On Tue, 18 Mar 2014 14:00:53 -0400, Michael Black wrote:


I don't think any of that would have helped my Hallicrafters S-120A (the
transistor model), that thing didn't need an antenna to receive endless
local broadcast stations. It would have needed a lot of work with
shielding to make a filter between the antenna and receiver useful, it
wsa just picking up the signals directly.

That was my first receiver, my Mother got it from Sears for about $70.
That model was terrible, it looked cool, but it was a real dog. I
finally got an older Hallicrafters, SX-40 I think, and it was much better.

On Tue, 18 Mar 2014, sctvguy1 wrote:

On Tue, 18 Mar 2014 14:00:53 -0400, Michael Black wrote:


I don't think any of that would have helped my Hallicrafters S-120A (the
transistor model), that thing didn't need an antenna to receive endless
local broadcast stations. It would have needed a lot of work with
shielding to make a filter between the antenna and receiver useful, it
wsa just picking up the signals directly.

That was my first receiver, my Mother got it from Sears for about $70.
That model was terrible, it looked cool, but it was a real dog. I
finally got an older Hallicrafters, SX-40 I think, and it was much better.

I emptied out my bank account of accumulated birthday and Christmas money,
and some other money was added. It was more like $90 Canadian, which was
a lot for me at the time, but the cheapest receiver I could get locally,
and probably the cheapest I could get generally.

How many people were suckered in by those low end receivers? We had no
experience, and as you say, it all looked so good. The dial was awful,
but hey, it had all those places around the world stencilled, I could get
Antarctica if I tuned to that spot there. I was still a beginner, so how
would I know about seeking out a local ham club to see if I could at least
find the same level of receiver for less money on the used market? It
didn't even take that many months for me to get up to speed, but I spent
the money then, rather than waiting.

I was lucky, a year later when I got my ham license, someone lent me (for
a decade) a Hammarlund SP-600, which wasn't perfect, but it was almost
infinitely better than that S-120A. I probably could have kept the Super
Pro, but at one point when I wasn't using it much, he asked if he could
take it back to lend to someone else.

A couple of years ago, a 1950s Hallicrafter ad was making the rounds on
the internet, and that reminded me that Hallicrafter did seem to play up
that aspect, the foreign countries, and the exotic world out there.
Hallicrafters sold a record for some time as part of their advertising,
only 25cents. WHen I remembered seeing those records in their ads, I did
a search, and it's online, though I don't have a specific URL. I was 11
years old when I got that S-120A, all that exotic stuff and exotic
countries I could hear with it was part of Hallicrafter's promotion, and
certainly was a lure to me, when the reality was, those low end receivers
werne't likely to get much more than the strongest of foreign
broadcasters.

At the same time, that past is gone. I think I'd rather have the
illusion of it, the hope that it could happen, than being older and the
world a lot smaller, and that exotic world completely gone.

Michael

On Tue, 18 Mar 2014 22:36:00 -0400, Michael Black wrote:

snip
At the same time, that past is gone. I think I'd rather have the
illusion of it, the hope that it could happen, than being older and the
world a lot smaller, and that exotic world completely gone.

Michael

You are so right, Michael. The illusion, the sitting up all night on
Friday and Saturday night, with headphones on, being about 12-17 years
old, hoping for that illusive foreign station, the dial light glowing, my
pencil and pad waiting for something to copy and to send off for a QSL!
Now, my wireless radio will pick up all the stations I want, all over the
world, just like a local.
I still have my restored Lafayette SWL receiver, a big brother look a
like of the S-38. I turn it on every once in a while, hook up a wire
antenna, and relive the past. There is not much there anymore, but still
can MW DX a lot! Here in Texas, it will pick up both coasts pretty
well. I had an old ham repairman wire it to accept a Heathkit Q-
Multiplier that I also have. With that, and the bandspread, and the IF/
RF amplifier, it works very well!

sctvguy1 wrote:
You are so right, Michael. The illusion, the sitting up all night on
Friday and Saturday night, with headphones on, being about 12-17 years
old, hoping for that illusive foreign station, the dial light glowing, my
pencil and pad waiting for something to copy and to send off for a QSL!
Now, my wireless radio will pick up all the stations I want, all over the
world, just like a local.

