[HCARC] A little nostalgic help please...

Tue Dec 13 14:44:47 EST 2011

Hi!

I have no suggestions regarding Mack's battery problem with the Heathkit, 
other than possibly obtaining a group of 6 NiCads or other rechargeable 
batteries and hocking them up in series with a tap in the center. They 
probably wouldn't fit in the radio but could be sit outside and be wired in. 
Then,of course, he would have to obtain a charger.

As to the S-38, I would suggest that he first replace the power cord. As I 
recall, this was an AC/DC which a lot of radios were in those days. It was 
the $9.95 AC/DC that brought radio to may homes during the depression years. 
My first "communications" receiver was an Echphone EC-1 which cost $19.95 
back in 1940. It was an AC/DC.

Yes, if you get the plug in wrong, the chassis can be hot with 120 volts to 
ground. An easy way to handle this would be to use a polarized plug (One pin 
is longer than the other.). When the new power cord is put on, a check 
should be made to make sure the correct wire on the new cord goes to chassis 
ground. I think that the longer pin is the one that goes to the non grounded 
side, but he might check with an electrician on that.

In any case, check should be made with a voltmeter from the chassis to a 
ground point. The center pin on a 3 wire power outlet is one such ground.

Yes, he could put in an isolation transformer, but they're not easy to find 
and probably quite expensive. One could take 2 old transformers that have 
filament windings and hock them up back to back. to form an isolation 
transformer.

However, as I said, many people lived with AC/DC radios for years. Of 
oourse, essentially all of them had plastic or wood cabinets, so the chassis 
was isolated from people.Yes, some did get electrocuted when an AC/DC radio 
fell into the bathtub.

Of course, the S-38 and my EC-1, had metal cabinets, so one had to be 
careful which way the plug was plugged in. If it was the wrong way and you 
were touching something grounded, you found out very soon that it was in the 
wrong way.

I once climbed a light tower next to an athletic field at night when I was 
going to college. I had bought a 2 bay turnstile antenna for FM and wanted 
to get it up in the air. The tower was about 70 feet high. I managed to not 
get electrocuted and not fall off the tower when I happened to touch a bare 
wire that some other student had strung up there for an antenna for his 
AC/DC radio. He had inserted the plug wrong, so I, touching the grounded 
tower, got 120 volts.

The turnstile was up only a week when I got word from on high that it had 
better come down. It was easy to see who had put it up as about 200 feet of 
300 Ohm twinlead could be seen going into my dorm window.

But, I was able to hear New York City FM stations from Troy about 120 miles 
away for a week before I went up and took the turnstile down. That was in 
the daytime and I was careful not to touch any wires.

Good luck.

Bill Tynan, W3XO

PS:

If you want to read the story of my radio life, including the few years with 
the EC-1, Google, W3XO, or go to walmastynan.com

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mack WB2PCV" <wb2pcv at gmail.com>
To: <HCARC at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Tuesday, December 13, 2011 12:39 PM
Subject: Re: [HCARC] A little nostalgic help please...

> Thanks for the nudge, John.  There are a lot of hams in our club that
> have forgotten more about the hobby than I'll ever know!
>
> 73
>
> (And Reflector Godfather sounds so much more impressive than "list
> moms," which is what we called them over on the old woodworking tools
> list... Caio!)
>
>
> On 12/13/2011 12:34 PM, John K5XA wrote:
>> Hi Mack!
>>
>> Just a little gentle nudging re: the reflector. Once folks catch on it 
>> will
>> grow.
>>
>> I wish I could help you, but I was never an SWL radio guy, and my limited
>> inside the box experience only goes back to my license date in 1986.
>>
>> But I have a feeling you'll get a response. K5KS and K5HV both have been 
>> in
>> the hobby for a long time and may understand your issue. I think possibly
>> W0LPD and KM4DR also, and probably others.
>>
>> Let everyone know how your inquiry turned out.
>>
>> 73 ................... K5XA
>>
>> (P.S. Reflector Godfather????)
>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: hcarc-bounces at mailman.qth.net 
>>> [mailto:hcarc-bounces at mailman.qth.net]
>>> On Behalf Of Mack WB2PCV
>>> Sent: Tuesday, December 13, 2011 12:13 PM
>>> To: HCARC at mailman.qth.net
>>> Subject: [HCARC] A little nostalgic help please...
>>>
>>> In keeping with the Reflector Godfather's admonitions, I hereby request
>>> a bit of ham radio technical help.
>>>
>>> I have recently inherited two older SWL radios, neither of which work.
>>> The first is a Heathkit GR-78 from the late '70's.  From what I've
>>> picked up on the web, the common issue with these is that they are
>>> powered by a Nicad battery - 9.6v, with a center tap at 4.8v.  The power
>>> cord(s) are used only to trickle the Nicad.  Everything else looks
>>> immaculate on the radio (the owner was more than a little AR.)  My
>>> question: what are the possibilities of getting with a battery service
>>> such as www.batterystation.com and having them make up a replacement
>>> battery using newer composition batteries?  Is this crazy, or will it
>> work?
>>> The second unit is a Hallicrafters S-38 (no letter) apparently from
>>> 1946.  I have not field tested this because the power cord is so
>>> deteriorated that I would soon be a flash in the pan, as it were.  Since
>>> it is going to need at least a little restoration work, I'm trying to
>>> discern what the web-based Hallicrafter gods mean by "adding an
>>> isolation transformer" into the power line.  I understand that under
>>> some conditions polarity could be introduced (since the radio sports a
>>> ground-interrupt power switch) that would leave the chassis hot, as in
>>> very hot.  Great if you breath neon.  Anyway, is this something we wire
>>> up external to the radio, or do we stuff it inside between the power
>>> cord and switch?  How to we wire it?
>>>
>>> Thank you, esteemed Elmers and gents for your kind help.
>>>
>>> Mack
>>> --
>>>
>>> */WB2PCV/*
>>>
>>> Mack McKinney
>>> 159 Albrecht Rd
>>> Center Point, TX 78010-5400
>>>
>>> (830) 634-7244 Home
>>> (830) 370-8488 Cell
>>> ______________________________________________________________
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>>
>>
>>
>
>
> -- 
>
> */WB2PCV/*
>
> Mack McKinney
> 159 Albrecht Rd
> Center Point, TX 78010-5400
>
> (830) 634-7244 Home
> (830) 370-8488 Cell
> ______________________________________________________________
> HCARC mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/hcarc
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
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>
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> 