"Mark Keith" wrote in message
om...

But I never had much use for it, so never have bothered with it. I
sometimes wonder how the MW might be on it, but when you have usual
newer radios, and also a 58 TO, and a big 48 RCA console, it starts to
look a bit lackluster.

It's an "All American Five" with shortwave bands, so it won't be any better
than they were.
http://www.plexoft.com/SBF/mounted/5tube.html

.I notice the chassis will be hot with line
voltage on that old thing...Probably a good subject for a isolation
tranny to make it safe. MK

Excellent idea.

"PM"

"Mark Keith" wrote in message
om...


Yea, I wouldn't be surprised if it worked. Maybe with a little hummmm
though...
But I never had much use for it, so never have bothered with it. I
sometimes wonder how the MW might be on it, but when you have usual
newer radios, and also a 58 TO, and a big 48 RCA console, it starts to
look a bit lackluster..I notice the chassis will be hot with line
voltage on that old thing...Probably a good subject for a isolation
tranny to make it safe. MK


There's an alternative to an isolation tranformer, if you want to save a
little money and space. If the chassis is truely hot, that is with one
conductor of the power cord connected to the chassis and the steel cabinet
isolated on grommets, you can rewire it for a 3 wire cord. Connect the
cord's ground wire to the cabinet, the neutral wire to the chassis and the
hot wire to the switch. A bit of rewiring may be necessary, because these
radios typically connected the hot wire to the B+ rectifier and heater
string and switched the neutral to reduce hum pickup on from the power
switch on the back of the volume control. In practice, it doesn't usually
make much difference in hum if the wires at the switch are hot or neutral.
It's easy to rewire for the three wire cord, and it's almost impossible to
accidently touch anything that's electrically hot. I rewired my S-38 that
way, and it works fine.

Most AC/DC radios from about 1950 or so used a floating ground bus. There
was no direct connection from the power cord to the chassis. This is a
safer design than the true hot chassis, but it can also similarly be rewired
for a theee wire cord, or a polarized two wire cord. Either works, and is a
further safety improvement.

I always like to add a terminal strip and a1/2A pigtail fuse in these
radios, too. The fuse is redundant because there's a pinched down area in
one of the wires inside the rectifier, which serves as the radios fuse.
However, these tubes are getting a little expensive, and I'm convinced the
fuses I've added once saved me a rectifier tube.

I won't recommend this if you don't enjoy doing this kind of work, though.
These kind of radios are decent SWL radios, but nothing special. They do
have decent non-fatigueing audio, and you can listen for hours and only get
annoyed with the programming. Good for a shop radio.

Frank Dresser

I still have my S38E, but for the memories I wouldn't never sell it
"Charlie B." wrote in message
om...
Hi, I have a Hallicrafters S-38E that I receives as a birthday present
from my parents in 1957. Over the years it became more or less
outdated, electronically (single coonversion, analog tuninf,etc.} As a
novelty/nostolgia receiver it is fine and connected to a decent
antenna and ground its capable of picking up the major broadcasters. I
wouldn,t sell mine, only because its full of memories for me. It's
definately not a DX macine but it is a nice visual peice for the
listening post. Over thhe years it's been reliable, just the
occasional tube and a recapping back inn 1979.
Regards,
Charlie -

In article , says...
warren wrote in
:

Look on eBay to get an idea whart they are selling for and how they
are described.

Anywhere from $5 - $50, depending on the condition. These were not rare at
any time, and still aren't.

I agree. I got my S-38E for $5.00 at a church rummage sale in
non-functional condition. Absolutely cherry and working properly it
might be worth $50 to a collector. Mine took one resistor from the junk
box and a good cleaning to make into a very classy kitchen table radio.
The RF performance is dismal by modern standards, but it evokes powerful
memories of listening to the 2Mhz marine band in the propeller shop of
the boatyard at the end of our road when I was quite little.

"William Mutch" wrote in message
ell.edu...
In article , says...
warren wrote in
:

Look on eBay to get an idea whart they are selling for and how they
are described.

Anywhere from $5 - $50, depending on the condition. These were not rare
at
any time, and still aren't.

I agree. I got my S-38E for $5.00 at a church rummage sale in
non-functional condition. Absolutely cherry and working properly it
might be worth $50 to a collector.

Or they might be worth a bit more. I've seen S-38s (no suffix) go for over
$100 in pristine condition. But the typical one usually goes for $30 to
$60. The first generation, no suffix, models go for a premium because they
have a tuneable BFO and a noise limiter, which were eliminated in later
models.

I got my S-38 for $20 in non-working, scratched up condition. I had to
replace the dial cords, a couple of tubes, a few resistors, and all of the
paper and electrolytic capactiors. It works very well now.

Mine took one resistor from the junk
box and a good cleaning to make into a very classy kitchen table radio.
The RF performance is dismal by modern standards, but it evokes powerful
memories of listening to the 2Mhz marine band in the propeller shop of
the boatyard at the end of our road when I was quite little.

Have you replaced the paper caps? Leaky caps will reduce the radio's
performance, especially leaky screen grid bypasses. Leaky caps can also
ruin other components, as well. And paper caps are almost always leaky.
After a few years, they're even more troublesome than electrolytics.

I think my S-38 type radios are pretty good performers, considering their
simple design. But they all had to be recapped before they really perked
up.

Frank Dresser

In article ,
says...

"William Mutch" wrote in message
ell.edu...
In article , says...
warren wrote in
:

Look on eBay to get an idea whart they are selling for and how they
are described.

Anywhere from $5 - $50, depending on the condition. These were not rare
at
any time, and still aren't.

I agree. I got my S-38E for $5.00 at a church rummage sale in
non-functional condition. Absolutely cherry and working properly it
might be worth $50 to a collector.

Or they might be worth a bit more. I've seen S-38s (no suffix) go for over
$100 in pristine condition. But the typical one usually goes for $30 to
$60. The first generation, no suffix, models go for a premium because they
have a tuneable BFO and a noise limiter, which were eliminated in later
models.

I got my S-38 for $20 in non-working, scratched up condition. I had to
replace the dial cords, a couple of tubes, a few resistors, and all of the
paper and electrolytic capactiors. It works very well now.

Mine took one resistor from the junk
box and a good cleaning to make into a very classy kitchen table radio.
The RF performance is dismal by modern standards, but it evokes powerful
memories of listening to the 2Mhz marine band in the propeller shop of
the boatyard at the end of our road when I was quite little.

Have you replaced the paper caps? Leaky caps will reduce the radio's
performance, especially leaky screen grid bypasses.

Not yet. I'm pretty involved in an NC-183 restoration and I try
not to have too many projects going at once. 8-}

Leaky caps can also
ruin other components, as well. And paper caps are almost always leaky.
After a few years, they're even more troublesome than electrolytics.

I think my S-38 type radios are pretty good performers, considering their
simple design. But they all had to be recapped before they really perked
up.

Frank Dresser