I remember that well too. When I was a teenager someone had a Normande
(probably spelled wrong) AM/FM/Shortwave radio they dropped and it broke
in half. I was able to get it working, and using various things such as my
bed frame, the telephone line, etc, I was able to receive SW signals in a
"garden" (basement) apartment.

Before that I had something, but I don't remember what, maybe a 5 or 6
tube "all american special" with some SW coverage.

I used that until around the time I turned 18, and was given an S-38B.

Unfortuantely I gave that away in my 30's when I started buying "real"
shortwave radios.

I bought one of the first ICF-2010's in the US, brought in a few months
early from Japan. When I got married in 1989, my wife had one too, and
we kept hers, being a few years newer.

My current shortwave radio is a Drake SPR-4, although I have a TR-7
"in the works".

I still have my restored Lafayette SWL receiver, a big brother look a
like of the S-38. I turn it on every once in a while, hook up a wire
antenna, and relive the past. There is not much there anymore, but still
can MW DX a lot! Here in Texas, it will pick up both coasts pretty
well. I had an old ham repairman wire it to accept a Heathkit Q-
Multiplier that I also have. With that, and the bandspread, and the IF/
RF amplifier, it works very well!

I sure miss mine. MW DXing here is worthless because of the high noise.
Although in a previous apartment I was on the edge of a nature preserve,
and with a sheilded MW loop on the fence and the SPR-4, was able to receive
the BBC station on 648kHz, about 3,000 miles away.

Geoff.



--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, N3OWJ/4X1GM/KBUH7245/KBUW5379

"Geoffrey S. Mendelson" wrote:

sctvguy1 wrote:
You are so right, Michael. The illusion, the sitting up all night on
Friday and Saturday night, with headphones on, being about 12-17 years
old, hoping for that illusive foreign station, the dial light glowing, my
pencil and pad waiting for something to copy and to send off for a QSL!
Now, my wireless radio will pick up all the stations I want, all over the
world, just like a local.

I remember that well too. When I was a teenager someone had a Normande
(probably spelled wrong) AM/FM/Shortwave radio they dropped and it broke
in half. I was able to get it working, and using various things such as my
bed frame, the telephone line, etc, I was able to receive SW signals in a
"garden" (basement) apartment.

Before that I had something, but I don't remember what, maybe a 5 or 6
tube "all american special" with some SW coverage.

I used that until around the time I turned 18, and was given an S-38B.

Unfortuantely I gave that away in my 30's when I started buying "real"
shortwave radios.

I bought one of the first ICF-2010's in the US, brought in a few months
early from Japan. When I got married in 1989, my wife had one too, and
we kept hers, being a few years newer.

My current shortwave radio is a Drake SPR-4, although I have a TR-7
"in the works".

I still have my restored Lafayette SWL receiver, a big brother look a
like of the S-38. I turn it on every once in a while, hook up a wire
antenna, and relive the past. There is not much there anymore, but still
can MW DX a lot! Here in Texas, it will pick up both coasts pretty
well. I had an old ham repairman wire it to accept a Heathkit Q-
Multiplier that I also have. With that, and the bandspread, and the IF/
RF amplifier, it works very well!

I sure miss mine. MW DXing here is worthless because of the high noise.
Although in a previous apartment I was on the edge of a nature preserve,
and with a sheilded MW loop on the fence and the SPR-4, was able to receive
the BBC station on 648kHz, about 3,000 miles away.

Geoff.

--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, N3OWJ/4X1GM/KBUH7245/KBUW5379

I got started again back in '81 or '82 or so with a Yaesu FRG-7700.

Originally my Dad built me a Knight Kit Star Roamer in 1966 and my first QSL is
from January of 1967.

What got me going again was digital readout... that was the key to it all. No
guessing, find the frequency, and listen.

On Wed, 19 Mar 2014 16:47:10 -0400, dxAce wrote:

snip
I got started again back in '81 or '82 or so with a Yaesu FRG-7700.

Originally my Dad built me a Knight Kit Star Roamer in 1966 and my first
QSL is from January of 1967.

What got me going again was digital readout... that was the key to it
all. No guessing, find the frequency, and listen.

