Hallicrafters SX-42 in da house!

I picked up an old Hallicrafters SX-42 at the Charlotte Hamfest. I had one of these back when I was a novice in 1974, and sold it in the early '80's. I've regretted it ever since. It's not that it was a great receiver, but I do have a soft spot for it. I was fortunate enough to get a spare parts rig and the matching R-42 speaker with it.

The SX-42 was Hallicrafters 'Top Of The Line' received in 1947. It sported crystal phasing and allowed for up to 6 increasingly tight stages of selectivity. By today's standards, it's a poor receiver for single signal CW operation. It is, however, an AWESOME receiver for AM signals from the ham bands or SWL. It operates from 535khz to 108 mhz in AM, CW, and FM. My intention is to pair it with an AM transmitter for use on the 160 meter band.

I got it fired up fairly easy, with very little work. I plan to totally recap it, implement the service bulletins to protect the band switch and fix other things, and bring it back to new cosmetically. Here are a few videos of it in operation, fresh out of the mothballs (spider webs)...

Receiving on 3.875 AM...

Receiving on 1.885 AM...

Receiving on 94.7 FM broadcast...

Dave WB4IUY
http://www.WB4IUY.net

AM Rally : Aprtil 1-3 !!!

The AM Rally is coming, April 1st through 3rd. This event will be a great opportunity to work folks on rigs from Vintage through SDR... All technologies welcome! It's more of a social event than a contest, but will be loads of fun for all interested in the AM mode. Be sure to check out all the info online at http://amrally.com/ and check in on the air and enjoy the camaraderie between all operators of this neat, high fidelity vintage mode, with whatever you have to operate AM on! See you there!

Dave WB4IUY
http://www.WB4IUY.net

160 Meter CW Contest this weekend 1/28/17

Wow, I love this contest. I'm not a really serious contester, I almost never turn in my scores. I enjoy contesting, just the same. It's a great opportunity to pick up new states and countries needed on a certain band or mode, test new antennas and equipment, etc. This contest is very simple, and the rules can be found here:


http://www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/weeklycont.php#7317 


When I hear folks say things like "CW is Dead", I can't help but be amused. Here's a couple of pics from the lower 25khz of the band, on the band scope of my Icom IC-756...

I worked a couple of hours this morning before work, and made a BUNCH of contacts all over the USA and Canada on my new 160 meter "low-pole", low altitude zig-zag dipole. I put this temporary antenna up to keep me on 160 over the winter, while working on my tower rebuild. It's only about 65' up, in a sort-of inverted-V configuration, with the last 30' of each side about 6' up and "zig-zagged" from tree to tree in the woods to get the full length in. I've worked into Europe, Africa, South America, and all over North America with this silly set up.

Anyway, I hope to work you on 160 this weekend. I can hardly wait to get back home from work and get back on!

73 de WB4IUY
http://www.WB4IUY.net

Digital modes - Check your gain and ALC...

Many of us work the digital modes like the various PSK's, Olivia, Hell, ect using a sound card interface of some sort. They work pretty darn good in transmit more, if you pay attention to your gain settings and the ALC level of your rig. I hear signals every now and again that are totally whacked out, and most of the time it turns out to be an over driven transmitter from the sound card audio.

I snapped this pic a couple nights ago while operating on 40m PSK31. When the station in Cuba would transmit (his primary signal is on the left in the waterfall), an image would appear abt 700hz up the band (seen on the right in the waterfall). His signal sounded horrible, folks were trying to get him to try turning his gain down, but I don't think he understood what was going on. I'm not picking on him by any means, but you do see a lot of this on the air. I suspect his digital interface was over driving the bejesus out of his transmitter...

Dave WB4IUY
http://www.WB4IUY.net

Vintage Ham Radio stuff, Hallicrafters, Schlitz...

This isn't much of a blog post, but I wanted to put these things out there for those of you who also love old ham radio related stuff like me. A good friend, Joe (who owns Dit & Dash), found this old unused 1964 Hallicrafters Log Book and sent it to me. Having had my license since 1974, I remember the paper logs and the requirement to log everything, including tune up and test transmissions. I took a few pics of it, it really brings back fond memories.

Next, here's an old 1952 Schlitz beer advertisement, featuring a rendering of a typical 1950's hamshack. This pretty cool, I'm gonna try to turn this into a poster for my hamshack Studio B with my vintage gear.

Thanks to Joe over at Dit & Dash. Here's his Facebook link if you do Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/DIT-and-DASH-Radios-Antennas-Accessories-285175181595643



Dave WB4IUY
http://www.WB4IUY.net