Dennis WA6QKN and I took a trip to the Pensacola, Florida Hamfest on Saturday. I spotted a Hallicrafters tube receiver that I could not pass up. It was very clean and had the back and bottom in place. It looks like a Hallicrafters S38-D. But it is actually a
5R10A model. I picked it up for only $35.
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| Hallicrafter 5R10A Receiver |
The Hallicrafters 5R10A is a Superheterodyne, general coverage receiver that is used for the reception of AM and CW signals. The 5R10A receiver incorporates 5 tubes in its circuit and has 4 bands with continuous coverage from 540 KHz to 31 MHz. The first band covers 540 KC to 1650 KC, the second band covers from 1.65 MHz to 5.1 MHz, the third band covers from 5 MHz to 14.5 MHz, and the fourth band covers from 13 MHz all the way up to 31 MHz. The Intermediate Frequency(IF) of this receiver is the standard 455 KHz.
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| Hallicrafter 5R10A Receiver back |
It will be an adventure checking this radio out and seeing what restoration is needed. It is likely to need the electrolytic capacitors replaced. The radio is a 5 tube AC/DC type with no transformer. An AC/DC radio has no power transformer, one side of the power line could be at (or near) chassis potential and if any metal part of the radio comes in contact with you, a shock may result. I have picked up a VIZ ISOTAP II from eBay which is a tapped transformer and provides and isolated output. This will reduce the shock hazard. If I touch the chassis and ground in the shack, it won't kill me. Plenty of caution is in order and this can be helped by replacing the two wire cord with a three-wire cord with ground.
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| VIZ ISOTAP II top |
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| VIZ ISOTAP II bottom |
This was Suzy's first hamfest and she really enjoyed it. Other hams from Panama City attended. Jim K4LIX had a vendor table. Cory N4UVR and Phil N4STC also attended. Phil N4STC won the main prize, an Icom 7300. Congrats Phil! Dennis and I took w side trip to Fort Pickens on the way home. Perhaps there will be some future portable operations there.
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| Ft Pickens near Pensacola |
