years. I'll initially get them going in stock
> form and go from there and proceed cautiously.
>

Hey there Al - welcome aboard!

I'm a bit late to the dance as internet service has been down here since
last Friday, only returning late this morning.

A lot of good advice posted. As Carl pointed out, virtually all of the
discrete components along the lines of paper caps and resistors are
suspect. Power supplies used for the military versions used oil filled caps
for the most part which are still generally good if not leaky, but
everything else should be checked. And of course, the old rubber wiring
will most likely be brittle too.

Once thing I would strongly suggest before you dive in for modifications
would be to check out the site Ed posted. Specifically
http://www.radioblvd.com/hammarlund_super_pro.htm

Henry has a ton of excellent information posted and an equal amount of
hands-on experience with these sets. One of the biggest issues being that
of so-called 'noisy front ends' which, as Henry explains, is more a result
of improper aerial selection among other things. As well, only the SX model
went above 20mc, so higher bands weren't an issue for the most part.

There is no doubt that the technology is a little....dated, to put it
mildly. Better tubes were available along the way and so on. The question
becomes, what do you want or expect from your Super Pro? An old radio
representative of the period, or something that performs more like a
60s-70s rig? If it's the latter, you're probably better off going with a
newer radio instead of trying to convert a 1930s design.

The models here are SP-10, SP-100, SP-200SX, and a BC-779 that will
hopefully be going to a new home soon. I absolutely enjoy each one as they
sit, though the 200SX has been mucked up in the past and needs restoration
back to its original configuration. Some of the mods like temp compensation
were promoted by Hammarlund after their incorporation during WWII, well
worth considering. As Carl says, they are capable of some incredible audio
and bass, so be sure to use an appropriate speaker to make use of the full
fidelity they can produce. Some pre-war models offered a big Jensen field
coil speaker as an option. I've got a couple Jensen JHP-52 15" coaxial
speakers from the 40s which will be lashed up eventually. The SP-150
console model used the earlier JHP-51 as its speaker back in the late 30s.
They sound great.

Haven't heard you or Tim on 80m in a while, though I worked Tim on 40 a few
months back. Hope to catch up with you guys this fall and winter. Maybe
Dave & Donovan, too.

~ Todd,  KA1KAQ/4