[Hallicrafters] S40A Help


Richard Knoppow 1oldlens1 at ix.netcom.com
Sat May 21 00:55:18 EDT 2011


----- Original Message ----- 
From: <W4AWM at aol.com>
To: <radiocompass at yahoo.com>; <rbottomleysr at dslextreme.com>; 
<hallicrafters at mailman.qth.net>; <cosmos41 at ix.netcom.com>
Sent: Friday, May 20, 2011 9:16 PM
Subject: Re: [Hallicrafters] S40A Help


>
> Hi Mike,
>
> Typically, the receivers I have that were Canadian built 
> have an SC
> designation. I have an SC-77 and one other, but I am not 
> at home at the moment
> and can't recall what model it is. Also, the SC models 
> have  white lettering
> for both the SC model number and the   Hallicrafters brand 
> name on the other
> side of the panel.  If I remember,  I'll check the other 
> one when I get
> home.  Also I have never seen anything  but an SX-28, 
> SX-32 and a few others
> with orange dials. I don't believe the  dials were that 
> color when new but
> changed with age.  I am not sure of the  original color. 
> Same thing for the
> meter faces in those models.  I have  never seen or heard 
> of an S-40 or S-77
> model with anything but a green dial. The  only other non 
> standard face I am
> aware of is on some S-77s where the background  was white 
> and the lettering
> was white.  These models are plagued by flaking  dial 
> paint. If you get one or
> work on one, don't touch the dial at  all. Never attempt 
> to clean it or
> even try to blow dust off of it, just  stay away from it. 
> The S-76 had a
> similar plastic dial to the
> S-40 series but it was black with white lettering. The 
> bandspread  dial
> was calibrated.
>
> Hallicrafters did produce a large number of home 
> entertainment radios in
> Canada. These were typically All American Fives with octal 
> or miniature
> tubes.  I have a huge collection of them.
>
>
> 73,
>
> John,  W4AWM
>
>
    I can't be sure of Canadian models but suspect they were 
the same as US ones. The S-20R and other receivers of that 
era had dials that were originally white. The material 
become brown with age and can look orange. I am not sure if 
the first S-40's had white or green dials but Hallicrafters 
begain using green dials as part of the new overall styling 
of post-war receivers. The green also begins to yellow and 
also to fade with age so its possible some green dials now 
look some other color.
    There were definitely circuit changes between the S-40 
and S-40A, for one thing the rectifier was changed from the 
type-80 to a 5Y3. I can find nothing in the literature that 
suggests this was done on very late S-40's.
    The general trend during the transition from the S-20R 
to the S-40B was to revise the circuit design to make the 
set perform a bit better and change the mechanical design to 
make it cheaper to manufacture. Probably the largest change 
in design between the S-40A and S-40B is in the 
detector/first audio/noise limiter circuitry. The simplified 
panel design was probably significantly cheaper to make but 
loses a lot in looks IMO.
    These are are all decent performing receivers provided 
you understand the limits on the design imposed by the 
market. They were intended to be quite modest in price, not 
as cheap as the minimum type such as the S-38 but also more 
affordable than the next step up, a receiver with a crystal 
filter and perhaps some other features. When made the price 
of an S-40/A/B was about double that of an S-38 of the same 
period.
     I think Hallicrafters always tried to make receivers 
that were good value for the money and affordable. With the 
exception of a very few specialty receivers I don't think 
they ever tried to make world beaters.
     It would appear that Hallicrafters also went into 
production with designs which were not quite fully perfected 
and had to revise them. The S-40 is an example, having at 
least three versions not counting the A and B receivers. Its 
also evident to anyone who has worked on a number of 
Hallicrafters sets that the exact components were often 
changed, probably because of availability or perhaps cost. 
It would be interesting to know what sort of profit margins 
Hallicrafters tried for and how they managed cost of 
manufacture. Certainly, we know that they had to increase 
prices on many models because of inflation. Nonetheless I 
think they really tried to make stuff which would not 
dissapoint the buyer.


--
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles
WB6KBL
dickburk at ix.netcom.com 



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