Monday, Oct. 26, 2015, 1 a.m. — Good news to report from the shack … I’ve been curious about the Hallicrafters HA-5 and if the thing was actually working. Despite my last tests, I detected nothing, so this evening I checked the manual to see what procedures it 
suggests.
One of their alignment recommendations is to listen for the VFO on a receiver; no surprise there. I connected a VOM on the AC setting after I read that the output should be about 30 volters. And yes, while the meter was jumping around (the digits rapidly changing, I mean), it was in the 20-30 volt range. Hmm …
I realized that the likely culprit was age — the rotary switch contacts are likely to be dirty. I rotate the OFF/ON/bandswitch several times left-to-right, connect the lead to the VFO output and a jumper across the key contacts.
80 METERS. Try though I might, I detected nothing on 80. NO THING. Zip. Zero. Zilch. Nada. The big Goose Egg.
40-10 METERS. Set the VFO dial at 7.050 MHz and turned my Yaesu FT-2000 on 40, dialed ‘er down and …. BINGO. Nice, strong, stable signal right on frequency (given the patented “kinda sorta around that mark on the dial” frequency resolution of the HA-5, I was dee-lighted it was that close.
When I checked the other bands however, I was disappointed. Nothing. Not even a chirp. 
WTF???
The answer lay in the schematic!
There are only three sets of coils for the VFO — one for 80, one for 40-10 and the third for 6 and 2 meters. And according to the schematic, the 40-meter bandswitch setting is the exact same electrically as the one for 20, 15 and 10 meters. In other words, the strong, clear 40-meter signal I hear when 40 is selected never changes when the band selector is moved to 20, 15 or 10!
I didn’t look up the schematic for the HT-40 transmitter, but my guess is that the frequency multiplying for 20-10 takes place in the transmitter, given the fact the output is the same.
WHAT ABOUT 80? Yeah, I’m not sure what’s going on with the 80-meter position. Before I get too crazy with worry, I’m going to have to clean the bandswitch contacts. The bandswitch is a six-segment beast, so I’ll have to check the 80-meter position and see whassup with that. It could also be a simple as a bad crystal or dirty crystal socket. I have my original working HA-5 I bought years ago on the shelf, and I could pretty easily swap the crystal out to determine if it was working or not.
But I do most of my CW on 40, so I’m pretty pleased as is. The next challenge — if I dare attempt it — is to get this station — the HT40 transmitter, SX-140 receiver and HA-5 VFO — on the air! Straight Key Night would be a good time for that, eh? It may be easier to get my SB-102 on the air, who knows.
73 es CUL de KY4Z … SK … dit dit …