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<DIV><FONT size=4>I never built any of the early Heath SWL tube-type receivers
(the first Heath receiver I built was an SB-300), but I DID build one of the
competing receiver kits that Hallicrafters sold, beginning in about
1962. This was their model S-119K (the "K" meant it was a kit), a
simple BC-16 MHz 3-band (and just 3 tubes !) SW radio that was marketed as a
special commemorization item, celebrating the 100th receiver model produced
since their S-19 Sky Buddy. I first saw it advertised in Boy's Life
magazine, and it originally sold for $29.95 in kit form (later upped to $39.95),
and the wired version was $49.95. I built mine when I was
12........took me a year to get it working right, and I still have
it. The S-119K was also known as the Sky Buddy II.
Performance-wise, it wasn't much different from the S-38 series, but it DID have
one item that those receivers lacked: a transformer-operated power supply, so it
was inherently a lot safer. Hallicrafters actually sold quite a
variety of kits, including the SX-140 ham-band-only receiver, the matching
HT-40 AM/CW transmitter (both covered 80-6 meters), and several simple pieces of
test equipment, including a VTVM, signal generator, and resistor and capacitor
substitution boxes. I own a Heathkit AR2 and AR3 (and even one of
the AR1 receivers that came before), but I'm still looking for the K1 and K2
receivers that used plug-in coils.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>73, Herman, N4CH.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>In a message dated 1/23/2016 3:57:32 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
k8tp@comcast.net writes:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px"><FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial>I've got
to add my memories of the AR-3, which was my first receiver. I <BR>bought mine
in 1959, when I was in the 9th grade, and had it next to my <BR>bed, with a
longwire running through the window screen, and the chassis <BR>'grounded' to
the furnace register in the floor under the window. (I <BR>used to stand on
that register in the morning, and had to remember not <BR>to touch the window
hardware or I'd get a mild shock.)<BR><BR>I didn't have any equipment to align
it, but I knew the father of a <BR>classmate down the street was a ham, and he
was nice enough to help me. <BR>I remember him telling me that I did a great
job of building it. It was <BR>pretty impressive with its power transformer
and copper-plated chassis. <BR>I loved that radio, and scanned the shortwave
bands every night before <BR>going to sleep.<BR><BR>When I got my novice
license, I built the tri-tet oscillator transmitter <BR>from the handbook -
you know, the one with doorbell wire wound around <BR>lollypop sticks on a
wooden 'chassis'. Operating mostly on 75/80 meters, <BR>I didn't have any
problem with drift.<BR><BR>I don't remember where that receiver went, but I
bought another about <BR>ten years ago on ebay, reduced it to parts, and
rebuilt it as though it <BR>were 1959 again. It was great fun, but I was
pretty disappointed by the <BR>performance - not what I remembered. Band 4 was
pretty much unusable. I <BR>didn't keep it very long, but did enjoy the
nostalgia.<BR><BR>Terry K8TP<BR>One of the (former) hams at Heath<BR><BR>P.S.
I found an S-38 at a local swap meet last year, and brought it <BR>home. It
was in terrible shape, and I didn't even plug it in, but tore <BR>it down and
rebuilt it on new, homemade chassis. Considering how many of <BR>this basic
circuit Hallicrafters sold, I figured it would be worth the <BR>effort, but it
wasn't. Even after replacing the regenerative BFO with a <BR>real one, and
putting in new tubes and realigning, it's terrible - much <BR>worse than the
AR-3, and I won't even waste time build a new cabinet for
it.<BR><BR>_______________________________________________<BR>Heath mailing
list<BR>Heath@puck.nether.net<BR>https://puck.nether.net/mailman/listinfo/heath<BR></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>