Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Black[_2_]
On Sun, 11 Mar 2012, Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote:
coffelt2 wrote:
Yikes! That's why you could get quite a jolt just from the cabinet, and it
wasn't too cool
to use the S-38 right next to a grounded piece of gear. I think I remember
something in
QST "Hints and Kinks" about putting a light bulb (small wattage) between the
S-38's cabinet
and an adjacent, grounded piece of gear. If the lamp illuminated, reverse
the S-38's AC
wall plug.
Back in my mispent youth, I took an S-38B which I had been given, and stuffed
a small 120v output AC transformer in it to use as an isolation transformer.
I also added a little bit of 1960's technology to it, I put two silicon diodes
in as a noise limiter.
In a fit of cleaning out, having long since gotten digital showrtwave radios,
in the 1980's I gave the radio away.
There was a story in "73" in the mid-sixties about someone trading in his
S38 for a better receiver (and obviously cash needed too). So the story
is basically about all the modifications he had to undo to put it back to
"normal". And right when he's at the store, he realizes he's forgotten
one mod, so he takes that out in the parking lot, I seem to recall having
to do some makeshift arrangement to cover the extra hole from that mod.
The isolation transformer wouldn't improve the receiver's ability to
receive one bit, but it sure made it a lot safer to use.
Michael
|
Just last week, I came across one for sale near Pittsburgh.
The owner bought it for $3.00 and was trying to sell it for $100.00
Before I approached him, I informed him about the floating ground issue and how the radio was dangerous and how it needed a transformer to make it more safe - due to the fact that it was designed for use with 120 VDC current not AC...
I could have bought it for $25.00 - but was unwilling to drive 120 miles to go pick it up.
When I stopped by a couple of days later - he had already sold it.
The radio is of little value - since it only did CW AM and has no SSB....
Just looking on Flea Bay tells me that they had issues with the cardboard on the rear of the radio - lot's of reproductions.
It would be ok if all you wanted it for was to listen to local traffic on the 11 meters - since it is mostly AM anyways!