Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2010 — Our home’s library continues to be where I wind up spending most of my evenings, and as winter settles in for the duration, will continue to be my most “radi0-active” spot in the house.
My listening post still includes my Hallicrafters SX-130 and the Gardner-Wells BC-348Q military surplus WWII-era receiver. I usually have both rigs on when I anticipate doing some SWL’ing, giving each time to warm up.
As stated in this space earlier, the SX-130 drifts nearly continuously even once its warmed up; the rate of drift slows, but its enough to be irritating. The BC-348Q is more stable when warm, though it lacks some of the refinements of the SX-130, like variable crystal filtering.
The Holy Grail of Hallicrafters receivers that I have lusted after is the SX-122 shown below. As you can guess by its appearance, this receiver was built during the same time frame as the Hallicrafters SR-150/160 transceivers and the SX-117/HT-44 — the early 1960s.
The SX-122 represented the high-end SWL receiver in Hallicrafters’ lineup at the time. In comparison with the SX-130 I own (and judging by the average price the SX-122 brings on eBay), its clear to see why these 50-year-old boat anchors are in such high demand.
Styling is a big plus in my book; the receiver is attractive. Features? Got those too. It features two IF stages vs. the SX-130’s single stagee. Better crystal filtering, better stability, better audio, etc.
For about a week I was watching a SX-122 for sale on eBay, and yesterday I realized the auction was going to end overnight — in the middle of the night. How badly did I want this receiver? This question also requires consideration of how much money I’m willing to plunk down if I try to snipe it.
As it turned out, this morning I was happy that I didn’t lose any sleep over the SX-122; the final auction price was a few bucks under $300! I knew it would hit the $200-range, but one has to ask oneself — how important is it to spend 3 bills on a 50-year-old receiver? Not to mention the fact that you can buy a modern HF ham transceiver with general coverage receive for that amount or with a little more (a first-generation IC-706 can be picked up for about $400).
I’m making the mistake of believing that you can justify the purchase of radio equipment in this hobby of mine; just like most hobbies, you can come up with arguments that sound good, but none really hold water. And I think male radio operators are prohibited by some secret wording in the Commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution from claiming to their spouses how much money they saved buying their gear on sale.
But we buy anyway, trying to limit our purchases, or in my case, selling off some stuff I’m not using to fund the purchase — and make the room — for something else. One of the joys of being a ham for two decades has been realizing that I can now afford those rigs I salivated over in QST or the AES catalog as a freshly minted Novice license holder.
THE END OF THE SEARCH … OR A NEW BEGINNING? My quest for an SX-122 will continue, though last night’s auction confirmed that demand for this classic receiver remains high. There are a couple of other receivers I might consider trying out on my bookcase SWL post in the library … in fact, I have a couple here in the shack I could move in there in order to give them some use. I could always clean the books off a third shelf and move one in there anyway … the cost — taking some grief from my wife, who fears my radio hobby will take over that corner of the library — has been fairly painless so far, and I hope to keep it that way. We’ll see …. 😉