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

Michael Black wrote:

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?

Just Google "s-53 radio" and you'll soon find out.

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

On Fri, 21 Mar 2014, dxAce wrote:


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?

Just Google "s-53 radio" and you'll soon find out.

Except now that there was actually a thread with conversation on topic
here, I thought I'd ask. I can look it up, but I wanted to see what Peter
said.

This newsgroup really went downhill in the days of "RHF" with his
continuous spew of links to elsewhere, the only way it recovers is if
people actually talk about things relevant to shortwave here, rather than
constantly sending people elsewhere.

Michael

On Friday, March 21, 2014 7:35:41 PM UTC-4, Michael Black wrote:
On Fri, 21 Mar 2014, dxAce wrote:





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?



Just Google "s-53 radio" and you'll soon find out.



Except now that there was actually a thread with conversation on topic

here, I thought I'd ask. I can look it up, but I wanted to see what Peter

said.



This newsgroup really went downhill in the days of "RHF" with his

continuous spew of links to elsewhere, the only way it recovers is if

people actually talk about things relevant to shortwave here, rather than

constantly sending people elsewhere.



Michael

Somebody obviously must have sent RHF to a faraway place! He didn't make any postings in a long time.

On 3/21/14 18:35 , Michael Black wrote:

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?


Actually it's an S-53A. 550khz-54Mhz, 8 tube, fixed BFO, Noise
limiter (such that it was), electrical bandspread, sliderule dial. Much
more than an S-38. A bit wide, but nice audio. Phono input. There was
something about hearing a Cardinals' game that was unique. Much more fun
than listening on a transistor.

It dated from 1950-58. Typical Halli construction. About the same size
as S-38. The differences between S-53 and S53A were the power
transformer and the IF cans. "A" was a 120v transformer, and minature
cans. Non-"A" models had universal power transformer, and full sized cans.

It takes either a random wire against a ground, or a ladder line with
a ground. Like the Hammarlund, it's got more sensitivity than can
actually be used, and a decent, if not exemplary noise floor, so during
the 60's and 70s, with the lower ambient noise and plethora of booming
signals, there was LOT to listen to with a simple wire.

Today, with a random wire on an Un-Un, or a shielded loop, it's
decent. But the lack of signals make things a lot less fun.

On 03/24/2014 09:15 AM, D. Peter Maus wrote:
On 3/21/14 18:35 , Michael Black wrote:

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?


Actually it's an S-53A. 550khz-54Mhz, 8 tube, fixed BFO, Noise
limiter (such that it was), electrical bandspread, sliderule dial. Much
more than an S-38. A bit wide, but nice audio. Phono input. There was
something about hearing a Cardinals' game that was unique. Much more fun
than listening on a transistor.

It dated from 1950-58. Typical Halli construction. About the same size
as S-38. The differences between S-53 and S53A were the power
transformer and the IF cans. "A" was a 120v transformer, and minature
cans. Non-"A" models had universal power transformer, and full sized cans.

It takes either a random wire against a ground, or a ladder line with
a ground. Like the Hammarlund, it's got more sensitivity than can
actually be used, and a decent, if not exemplary noise floor, so during
the 60's and 70s, with the lower ambient noise and plethora of booming
signals, there was LOT to listen to with a simple wire.

Today, with a random wire on an Un-Un, or a shielded loop, it's
decent. But the lack of signals make things a lot less fun.



Noise limiters in 1950 were clipper diodes, same exact principle today.
Just like 1n914s on the output of your STL to keep the Overmodulation
lamp from going off.