weatherall wrote:
I'm curious about what everyone in this newsgroup considers as their
best shortwave receiver.

Well, "best" could refer to a lot of things (selectivity, sensitivity,
number of bells and whistles) but my *favorite* is my Hallicrafters
SX-28. Really neat Art Deco styling and you can't beat the push-pull 6V6
audio going into that big PM-23 speaker. As an added benefit, the 75
pound weight of the receiver helps hold the house down during tornado
season.

I dont own a digital camera or a digital camcorder.Someday,I will buy
one and post some pictures of my radios,I will never post any pictures
of meself on the internet though,it's not that I am ugly looking because
I am not ugly looking.The only radio I saw for sale at the Goodwill
store this afternoon was an Emerson cheapo AM/FM little table model
radio,so I didn't bother with that radio because it is too new looking.I
did buy a SUNN beta lead C-MOS Technology speaker rig thingy though for
eight dollars at the Goodwill store today.Actually the speaker
case/cabinet has two large heavy speakers mounted in the case.There are
13 knobs on the front of the case,one of the knobs is for Master Contol
and there are 3 jacks on the front of the case and a ON/OFF switch.On
the back of the case it says SUNN MUSICAL EQUIPMENT Made in U.S.A.by
SUNN Musical Equipment Co.A Hartzell Corporation Company.And on the back
there are two jacks each for Speakers 4 Ohms 100 Watt Max and Master
Accessory Channel A and Master Accessory Channel B and there is a jack
for Foot Switch.Only guessing,but I would say the whole rig weighs about
fifty pounds or more and there is a slip over viny dust cover for the
rig too.The rig looks to me like it is in very good to excellent
condition.It is oviously a serious professional piece of equipment for a
band or audiophile or whatever.I really dont need the rig,but for only
eight dollars,I sure wasen't just going to leave it sitting at the
Goodwill store.
cuhulin

On Wed, 25 Jan 2006 15:43:11 -0600, wrote:

I dont own a digital camera or a digital camcorder.Someday,I will buy
one and post some pictures of my radios,I will never post any pictures
of meself on the internet though,it's not that I am ugly looking because
I am not ugly looking.The only radio I saw for sale at the Goodwill
store this afternoon was an Emerson cheapo AM/FM little table model
radio,so I didn't bother with that radio because it is too new looking.I
did buy a SUNN beta lead C-MOS Technology speaker rig thingy though for
eight dollars at the Goodwill store today.Actually the speaker
case/cabinet has two large heavy speakers mounted in the case.There are
13 knobs on the front of the case,one of the knobs is for Master Contol
and there are 3 jacks on the front of the case and a ON/OFF switch.On
the back of the case it says SUNN MUSICAL EQUIPMENT Made in U.S.A.by
SUNN Musical Equipment Co.A Hartzell Corporation Company.And on the back
there are two jacks each for Speakers 4 Ohms 100 Watt Max and Master
Accessory Channel A and Master Accessory Channel B and there is a jack
for Foot Switch.Only guessing,but I would say the whole rig weighs about
fifty pounds or more and there is a slip over viny dust cover for the
rig too.The rig looks to me like it is in very good to excellent
condition.It is oviously a serious professional piece of equipment for a
band or audiophile or whatever.I really dont need the rig,but for only
eight dollars,I sure wasen't just going to leave it sitting at the
Goodwill store.
cuhulin

It's a guitar amp,.

http://www.dangpow.com/~sunn/

Guitar amp or whatever it is,(I dont know much about those things) it
looks just like that beta lead in that dangpow.com website.It has a sort
of a black leatherette leather (whatever) vinyl covering on the
cabinet.I know a guy by the name of Paul Steele who lives in Madison
(suburb city, north side of Jackson) and he works at Morrison Music
company,where they sell and service all kinds of fancy high priced music
thingys.I might ask him about my Guitar amp.He also collects antique
tools,he can talk all day long about antique toos.
cuhulin

On Wed, 25 Jan 2006 15:43:11 -0600, wrote:

I dont own a digital camera or a digital camcorder.Someday,I will buy
one and post some pictures of my radios,I will never post any pictures
of meself on the internet though,it's not that I am ugly looking because
I am not ugly looking.The only radio I saw for sale at the Goodwill
store this afternoon was an Emerson cheapo AM/FM little table model
radio,so I didn't bother with that radio because it is too new looking.I
did buy a SUNN beta lead C-MOS Technology speaker rig thingy though for
eight dollars at the Goodwill store today.Actually the speaker
case/cabinet has two large heavy speakers mounted in the case.There are
13 knobs on the front of the case,one of the knobs is for Master Contol
and there are 3 jacks on the front of the case and a ON/OFF switch.On
the back of the case it says SUNN MUSICAL EQUIPMENT Made in U.S.A.by
SUNN Musical Equipment Co.A Hartzell Corporation Company.And on the back
there are two jacks each for Speakers 4 Ohms 100 Watt Max and Master
Accessory Channel A and Master Accessory Channel B and there is a jack
for Foot Switch.Only guessing,but I would say the whole rig weighs about
fifty pounds or more and there is a slip over viny dust cover for the
rig too.The rig looks to me like it is in very good to excellent
condition.It is oviously a serious professional piece of equipment for a
band or audiophile or whatever.I really dont need the rig,but for only
eight dollars,I sure wasen't just going to leave it sitting at the
Goodwill store.
cuhulin

http://www.dangpow.com/~sunn/betalead/betaleadf.jpg

On Wed, 25 Jan 2006 15:43:11 -0600, wrote:

