[HCARC] A little nostalgic help please...

[Kerry Sandstrom]

The #-38 series were all AC/DC radios.  They ran directly off the 110 V AC
line.  They do not have a power transformer so the radio cabinet is attached
directly to the AC line.  Think shock hazard!  You actually have a 50/50
chance of being ok.  If you plug it in randomnly you may have the cabinet
attached to the neutral (White) or you may have it attched to the hot
(Black) conductor of the AC line.  If your home was properly wired and there
have been no changes, the neutral conductor is attached to the ground.  Any
way you look at it, its not the safest way to do things.  Incidently all the
5-tube AC/DC radios from the 50's/60's were builty this way as well as many
of the TV sets.  Some of them had the cabinet isolated from the electronics,
but again your counting on old components.

An isolation transormer is/was a transformer that had 110 VAC on the input
and 110 VAC on the output.  In that way, you were isolated from the AC power
line and could safely ground the radio since the power line ground wasn't
carried through the transformer.  I guess isolation transformers are still
available , but I haven't seen one in years.  Also the power line voltage
was 110-115 VAC although the S-38 was listed as 105-125 VAC.  Line voltage
these days seems to run 125 + VAC.  The isolation transformer is external to 
the receiver.  In the old days the isolation transformers often came with a 
plug to plug into an AC outlet and a socket to plug the unit you wanted to 
isolate.  They were very popular in TV repair shops where the techs had to 
work on AC/DC Tv's and radios.

I've got a digital copy of an S38 manual in .djvu format if you need it

Have fun, but be careful,

Kerry