|
überarbeitet am 27.12.2008
|
After the early Silver - Marshall Manufacturing Co., Chicago,
went bankrupcy, it's radio engineer Bill Halligan in 1934 founded a new company
mainly devoted to the development of shortwave communications equipment and later
television equipment, the Hallicrafters, Inc.
The S -1 Sky Rider was a 5 tube receiver allowing the first steps in shortwave
reception marketed at a reasonable price in 1934, in early 1935 the Super
Skyrider and the S - 4 did follow as very early superheterodyne receivers.
In the next years, with ascending model numbers, Hallicrafters produced a wide
range of allwave and communication receivers.
The cheap Sky Buddy as an entry model to shortwave reception was produced in
remarkable numbers and had a good price / performance relationsship. During WWII,
the double conversion receiver SX - 28 has
been produced in large numbers and and has been a mainstay in long range maritime
and military communications - a few of these sets have been sent to Russia under the
lend-lease act. The S-27 has been widely used as VHF - surveillance receivers by
official and military services. After the days of WWII, Hallicrafters got back
to the demands of amateur radio operators.
The S-38, the so-called "Sky Buddy" got the place as beginner's receiver, the earliest
single conversion S-40 has been presented in 1946, after the S-40A came the S-40B, according to a
Hallicrafter's advertisements "world's most popular ham receiver" in 1950.
After 1951, Hallicrafters had a very similar double conversion set, the S-76, in
their model range.
The SX-42 presented in 1947 was the world's
first double conversion All band receiver featuring coverage of the new VHF/FM-band
up to 108 MHz and FM mode; an excellent quality audio stage offered nearly HiFi quality
radio reception. It's successor was the SX-62 with a linear dial.
After 1954, shortwave receivers with two semicircular dials for main tuning and
bandspread tuning were very fashionable, one of these sets is the SX-100 produced
until 1960. The following generation had characteristic linear dialy.
Hallicrafters always offered a wide range of receivers in different price
segments and with different options installed - to match the demands of listeners
with different financial abilities. Any SX model designation has the signification,
that this set is equipped with a crystal filter, the U stands for a set with a universal
(110/220 V) mains transformer.
Hallicrafters Co. has been sold to Northrop and after that to even more new owners,
in the seventies, several shortwave receivers from japanese production still carried
the Hallicrafters label.
further reading:
e: Dachis, Chuck: Radios by Hallicrafters, Schiffer
Publishing Ltd, Atglen, PA 19310, USA
e: Moore, Raymond,S.: Communications Receivers, RSM
Communications, LaBelle, FL 33975, USA
e: Osterman, Fred: Receivers Past & Present, Universal
Radio Research, Reynoldsburg, OH 43068, USA, ISBN 1-882123-07-7
|