I dont own a digital camera or a digital camcorder.Someday,I will buy
one and post some pictures of my radios,I will never post any pictures
of meself on the internet though,it's not that I am ugly looking because
I am not ugly looking.The only radio I saw for sale at the Goodwill
store this afternoon was an Emerson cheapo AM/FM little table model
radio,so I didn't bother with that radio because it is too new looking.I
did buy a SUNN beta lead C-MOS Technology speaker rig thingy though for
eight dollars at the Goodwill store today.Actually the speaker
case/cabinet has two large heavy speakers mounted in the case.There are
13 knobs on the front of the case,one of the knobs is for Master Contol
and there are 3 jacks on the front of the case and a ON/OFF switch.On
the back of the case it says SUNN MUSICAL EQUIPMENT Made in U.S.A.by
SUNN Musical Equipment Co.A Hartzell Corporation Company.And on the back
there are two jacks each for Speakers 4 Ohms 100 Watt Max and Master
Accessory Channel A and Master Accessory Channel B and there is a jack
for Foot Switch.Only guessing,but I would say the whole rig weighs about
fifty pounds or more and there is a slip over viny dust cover for the
rig too.The rig looks to me like it is in very good to excellent
condition.It is oviously a serious professional piece of equipment for a
band or audiophile or whatever.I really dont need the rig,but for only
eight dollars,I sure wasen't just going to leave it sitting at the
Goodwill store.
cuhulin

http://www.harmony-central.com/Guita...ta_Lead-1.html

I also forgot to mention I own a Blaupunkt Derby 691
FM/Shortwave/LW/MW/EU radio.I bought it from Brian Hill between two to
three months ago.It is a nice radio and works great too.
cuhulin

Carter.. My uncle was in the signal corps during WWII. I acquired his
Hallicrafters which had 13 tubes, I believe, and did have two 6V6s in the
push/pull audio output.... and the 12inch speaker in the separater metal
cabinet with a big H across the grill. Had crystal phasing, bfo, great
bandspread tuning, an 'S' meter... all kinds of stuff to increase
selectivity. It received weak signals and more importantly, could select
them from strong adjacent stations. I've aften wanted to compare it side
by side with a modern digital set. Maybe my memory of it is better than it
actually was, but I don't know. It was really versatile at receiving and
selecting a station from a crowded location on a band. It sure was heavy.
Wish I still had it, great looking piece of hardware from time gone by.
I'd rebuild now that I appreciate it, and have the know how.

rpbc wrote:

Carter.. My uncle was in the signal corps during WWII. I acquired
his Hallicrafters which had 13 tubes, I believe, and did have two
6V6s in the push/pull audio output....

SX-28 and its variants had 15 tubes I believe but I don't know the
Hallicrafters line well enough to know if there was a 13 tube set or
not. Do a web search on SX-28s and it will bring up some hits that have
pictures so you can see if the 28 was your uncle's set.

and the 12inch speaker in the separater metal cabinet with a big H
across the grill.

Yup, the PM-23 speaker---some had the "h", some did not; presumably the
one "with" is more valuable.

Had crystal phasing, bfo, great bandspread tuning, an 'S' meter...
all kinds of stuff to increase selectivity. It received weak signals
and more importantly, could select them from strong adjacent
stations.

Definitely a nice set, the top dog in its day. However, only a single
conversion radio--images get to be a bit of a problem above 14 Mc/s.

I've aften wanted to compare it side by side with a modern digital
set. Maybe my memory of it is better than it actually was, but I
don't know.

Well, my credo is "I've used old and I've used new, and believe me, new
is better". grin Technology *has* improved in the last 50 or 60
years. However, for styling, romance, nostalgia and just plain fun, you
can't beat some of the old timers.

It was really versatile at receiving and selecting a station from a
crowded location on a band. It sure was heavy.

75 pounds (!) *plus* maybe another 20 or so for the speaker.


Wish I still had it, great looking piece of hardware from time gone
by. I'd rebuild now that I appreciate it, and have the know how.

Good luck...the 28 can be a pretty tough rebuild to do it right. Again,
look on the web for the trials and tribulations of a guy that documented
his 28 rebuild.

Carter... Thank you for your reply. I acquired the set in 1961, my father
paid my uncle thirty dollars for it because of my interest. The set might
have had 15 tubes, I remember counting but don't remember the number.

I'm sure the new stuff is much better, just my sentiment talking.... has
to be. It sure was exciting though for a twelve year old kid to turn on
that radio and spend hours listening to stations far and near. That kind
of excitment will color one's memory.

If I had the old set, I would rebuild it. Mine was in perfect shape, had
never been worked on, but begin to lose sensitivity a few years after I
had it. I was the kind of kid that had the RCA tube manuel memorized, so
when real schooling in electronics began, I was ready. By that time
though, the Hallicrafters had left the ranch. Wish I had it now though.
Thanks for the tip and encouragement to look it up on the Internet. I'm
on my way to Google this minute.