HALLICRAFTERS S-120

[@HobokenHam]

My S-120 was my very first radio. Eventually I paired it with a modest transmitter for my Novice activity. My dad took me to Radio Row which inhabited the downtown area eventually replaced by the World Trade Center. We went to Harrison Radio and dad paid about $60 bucks for this radio. To give you some idea of how much that was at the time my parents rent for a 1 bedroom apartment in Brooklyn was $55. That's right, the radio was more expensive than our monthly rent. My dad loved me I guess. (BTW, my parents had the bedroom and my brother and I used a Castro Convertible in the living room.) I loved that radio. I listened to Radio Australia's Kookaburra Bird wake up the station for the day's broadcasting around 6 or 7 AM. Listened to most of the Iron Curtain radio stations. Many hams. BBC. Broadcast band DX. I wish I still had that radio!

[@RandomRetr0]

one thing I love about your videos is that even though I’ve been in and out of the hobby since I was a kid, I always learn something new when watching them - and we did it on 11/3 👍🏼

[@johnfalkenstine8377]

I bought one of these in the Munich Post Exchange in the sixties. In our apartment, I could not use a long SW antenna, but it worked quite well at night. I could get radio Peking and listen to streams of invectives. During the 68 Czech crisis, I sold it to a repair technician at the University of Maryland language lab for forty bucks. It ran on 110V and in Europe, you needed a transformer. As a kid, I already knew never that these radios could shock you, so I was careful.

[@johnlawfourtyfyve]

I remember learning about "Hot Chassis" on my first S-120 at age 11 on the roof while stringing a wire antenna. Also learned those vent pipes for plumbing are well grounded on that house.

[@exploratoria]

Thank you, John - I just purchased my first S-120; really enjoying your videos!

[@LONGINTHETOOTHtv]

I had a set which looked identical to that called DX mates CR150 - was this the same build … great channel thanks

[@gaffeltroll]

Thank you very much for great information. Almost wish you were my neighbor 👍

[@eddyaudio]

A excellent Video John on the Hallicrafters AC/DC we didn’t see many in Australia AC/DC Radio because of the Danger were not popular.

[@squarewave2]

Thank you for your feedback from Australia. I appreciate it!!

[@K1OIK]

widowmaker

[@vtradio]

I installed the Hayseed Hamfest kit in my Hallicrafters S-120 in May 2020. I took a break from it because the radio still had a hum in Stand By and at low volume. I researched it over the next few months and concluded that the hum is basically normal. Do you also find this to be true? There are mods on the web to try and fix the hum, but I'm going to live with it. I have two parts radios, one is a Lafayette HE-40. I'm going to do the alignment later this week. I also have a new speaker on order that I saw in another video. The one from the HE-40 was the best of the three, but far from perfect. Where did you order the volume and BFO controls from? I'll have a video or two up soon (I hope). 73 Paul AA1SU

[@squarewave2]

Hi, Paul To reduce the hum somewhat, I moved the neutral AC line connection from the volume control pot to another location, but there will always be a slight hum. To replace the volume and BFO pots, I just went to my junk box where I have 30 years of salvaged radio parts. Removing the old BFO pot required a small acetylene torch, and I had to use a salvaged shaft extension on the volume control. Thanks for your comment!

[@lovetheblue6659]

Enjoyed the presentation, but would have liked a brief demonstration of the radio in action. (Especially to see how that BFO handles SSB.)

[@squarewave2]

Hi, Love The Blue, The BFO does a terrible job on SSB reception. With a lot of fiddling around, you can almost copy the voice. It works like it was a regenerative radio!

[@lovetheblue6659]

@@squarewave2 - Thanks! Sounds like it works about as well as the “Sensitivity” control on my first Shortwave radio: The Knight Kit “Star Roamer”. I was able to copy SSB just every once in awhile, and it was never satisfactory.

[@brunoprimas1483]

I put together a video of my S-120 on 80m, and the B.F.O. on listening to SSB. I start out with it dialed in, then I turned the B.F.O. off, and then dial it back in again. This unit has been rebuilt and I think it does a decent job on SSB. kzbin.infoivRaFK35GR4?feature=share

[@lovetheblue6659]

@@brunoprimas1483 - Thanks for the demo! The SSB sounds incredibly clear!

[@brunoprimas1483]

@@lovetheblue6659 This is how it works for me. On the 80m, 160m, and 40m bands, when I find a broadcast in SSB, I move the main tuning dial to the RIGHT of it. I then turn the B.F O. all of the way on. With the bandspread starting at '100', I move that to the LEFT until I start to hear the broadcast. The pitch will be fast, and will get slower the lower you go on the BS dial. Soon as I can start to make out what the people are saying, I then turn the B.F.O. down until the dialog clears up completely. On the 20m band, it's kinda the opposite. I start with the BS dial at about 50. When I hear a SSB broadcast, I move the dial pointer to the LEFT of the signal and only turn the B.F.O. on about 3/4 of the way up . Then, I turn the BS UP the dial towards the '100'. When I can start to understand the voices , then I start to turn the B.F.O. up until the pitch becomes listenable. The 20m is slightly more difficult and takes a little practice, but it will work. I guess what I've found is that the key is that you have to start tuning from outside the broadcast and dial IN for SSB. If you just go to the strongest SSB signal in AM mode and then turn on the B.F.O. and adjust it, the pitch will not come in. You need to tune in from the sides of the broadscast. Once I got the hang of it, I find it easy and quite usable. The other nice thing I've seen is that after you do get the broadcast in and the pitch good is that the unit is fairly stable as well. 👍

[@erikburman530]

It's so refreshing that you aren't shoving your stupid political ideas in my face. Much appreciated!