Yeah, I've been rereading the Communications Receivers
The Vacuum Tube Era by Raymond Moore several times,
but the main thing on that one is the tubes and some basic
info, not too much on other details like sensitivity and extras.
I've the first edition of Fred Osterman's Buying a Used
Shortwave Receiver around, but it's rather limited on the
tube radios.

What I was hoping for was recommendations by folks
who've actually used some of them, because it gives
me a starting point. Since I know that time flies when
you're having fun and there are a lot of models to hunt
down, it's nice to hear from folks who've actually used
some of the old rigs.

--Mike L.


Hi Mike,

You are smart to rule out the SX-88. I did a full restoration on one a year
back and it went for $7500 on EBay- I have seen them as high as $9500.

I am always disappointed when I get a chance to play with the Hallicrafters
receivers- except the SX-115. Hammarlund is a bit better, but both suffer
from poorer calibration marks as you go higher in frequency.
You might be interested in one of the Drake 4 line receivers. These are
exceptional, have the capability of adding additional filters, one of the
best NB's ever made, 1KHz resolution, low drift and their PBT is fabulous.
I have added a full set of crystals to my R-4C and find it to be a wonderful
SW RX. Sherwood has some very nice updates. Even more importantly, they are
plentiful and a fraction of the weight of the BIG boys. You'll see lots of
them at Dayton.

Dale W4OP

Dale Parfitt wrote:

Yeah, I've been rereading the Communications Receivers
The Vacuum Tube Era by Raymond Moore several times,
but the main thing on that one is the tubes and some basic
info, not too much on other details like sensitivity and extras.
I've the first edition of Fred Osterman's Buying a Used
Shortwave Receiver around, but it's rather limited on the
tube radios.

What I was hoping for was recommendations by folks
who've actually used some of them, because it gives
me a starting point. Since I know that time flies when
you're having fun and there are a lot of models to hunt
down, it's nice to hear from folks who've actually used
some of the old rigs.

--Mike L.


Hi Mike,

You are smart to rule out the SX-88. I did a full restoration on one a year
back and it went for $7500 on EBay- I have seen them as high as $9500.

Over that I think. Didn't WB6ACU pay more than that for one?



I am always disappointed when I get a chance to play with the Hallicrafters
receivers- except the SX-115. Hammarlund is a bit better, but both suffer
from poorer calibration marks as you go higher in frequency.
You might be interested in one of the Drake 4 line receivers. These are
exceptional, have the capability of adding additional filters, one of the
best NB's ever made, 1KHz resolution, low drift and their PBT is fabulous.
I have added a full set of crystals to my R-4C and find it to be a wonderful
SW RX. Sherwood has some very nice updates. Even more importantly, they are
plentiful and a fraction of the weight of the BIG boys. You'll see lots of
them at Dayton.

Dale W4OP

On Mon, 31 Jan 2005 15:38:24 -0500, dxAce wrote:



Dale Parfitt wrote:

Yeah, I've been rereading the Communications Receivers
The Vacuum Tube Era by Raymond Moore several times,
but the main thing on that one is the tubes and some basic
info, not too much on other details like sensitivity and extras.
I've the first edition of Fred Osterman's Buying a Used
Shortwave Receiver around, but it's rather limited on the
tube radios.

What I was hoping for was recommendations by folks
who've actually used some of them, because it gives
me a starting point. Since I know that time flies when
you're having fun and there are a lot of models to hunt
down, it's nice to hear from folks who've actually used
some of the old rigs.

--Mike L.


Hi Mike,

You are smart to rule out the SX-88. I did a full restoration on one a year
back and it went for $7500 on EBay- I have seen them as high as $9500.

Over that I think. Didn't WB6ACU pay more than that for one?



