Hallicrafters SX-42
 

A couple of gents dropped this off in my driveway, this weekend. I looked briefly at the schematic and saw that is a 6L6GT power tube. I now have three amps with that tube. :smoke:

As a kid, I was a DX'er of mostly MW but my little buddy had a Zenith Transoceanic and I always fired up the set when I visited him. It still seems like magic....

I haven't fired the Hallicrafters up, yet. I am going to do a little researching before I put the juice to it. Any particular things that should have a closer look? If anyone has antenna preferences, I'd like to hear about that, also. I do have a VHF TV antenna mounted, that is not being used.

That should be fun to use. A long wire antenna would work fine, but I'll bet your old TV antenna would work about as well. Just hook both sides of the twinlead together and to the single antenna terminal on the "Halliscratchers." In general, foreign broadcasters 5 to 10 Mc. night; 12 Mc. and up day.

EXCELLENT Score ! That was their TOTL set 1946-48, has 15 tubes, & receives all the way up thru the "new" FM band-110 McS. they were $275 new, a pretty good sum back then. The matching speaker was the R-42 (Hard to find now) I THINK the cabinet design on this & a few other models, including the much sought-after T-54 TV, was by noted industrial designer Raymond Loewy... Hmmm...Second thought, no, this thing is the Worst POS ever, send it to me, & I'll take care of it for you....Mbwahahahahaha...(One day, that approach MIGHT actually work...)

The one that got away
 

I had an SX-43 with R-42 for many years until in a fit of garage cleaning, I gave the '43 away but kept the R-42.

Forward a few years. I was at a hamfest trying to sell off some surplus when an old guy (even older than me) saw the R-42. He said, "I've got an SX-42 I'd give away, almost." He walked away and before I could chase him down, I was called from work. A computer operator had done (again!) what he'd been told in writing not to do. I had to head to work and have always regretted that missed SX-42.

Not the first time I've hit "enter" at the wrong time
 

Anyway, the SX-43 is the SX-42 "Lite" but with many of the same features. The buzz on the Hallicrafters reflectors is that the SX-42 can be very hard to work on if you have to get into the RF deck or bandswitch.

I still have the R-42 and it sounds great with my SX-16 (P-P 6V6's like the SX-42). Lots of bass. The R-42's can be found but are expensive.

Harry
Maryville, Tennessee

Not today, Sandy :D I was hoping you'd post up in here because I know you have some knowledge about the SX-42 (and probably some other things, too) :ntwrthy:

You're correct about the Loewy connection, this design won the first Industrial Design Award by those folks in NY. The Gents mumbled something about the speaker but I'll see if they actually have it. Hopefully, they didn't throw it. I have some fullrange drivers on the shelf so, worst case, I'll box one up and have an L-42r.
The Gents also dropped off a Garrard RC80 (ancient TT) and the prize, A Keikhafer Mercury Model 500 outboard. The outboard should have won one of those awads, as well. Attached are pics of the 500 after a clean and paint.

Thanks for all the information, Harry. I will be restoring the SX-42, as time allows, so any help is appreciated

Yeah, the SX-43 was the "Little Bro" to the '42. It had 11 tubes, was $169.50, & had a not-quite-as-pretty cabinet, a single 6V6 vs. 2 of 'em in the '42. But you would prolly be well-served indeed by EITHER radio. Another thing to ask for is the tilt base B-42, which was another option they had. I have an SX-62, which lacks bandspread tuning, but other than that, is pretty much the same as an SX-42. The 62 has a horizontal dial, which personally I like better than the "half moon" style of the 42 & 43, & the dial glass is glass on mine, vs. plastic on the other sets, which tends to deteriorate after 60-odd years. So there...Yr radio IS Junque, just send 'er to me, I'll be MORE THAN HAPPY to dispose of it...Hehehehehehe....

In case you're not aware of these things:
 

There's a Hallicrafters group on QTH.net.

Go to QTH.net , select "Email Mailing Lists" from the buttons on the left of the page. Pick "Directory of Lists" and follow the directions.

This is an email reflector rather than a forum such as AudioKarma.

There's a lot of expertise there.

Also, check out the Hallicrafters.net web site. You can search the Hallicrafters reflector for hits on HT-42.

A free manual in PDF or DJVU is probably available at Bama.sbc.edu though that site is down at the moment.

Harry
Maryville, Tennessee

How come nobody drops off stuff at my house like this?...

That Mercury outboard is a beauty too!!

The Hallicrafters people get all weepy over the SX-88 & pay silly big money for 'em, but I kinda like my SX-73...Milspec radio, almost as rare, & virtually R-390A performance for less money than a good, clean R-390A will set you back nowadays...But no, I'm NOT gonna kick my SX-62 to the kerb anytime soon...Or the SX-25, or the S-39, S-27/36 or any of 'em...Still like to have one of them cute-as-a-bug's-ear T-54 TeeVees, though...But so do a lot of other people, & they go for silly big money, too.

Those T-54 sets are like salt and pepper with the SX-42. If I get this one restored, I'll call myself lucky. I have other projects to complete before I get a chance at the Hallicrafters.
Thanks for the linkage, Harry, the Hallicrafters site has a lot of info.

Started messing with the SX-42, today, and have the Sam's Photofact for the radio. I put power to it with the "poor man's variac" and was delighted to see most of the tubes glowing, all was good. I let the old girl warm up her toes and then put the 120v. to her. All was well and more glow. Yippee! I switched over from "standby" to "receive" and the magic smoke was coming from the carrier meter adjustment pot on the back of the set. Powered down and saw that the Clarostat 500 ohm pot had a hole in the side and was definitely shorted. I place a 1k pot in it's place and powered back up. More smoke. I took the meter out, powered back up and more smoke. There is definitely a lot of current going to the pot leads. I am trying to trace the schematic but it is a convoluted circuit. Is this indicative of a component gone bad? I just hope that this isn't in the bandwidth switch as that is a monster. All help is appreciated.

Anybody have a clue?

The pot controls some bias on a tube acting as a DC amplifier, so removing the
meter may not fix the condition that applies excessive voltage to the pot.
I would unsolder the pot and measure the DC voltage available at that
point when powering up the receiver. I guess a capacitor somewhere in that
area is shorted, but the schematic would definitely need to be studied. Good luck.

"have the Sam's Photofact for the radio"

If you are looking at the Photofact, you may wonder how 250 volts (or so) gets to the end of the 500 ohm pot. The schematic shows the end of the pot connected to pin 4 of the output tubes, but omits the connection of these points to the power supply at the right end of the choke...oops!

jr

I did just as you suggested, 250+ vdc.

I have another schematic so will be using that, from now on. FWIW, took the pot off, powered it up and was able to recieve FM through the headphone jack. There is hope :yes: