high bucks shortwave receiver
 

Just in case you thought that only TOTL hi-gear brings in the big bucks, check this out:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...gory=4673&rd=1

Not sure the story behind this model but there does seem to be a bidding fury going on over it.

Lefty

Thats the holy grail of Hallicrafters collecters. They only made a few hundred or so. Last one to sell on ebay went for around $6000 I think. Purchased by Joe Walsh, a ham himself in more ways than one.

Paul

Halicrafters made a TV like that receiver
 

That's the Hallicrafters receiver that uses the same 19" rack case as my Hallicrafters T-54. I have the early model T-54 from 1947 with the octal IF tubes. Has channel 1. This was Hallicrafter's first model television set, and what else would you expect from a company that made communications receivers but a TV that looked like a communications receiver! I fully restored this a couple of years ago. I thought they were cool ever since I first saw one on the cover of the 1948 Allied radio catalogue and was so pleased to finally obtain one.

Rob

Guys- Yep. National also made a TV back inthe early days that was styled like a comm reciever, even had a signal-strength meter on it. If I'm not mistaken, the post-war Hallis were styled by Raymond Loewy, the same guy who designed the '49 Studebaker, the '53 & later the Avanti. I've read a little about him, he was a really cool guy. Also designed the paint scheme on Air Force One for JFK- they still use it today.-Sandy G.

Right you are SandyG! That was the National TV-7M from 1949. Kam used to have the wooden version of that 7" National TV without the meter. Nice looking set!

Rob

:eek: I think the seller was asking far too much for that SX88. I'm sure it didn't cost anywhere near that much when it was new in 1954, and even used these sets, IMO, shouldn't go for more than a couple hundred bucks as most; in fact, I remember seeing ads for Hallicrafters receivers in old ham radio magazines that had this one selling new for about 10 times less than the opening bid. What's more, I've never seen any Hallicrafters receiver priced that high at a hamfest. I grant you, the SX series was top of the line in amateur receivers in the '50s, but over $4,000 at auction? All I can say is that the winning bidder must have been in a situation where money was no object.

As to Joe Walsh, WB6ACU, well, he would be in a position to pay that much for any kind of ham rig new, let alone used (I saw a picture of his ham shack in a recent issue of one of the amateur radio magazines), but let's face it, most of us are nowhere near that fortunate. Most hams start out on a shoestring budget and many, myself included, began their amateur careers with second- or third-hand gear or borrowed equipment (I was in the third category after I got my first license over 30 years ago, and the two rigs I've had in between were used; my present ham rig was a hamfest prize in 1991--I have never bought a new transceiver in all those years).