Hallicrafters SX-62A... - Videokarma.org TV - Video

Sandy G · #1 10-15-2006, 02:46 PM

Won me one of these guys offa You-Know-Where. Osterman's book sez they were made from 1949-56, was the TOTL SWL set. It was also designed for good audio, it has 2 6V6s, & will receive the FM band. Guy sez its working, looked pretty decent in the photos, I'll have about $120, shipping 'n' all in it, why not ? -Sandy G.

Deadear · #2 10-15-2006, 03:32 PM

Sandy G , I have an SX-42 that needs some repair , let us know how yours sounds and maybe I will start repairs on mine , Thanks , Gary .

Fisherdude · #3 10-15-2006, 04:05 PM

That's a great price, Sandy. We'll be needing pics, of course!

Lefty · #4 10-15-2006, 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sandy G

Won me one of these guys offa You-Know-Where. Osterman's book sez they were made from 1949-56, was the TOTL SWL set. It was also designed for good audio, it has 2 6V6s, & will receive the FM band. Guy sez its working, looked pretty decent in the photos, I'll have about $120, shipping 'n' all in it, why not ? -Sandy G.

Ok, that means you won't be needing the R-390A and can send it on to me so it doesn't become sad from lack of use

Lefty

Sandy G · #5 10-15-2006, 05:23 PM

Which one, Lefty- the 1955 Collins or the 1968 Dittmore-Friemuth ? Or one of the 2 questionable parentage R-390s ? Or howzabout the R-391, a REAL rare byrd, about 12-1300 made in 1951-54...never have got up the nerve to "fire up" the Autotune on the 391 & see if it works...Would hate to see a pretty radio "eat" itself...I turned down $5K or 2 of Rick Mish's "Museum Quality" restorations for the '55 Collins..On the SX-62A, another good thing is that it'll use a std 8 ohm speaker, w/o having to "jury-rig" to use w/the 600-ohm output impedance most Boatanchors use...

radioactive · #6 10-15-2006, 07:47 PM

why not is right sandy. my very first boatanchor was a sx 62a when i first got into the s/w hobby and the one that got me hooked ,the sx 62a does have incredible audio due to the push/pull 6v6's so its best you find yourself a nice 10' or 12' coaxial speaker to run it into .the radio although not the most sensitive and lack of a bandspread makes it very tricky to tune still is not a bad receiver.i know your no stranger to big receivers but wait until you see that huge dial window in person.also if you didnt know already each band segement lights up individually when your on that band.have fun with your new radio sandy

by the way lefty will take one r390 and ill take the other .im not fussy ill take whatever one he dont want

Lefty · #7 10-15-2006, 11:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sandy G

Which one, Lefty- the 1955 Collins or the 1968 Dittmore-Friemuth ? Or one of the 2 questionable parentage R-390s ? Or howzabout the R-391, a REAL rare byrd, about 12-1300 made in 1951-54...never have got up the nerve to "fire up" the Autotune on the 391 & see if it works...Would hate to see a pretty radio "eat" itself...I turned down $5K or 2 of Rick Mish's "Museum Quality" restorations for the '55 Collins..On the SX-62A, another good thing is that it'll use a std 8 ohm speaker, w/o having to "jury-rig" to use w/the 600-ohm output impedance most Boatanchors use...

Well I've heard of diversity reception but I've think you've taken it to an extream

Lefty

Sandy G · #8 11-01-2006, 09:18 PM

Hey, fellas- Got the SX-62A in today...Goll-Lee, Mr Wizard, it's a BIG-62 lbs-set ! Needs a good cleaning, the top lid is "sprung", looks like a few well-placed raps w/a rubber mallet might get 'er right again. It DOES work, picked up WIMZ on the FM band, but I really think it'll get to go to see Dr. DeWick & get a good going over. Unlike most of the trash I drag into Terry's, this beastie came complete w/an owner's/alignment manual. Pretty set-Methinks maybe Raymond Loewy had a hand in designing the cabinet. Think I done good...BTW, Deadear- Think you oughta go ahead & fix yr SX-42. I believe you'll be pleasantly surprised. Biggest drawback I see is these old byrds don't have an AFC circuit on 'em, & being Tooob stuff anyway, they're drifty as all get-out.

johnda · #9 11-01-2006, 09:26 PM

I have a Hallicrafters SX-100 that worked perfectly until 6 years ago when I retired and moved. Should have carried the thing in my car. The moving men dropped the case it was in and screwed up the alignment. Nobody out here can work on it, so it sits there waiting for a prince to come along and wake it up again.