I am always disappointed when I get a chance to play with the Hallicrafters
receivers- except the SX-115. Hammarlund is a bit better, but both suffer
from poorer calibration marks as you go higher in frequency.
You might be interested in one of the Drake 4 line receivers. These are
exceptional, have the capability of adding additional filters, one of the
best NB's ever made, 1KHz resolution, low drift and their PBT is fabulous.
I have added a full set of crystals to my R-4C and find it to be a wonderful
SW RX. Sherwood has some very nice updates. Even more importantly, they are
plentiful and a fraction of the weight of the BIG boys. You'll see lots of
them at Dayton.

Dale W4OP





Yes, that one went for 10 grand....

Dale Parfitt wrote:

Yeah, I've been rereading the Communications Receivers
The Vacuum Tube Era by Raymond Moore several times,
but the main thing on that one is the tubes and some basic
info, not too much on other details like sensitivity and extras.
I've the first edition of Fred Osterman's Buying a Used
Shortwave Receiver around, but it's rather limited on the
tube radios.

What I was hoping for was recommendations by folks
who've actually used some of them, because it gives
me a starting point. Since I know that time flies when
you're having fun and there are a lot of models to hunt
down, it's nice to hear from folks who've actually used
some of the old rigs.

--Mike L.


Hi Mike,

You are smart to rule out the SX-88. I did a full restoration on one a year
back and it went for $7500 on EBay- I have seen them as high as $9500.

I am always disappointed when I get a chance to play with the Hallicrafters
receivers- except the SX-115. Hammarlund is a bit better, but both suffer
from poorer calibration marks as you go higher in frequency.
You might be interested in one of the Drake 4 line receivers. These are
exceptional, have the capability of adding additional filters, one of the
best NB's ever made, 1KHz resolution, low drift and their PBT is fabulous.
I have added a full set of crystals to my R-4C and find it to be a wonderful
SW RX. Sherwood has some very nice updates. Even more importantly, they are
plentiful and a fraction of the weight of the BIG boys. You'll see lots of
them at Dayton.

I think the R4-C was the only one of that lot that was capable of actually
adding filters to.

I believe the R4-B was actually the better receiver for SWBC IMHO.

dxAce
Michigan
USA

"Dale Parfitt" wrote in message
news:r%vLd.520$nn4.404@trnddc08...
Yeah, I've been rereading the Communications Receivers
The Vacuum Tube Era by Raymond Moore several times,
but the main thing on that one is the tubes and some basic
info, not too much on other details like sensitivity and extras.
I've the first edition of Fred Osterman's Buying a Used
Shortwave Receiver around, but it's rather limited on the
tube radios.

What I was hoping for was recommendations by folks
who've actually used some of them, because it gives
me a starting point. Since I know that time flies when
you're having fun and there are a lot of models to hunt
down, it's nice to hear from folks who've actually used
some of the old rigs.

--Mike L.


Hi Mike,

You are smart to rule out the SX-88. I did a full restoration on one
a year
back and it went for $7500 on EBay- I have seen them as high as
$9500.

Yeah, too few models equals too many dollars.

I am always disappointed when I get a chance to play with the
Hallicrafters
receivers- except the SX-115. Hammarlund is a bit better, but both
suffer
from poorer calibration marks as you go higher in frequency.

I rather figure that that's going to happen, but then
again, having another receiver around to verify
the signal helps too.

You might be interested in one of the Drake 4 line receivers. These
are
exceptional, have the capability of adding additional filters, one
of the
best NB's ever made, 1KHz resolution, low drift and their PBT is
fabulous.
I have added a full set of crystals to my R-4C and find it to be a
wonderful
SW RX. Sherwood has some very nice updates. Even more importantly,
they are
plentiful and a fraction of the weight of the BIG boys. You'll see
lots of
them at Dayton.

You know, I hadn't really considered an R-4 line receiver
much, maybe because the run for them was so long (into
what, the 80s?). Considering that Dayton is practially
the heart of Drake country, I guess I ought to see plenty
of them around. I'll have to keep an eye out for them.

On a similar note (not tube related, but about bargains
that can be had at Dayton), I passed on a Sony 2010
that someone was selling for $100 back in 2000. I've
been kicking myself ever since I got back home...

--Mike L.