The high cost of collectible radios …

Friday, Feb. 18, 2011 — As I sit at lunch and sip my coffee and peruse eBay, I found a Hallicrafters SR-150 station that has been relisted. The opening bid of $695 is a bit steep for my blood, especially considering the transceiver’s shortcomings as a CW rig. But price never stopped me from looking.

The ad copy is the same, but today I read it. The seller says that the rigs’ “electrolytes” were changed; hell, I didn’t even know boat anchors had electrolytes! Seriously, the seller goes into detail that the rig was operated and has been restored to original condition. That would be worth the price of admission alone — to operate one as it was new out of the box.

I’m not likely to bid on this, but there’s part of me that would like to offer the seller a trade of something I have now for the rig and power supply. Sounds like he would prefer cash; can’t blame him. With hamfest season approaching, cash on the barrel head is king.

SPEAKING OF EBAY. I ran across this little jewel some months ago for sale on eBay. This has to be the ugliest Hallicrafters anything I’ve ever laid eyes on! Whoever committed this crime installed the power supply for the SR-150 in the larger cabinet. This thing takes the proverbial cake as the ugliest attempt at rack mounting. The sad part was that the seller did not have the original case for the SR-150, so anyone who bought this thing needed to also track down the case … or mount it in an actual rack, perhaps? Sheesh!

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