I also had a Star Roamer, got it from a radio guy who restores old radios
in Orlando. It was stone deaf!
I started SWL'ing in the 6th grade, around 1963. I got the usual "big"
station QSLs, i.e., BBC, DW, Radio Moscow, Prague, Bulgaria, Spain,
Vatican, Peking, Havana, etc. I still have them in a shoe box. I also
had the Electronics Illustrated "SWL Certificate" that was given by the
magazine, the editor was a bearded guy, can't remember his name.
I got back into SWL when I was in the USAF, stationed at Keesler AFB,
MS. While on TDY with my C-130 crewmates at Nellis AFB, NV, I went and
bought a new FRG-7. I thought it was the greatest thing since
cornflakes! I kept if for a few years, giving it to a MSgt who was
really into SWL, but only had a Panasonic portable. After that, he
always made sure that I had the best inlight lunch(for free) and other
little perks. I miss that radio, it was a classic.

sctvguy1 wrote:

On Wed, 19 Mar 2014 16:47:10 -0400, dxAce wrote:

snip
I got started again back in '81 or '82 or so with a Yaesu FRG-7700.

Originally my Dad built me a Knight Kit Star Roamer in 1966 and my first
QSL is from January of 1967.

What got me going again was digital readout... that was the key to it
all. No guessing, find the frequency, and listen.

I also had a Star Roamer, got it from a radio guy who restores old radios
in Orlando. It was stone deaf!
I started SWL'ing in the 6th grade, around 1963. I got the usual "big"
station QSLs, i.e., BBC, DW, Radio Moscow, Prague, Bulgaria, Spain,
Vatican, Peking, Havana, etc. I still have them in a shoe box. I also
had the Electronics Illustrated "SWL Certificate" that was given by the
magazine, the editor was a bearded guy, can't remember his name.

Wow, I have a couple of those Electronics Illustrated certificates myself.


I got back into SWL when I was in the USAF, stationed at Keesler AFB,
MS. While on TDY with my C-130 crewmates at Nellis AFB, NV, I went and
bought a new FRG-7. I thought it was the greatest thing since
cornflakes! I kept if for a few years, giving it to a MSgt who was
really into SWL, but only had a Panasonic portable. After that, he
always made sure that I had the best inlight lunch(for free) and other
little perks. I miss that radio, it was a classic.

On Wed, 19 Mar 2014, sctvguy1 wrote:


I also had a Star Roamer, got it from a radio guy who restores old radios
in Orlando. It was stone deaf!
I started SWL'ing in the 6th grade, around 1963. I got the usual "big"
station QSLs, i.e., BBC, DW, Radio Moscow, Prague, Bulgaria, Spain,
Vatican, Peking, Havana, etc. I still have them in a shoe box. I also
had the Electronics Illustrated "SWL Certificate" that was given by the
magazine, the editor was a bearded guy, can't remember his name.

Was it Tom Kneitel? He certainly wrote for Electronics Illustrated,
stories about Radio Swan and certainly when I started reading it at the
beginning of 1971, he had a sort of Q&A column, "Uncle Tom's Cabin" if I
remember properly, that was more a chance for him to give snarky replies
to letter writers.

The magazines would run plenty of fiction, short stories related to
electronics and radio. One was about some local radio club having a
contest, and someone getting their last QSL card by some freak accident,
someone else challenging them, until he proved that he could hear the
station despite not having a receiver to tune that frequency, by some
scheme that involved NAA at some really low frequency.

But i think Electronics Illustrated took the cake with the contest they
had in 1971. A big announcement, and pages of equipment that would be the
prizes, all that neat stuff when it was all so new to me. And then
followup announcements, you had to get QSL cards from a certain number of
countries or stations.

If they ever announced the winners, I don't remember. At the very best,
it was a low key thing, "here are the winners", not matching the
announcement of the contest.

Of course, the magazine folded into Mechanix Illustrated towards the end
of 1972, a special section for a few months and then it was gone.

Michael

On 3/19/14 15:39 , Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote:

I remember that well too. When I was a teenager someone had a Normande
(probably spelled wrong) AM/FM/Shortwave radio they dropped and it broke
in half. I was able to get it working, and using various things such as my
bed frame, the telephone line, etc, I was able to receive SW signals in a
"garden" (basement) apartment.