radioactive · #10 11-02-2006, 12:47 AM

congrats sandy on the arrival of the sx62 and that it made it in one (bigg)piece

betcha didnt realize how big it was until you unpacked it huh?you gotta love the size of that easy to read dial.i think now you have to find the matching tv to go with it (yes they did make a tv that matched it)and you'll be all set.

johnda,

sorry to hear about your sx 100 troubles and that's the reason i move all my audio and shortwave gear myself as i dont trust anyone but myself to haul that gear around.the sx100 's are nice radios even if you can fry eggs on the case after theyve been on for awhile.they're all notoriuos for running hot and should never be left alone.i had 2 of them and on the one i left on and fell asleep with burnt the power transformer up in the middle of the night.(not a pretty smell)anyways hope you can get yours up and running again and if you need a manual for it just send me a pm and ill make you a copy.
chris

Sandy G · #11 11-02-2006, 05:46 PM

Well, got the beast out of its cabinet, which was FILTHY...So I put cabinet in the shower, took some car wash soap on a washcloth, & had at it. Got the water good 'n' hot so it wouldn't linger, toweled 'er off, & it looks, smells, & feels much better.. I'm coming down w/a cold, gonna try to clean the "innards" of the set a little-it looks like something has been spilled in it God-knows-when. yeah, it'll go to Terry, but I ain't gonna take a filthy-ass set down there to him...I really like this set...Think its gonna end up being one of my favorites...

johnda · #12 11-05-2006, 08:33 PM

Hi Radioactive,
Thanks, I do have the original manual with it. There is only one electronics repair shop about a half hour away from me. I inquired about them doing the alignment and they just threw up thair hands! It turns on, and I can hear ststions, but it just isn't the same as it used to be. When I was a novice working with a Globe transmitter I used it as my receiver. I don't have the heart to let it go.

graywolf · #13 11-07-2006, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnda

Hi Radioactive,
Thanks, I do have the original manual with it. There is only one electronics repair shop about a half hour away from me. I inquired about them doing the alignment and they just threw up thair hands! It turns on, and I can hear ststions, but it just isn't the same as it used to be. When I was a novice working with a Globe transmitter I used it as my receiver. I don't have the heart to let it go.

Kids <GRIN>!

Old communications receivers are not all that hard to align; all you need is an RF generator and a lot of time. You start at the back end and align the last IF first then work to the front. When you have the IF's aligned you do the AM, or lowest band if there is no AM, starting with the oscillator. Align to 600cps (hertz didn't even rent cars back in the days we are talking about) by ajusting the coil, then 1600cps with the trimer on the tuning condenser (now called the tuning capacitor; another renaming, why can they not leave things as they were?). Check at 1000cps if the dial is right on you have it made, but most likely it will be off. What do you do if it is off? Glad you asked, you align the ocillator again, and if needed again, and again. Sometimes it takes a half dozen tries to get everything right (usually because someone had screwdrivered it). Once the oscillatator is aligned you align the RF stages working from the oscillator forward. Congradulations the IF's and AM band are now aligned. Now do it again for each band starting with the oscillator, do not touch the IF's they are already aligned. If no one has messed with the receiver it takes about an hour to tweek the alignment on a 6 band receiver, if someone has figure 6 to 8 hours. If I remember correctly the SX-100 was a single conversion receiver, there are additional steps for dual or triple conversion receivers.

If you have an FM band you need more stuff to do it. A sweep marker generator and an oscilloscope helps a bunch. That is because you want the IF's to operate in a bandpass rather than a peak mode and there is no way to do that properly by ear, however you can probably find a shop to do the FM for you as they usually have someone around who knows how to do that; but maybe I am guessing wrong about that these days.

In other words it looks complicated, but it really is just multiples of the same process that you have to do for each band. Have fun.

radioactive · #14 11-08-2006, 02:55 AM

hi graywolf ,

thanks for the tutorial(think thats how you spell it

)
yep aligning a shortwave receiver is not that hard at all with a simple rf generator and some time .whenever i get a new s/w receiver i get my dad to go over it and align it .although with some of the bandspread and dial set knobs on most older boatanchors its a guessing game as to what freq you are tuned to anyways .

some receivers can be tricky though.i cna just imagine coming home with a collins r390 and going "dad do you think you can give this a once over "lol.

johnda · #15 06-09-2008, 09:38 AM

Sorry for getting back late to this. I missed the responses. Thanks very much for the alignment info. I ended up selling the SX 100 to a local guy who wants to work on it. The basement in our new home is not conducive to setting up a listening post there. I'll be sticking with my RS DX-440 upstairs from now on.

Thanks again!