Hallicrafter S-38E : Anybody know anything about 'em?

[Darren Addy]

I need a new hobby like I need a hole in my head, but I tripped across a Hallicrafter S-38E after work today and it followed me home. Just wondering if anybody here knows anything about 'em.

I've found the following links. People say things like:

It's what got me started in Ham radio

Found a few links...
http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/6483

http://www.km5z.us/S-38E_refurb.php

http://www.the-s38-guy.com/

Have to plug it in and see if it even works. The previous owner (HAM licence number on the front of the unit) apparently wired up a "modern" 1/4" headphone jack into the top of it.

Now I need to figure out what to connect up for an antenna.

 

[Karen St John]

I'll mention your find to my dad when I see him Sunday. He collects older radios, including Hallicrafters. I'll see what insights he may have on this one.

As for the antenna, depends on what wavelength you wish to tune into...

 

[John Erwin]

*WARNING*

Many of these radios were "transformerless", meaning there is no isolation between the service AC and the chassis of the radio. Severe shocks can result with improper handling. The "S-38 Guy" link at the top has info on this I believe. Some units have been modified over the years, or were designed after a certain point and did not have the deficiency.

Darren, unless that unit has been used reliably recently, and/or has had the caps replaced, I would advise caution on simply plugging it in and turning it on.. you could end up with a smoke show, fire or a severe shock. You may want to have somebody familiar with older radios to give it a going over and look for typical problems; of course you may have the ability to do this yourself with some research.

I collect such radios (although I don't current have an S-38E), and after a visual inspection I would normally power them up slowly using a variac to avoid big problems. The old capacitors tend to dry out over the years and become very problematic.

There's likely not much I can tell you about the S-38E that you can't read for yourself with the links you have. Your model was made near the end of a very long run on the S-38; although the appearance is quite different from the early models. Some variants of the S-38E are worth more than others due to scarcity (the beige case is rare to find for instance). These models were more of a "general coverage" type receiver rather than a hard-core ham unit, but many hams and Short Wave Listeners had them in any case (especially the older models).

Now for the antenna connections. Most Halicrafters, including the S-38 had a terminal strip marked A1, A2 and G. Be careful! If the radio has been "monkeyed with" the G screw may have been shorted to the chassis... this is VERY dangerous if the above conditions exist (the power supply issue). Make sure all screws are not connected to the chassis in any way (use a meter to be sure) before proceeding.

Use the A1 screw with a random wire type antenna. You can simply string a wire around a room, or for better reception string it outside between a couple trees (as high as possible). In this scenario you would short the A2 and G screws together (the jumper may actually still be in place) and run a wire from G to a ground connection (plumbing or a ground rod outside).

You can also erect a "balanced" type antenna (dipole,doublet etc) by running the wires for such to the A1 and A2 connections; remove the jumper between A2 and G in this case (but you can still connect to ground). If you can't connect to a decent ground you may be able to get away without it at all and still get reasonable performance.

Enjoy your find! I get a lot of pleasure out of my old radios sometimes, especially in the winter when things are otherwise pretty boring.

 

[RWilbanks]

My neighbor had a Hallicrafters S-38E receiver that he received in 1959 as a birthday gift from his uncle. In 1966, he went into the Marines and was shipped off to Vietnam for the next seven years. Sadly, his parents moved and the radio was placed up in an attic for 35 years.

When his parents were placed in an assisted living environment due to Alzheimer's disease and other ailments, he found the radio again up in the attic. He decided to have the radio rebuilt with new capacitors, and fully replaced the vacuum tubes. This was because the radio emitted a terrible hum in the audio when it was turned on, so after careful examination, it was determined that one of the main capacitors had gone bad. Rather than replacing just the one capacitor, he had all of them replaced to be on the safe side.

The S-38E, when functioning properly, has a beautiful audio resonance that only a tubed radio can give you. I have to recommend Phil's Old Radios, as they do a magnificent job on repairing vintage professional communications gear and radios.

Yours truly,

Ron

 

[Darren Addy]

Thanks to all for the replies. The Phil's Old Radios site has a nice S-38 page.

I'm happy to report that my S-38E works very well, but is not hooked up to an external antenna yet.

 

[Eric Friedebach]

Darren, I might be able to help you out with an antenna. I have an Eavesdropper Sloper that I used for about seven years before moving. It's tuned to the MW and SW broadcast bands, but I found it worked well receiving the ham and utility frequencies as well. The only problem with it is if I remember right, I broke one of the leads on the ladder line as I was taking it down . That's fixable with a soldering iron.

If I ever get around to putting up another long wire antenna, it's going to be something that will transmit on the ham bands, so the Eavesdropper will just sit in a box. It's yours for the taking, drop me a PM.

 

[Powell Way]

I have 2 S-38E models and a S-38EB (fake blond wood paiint). You can get away with a piece of wire ( I have 10 feet hooked to A1) on the one in the bedroom, and I get a lot of stuff on it. Just be careful as it was previously stated it's an AC / DC set and can electrocute you if you aren't careful.

Powell