Wrong S-meter in Hallicrafters SX-28?
 

Am I nuts, or did somebody stick the wrong Hallicrafters S-meter in my
SX-28?

My other (restored) SX-28 has the "backwards" meter, meaning that it rests
to the right when the power's off. When you power up, it moves to far left
at no signal, then deflects to the right under signal.

In the SX-28 I'm currently working on, the meter behaves like an ordinary
("non-backwards") meter you'd get at Radio Shack. It rests to the left when
the power's off. When you power up, it moves to the right, then deflects to
the left under signal. Here are a couple of photos.

The first photo shows the set tuned to no signal (RF Gain turned all the way
down), resting around the midpoint.

http://antiqueradio.org/art/temp/SX-28MeterNoSignal.jpg

The second shot shows the set tuned to a strong local signal (RF Gain turned
up), deflecting full left.

http://antiqueradio.org/art/temp/SX-...FullSignal.jpg

I checked the voltages and connections to the meter, which appear OK. The
resistors leading to the meter are also OK. AVC is working well, and the
S-meter adjustment pot is within spec. The radio's about half-recapped at
this stage. I have done the electrolytics, audio, AVC, and IF caps. Still to
come are the RF & various others.

The markings on this meter look different than the ones on my restored
SX-28, but I had been told by other SX-28 owners that both markings were
used.

The radio's usable in this condition, but . . . funky.

If this is the wrong meter, anybody have a working SX-28 meter you'd like to
trade for it? I assume this one comes from some other (possibly earlier)
Hallicrafters set.

Regards,

Phil Nelson
Phil's Old Radios
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html