My first was a Hallicrafters S-53A. And a not so long random wire.
That was shortly followed up with a Hammarlund Super Pro (Mil
designation BC-794.) It was my grandfather's amateur radio receiver.
Still have it. And a not so recently acquired S-53.

Antennae were always the issue. Random wires were noisy. But could be
concealed. More efficient, and more noise immune antenna required
visible artifacts which drew fire from the parents. (Her father was a
ham and she hated radio gear. He was an idiot who refused to accept that
I could not listen to WNYW on the AM band in St Louis. Both heartily
believed that listening to stations not local to the area damaged both
the radio and create a fire hazard from the increased current draw
needed to reach out for distant stations. They once caught me listening
to WLS on a Philco Transitone, and about beat me senseless for 'trying
to burn the house down.' Mensa was not an option for either of them.)

When I got out on my own, I set up the antennae I wanted, and using
those same receivers travelled the world through a headset.

Still do. But, I rarely use the Hammar. Mostly it's a Drake R8A,
and/or Lowe HF-150, or AOR 7030 Plus.

Out here in the suburban weeds, noise is low. But up in the North
Woods, it can be eerily quiet. And there's enough realestate to put up
some real antennae.

On Fri, 21 Mar 2014, D. Peter Maus wrote:

On 3/19/14 15:39 , Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote:

I remember that well too. When I was a teenager someone had a Normande
(probably spelled wrong) AM/FM/Shortwave radio they dropped and it broke
in half. I was able to get it working, and using various things such as my
bed frame, the telephone line, etc, I was able to receive SW signals in a
"garden" (basement) apartment.




My first was a Hallicrafters S-53A. And a not so long random wire. That was
shortly followed up with a Hammarlund Super Pro (Mil designation BC-794.) It
was my grandfather's amateur radio receiver. Still have it. And a not so
recently acquired S-53.

What's the S-53? Is it just one of the many variations of the S38 (ie
basically an All AMerican Five that covered shortwave) or is there
something fancier to it? They made so many, it's hard to remember.

Antennae were always the issue. Random wires were noisy. But could be
concealed. More efficient, and more noise immune antenna required visible
artifacts which drew fire from the parents. (Her father was a ham and she
hated radio gear. He was an idiot who refused to accept that I could not
listen to WNYW on the AM band in St Louis. Both heartily believed that
listening to stations not local to the area damaged both the radio and create
a fire hazard from the increased current draw needed to reach out for distant
stations. They once caught me listening to WLS on a Philco Transitone, and
about beat me senseless for 'trying to burn the house down.' Mensa was not an
option for either of them.)

I think for many people, they don't even tune at random, or maybe
specifically at night. They tune in the stations they know are local, and
forget the rest.

One local station carried "Coast to Coast" and every time the station
changed format, and finally went under, locals would say "I hope CJAD
grabs Coast to Coast", it being the other AM station that might carry it.
And it did. It works great for the local stations, but it really kills
the overnight listening, the same program up and down the band.
Admittedly, it wasn't that different back when Larry King ruled the night,
but it's gotten worse since.

If people did some tuning at night, they would have found how easy it was
to get the program. I'd much rather have the choice. When Larry King was
on, I could listen to it, or the local overnight station, or something
else. Now there isn't much else.


When I got out on my own, I set up the antennae I wanted, and using those
same receivers travelled the world through a headset.

Still do. But, I rarely use the Hammar. Mostly it's a Drake R8A, and/or
Lowe HF-150, or AOR 7030 Plus.

Out here in the suburban weeds, noise is low. But up in the North Woods, it
can be eerily quiet. And there's enough realestate to put up some real
antennae.

It's amazing how much noisier things have gotten in forty years. I had
the SP-600 and a length of wire just hanging off the back. Not great, but
I just remember endless signals. If I try any of the current portable
radios inside, I don't hear much, until I move towards the window, where
the signals peak up. So much electronic junk that's now become common,
nost of it digital in some way, and many using switching supplies.

Pretty much none of it was there in 1971 when I first listened to shortwave.

Michael