What's your favorite boatanchor?

SX-88 Receiver

My favorite boat anchor is the Hallicrafters SX-88.

I had so many of them, I threw some in the trash.

Then I heard Pat WA6MHZ was looking for one. Oh, well.









(Okay, this is officially a joke, before MHZ has a heart attack.)

 

Although MHZ would even give certain parts of his anatomy for a Hallicrafters SX-88, that particular receiver isn't all that great! Their "appeal" comes from the fact that only a relatively few were ever manufactured. Now they are not a "bad" receiver (i.e. on the same level as the National SW-54), but the absolute performance is fairly mediocre. There are several Hallicrafters receivers that are "on par" with the SX-88 including the SX-28 series.

Glen, K9STH
(who doesn't own an SX-88 but who has restored a few)

 

It's been about 20 years, but I'm finally in a situation where I can rebuild my station, so I started unpacking my gear from the bins it was stored in. First out were these receivers:



... a Hammarlund HQ-170 and an old Navy SRR-13A; I have the manuals and such for these. Somewhere among the bins is a Hallicrafters HT-46 and a Collins 30S-1; the only antenna I could salvage (divorce) is a Hy-Gain trap vertical somewhere in the rafters of the garage. There's all the peripheral stuff too, including a small collection of Vibroplex "bugs". The CW practice lessons I wrote for a Commodore 64 still work, and my QSL card album isn't too musty- I remember how excited I was when I got 2 QSL cards from San Marino on 10 meters- in those days I think there were only about 4 or 5 licensed hams there in T77* (I think that's their call). It's like old friends to see these things again- the stuff that was always on the desk, the old Royal typewriter I bought for $1 at a garage sale about 30 years ago that I'd keep the log with; the 24 hour clock that was a left-over from my Air Force days, the padded headphones so I could copy CW without driving my now ex-wife nuts (she went nuts anyway), the QSL bureau credits that weren't used- it's a long time and the memories of those days sit a little heavy on me just now.

 

My Boaranchor station in use on a daily basis

Apache, Mohawk, Marauder, HO-10, SA-2040, SB-10 (non-working), 1410 keyer and that SX-111.

Antenna is a full wave loop up about 40 feet in the air.

View attachment 36831

 

Leaving out my Drake "B" & "C" Lines.....

I'd have to say my all time favorite was an E.F. Johnson Invader 2000, with a Collins 75A-1. In CLOSE second place on the receiver would be a Hammarlund HQ 150, and for a transmitter, a Viking 500. In the amplifier category, I'd first take my old Viking Thunderbolt, then my former Gonset GSB 201 MkIII.
While I have had numerous boatanchors, over the years, I can't think of any I really didn't like, though my back didn't like ANY of them. Many I liked less than others, but I liked them all, just not equally.
I've had a couple of Valiants, a V II, a few Apaches, 2 Marauders, a DX-100 and a DX-60, (more than) a couple of Hallicrafters Receivers (SX99, SX101A come to mind, right off the bat) A Drake 2B, a couple of RME's, and an NC300. I also had a few home brew ship-anchors (too heavy for a boat). All of these were treasures, and I regretted selling each and every one. Some, more than others.
BUT, I can't keep them all, or I'd have ZERO room in my house, let alone my shack. Currently, the one I want back, more than any other, is the 75A-1, which I sold in 1980, for $125, and threw in a Viking II, for the new owner. BOY, I want that receiver back.

 

RXO:

I owned Collins 75A-1 s/n 4 from the late 1960s until the mid 1970s when I traded it. At that time you almost had to pay for someone's gasoline to get them to "haul off" the item. I definitely would like to have that receiver again!

I have owned 3 different 75A-2 receivers (still have 1) as well as still have a 75A-3 and 75A-4.

Also have 2 each 75S-1 receivers (1 with the Waters' rejection circuit and the other with a 500 Hz CW mechanical filter) and a 75S-3A. I had a 75S-3 that I traded for my 75A-4.

Glen, K9STH

 

No Joke!!

That's no joke. My 75A1, was in near perfect physical condition. It likely could have used an alignment, for someone who wanted to use it for a primary CW rig, though it had decent ears for AM use. The fellow who was interested in it wouldn't go $150, even with the V II, with a 122 VFO, thrown in. I asked $200 for the receiver and wound up selling it for $125, and still had to throw in the V II and VFO, just to get the guy to take it. Had I not been a young man, in need of cash, I would have been happy to keep it. Now that I am older, and in a somewhat more financially stable position, I understand better why my father sold very few of his old treasures.
Aside from the boatanchors, I also regret selling many classic old firearms and motorcycles, that are now worth huge amounts of money. Aww, the mistakes made, when we are young.
Then again, if I had the sentiment then, that I have now, I would have to rent a warehouse, to keep all of the treasures, that I wish I had never sold. It is what keeps me from entertaining the idea of getting into new hobbies. Between the radios, guns and motorcycles, it's getting expensive, to keep me occupied.

 

The best old boat anchor amateur radio transmitter/transceiver, for me at least, would have to be any of the Kenwood hybrids, TS-520, TS-530, TS-820, or TS-830.

73s
Mike W5RKL

 

Boy, W3RXO hit it right on the head! Since my divorce 14 years ago there's been no one to moderate how the money is spent, no one to share space with, so my modest 2 floor house is full from basement to attic with my stuff, the 4 bay garage is as well. And with the same stuff RXO has- guns, motorcycles, radios, plus cars (5, of which 3 are just for fun, they have no real use), computers, model railroad and model-building, books (I love books, but not reading so much, except non-fiction), antique outboard motors and small engines, digital and "wet chemistry" photography ... I counted 3 workbenches in the house (reloading, gun making- flintlocks mostly, and modelmaking/whatever) and 1 in the garage. If company stays over they sleep on the couch, there's no "guest room".

See, I live alone and that's not what I wanted to be doing at this stage (68 in April), so since there's no one to share my home space with I've filled it with enjoyable distractions and entertainments and challenges, to fill my time and use my energy on. "Things" don't replace "people", but boy, it's pretty close in this case, given the person who is absent, and the things that are present.

All this is probably TMI, but I had a spasm of loquaciousness this morning, and too much coffee.

 

My two cents

Well, I have to put a plug in for Heathkit. I have the HW-101 and the SB-220 which have been serving me well. Alot of people must have thought them of use as thousands were sold and many are still on the air doing yoeman service day in and day out. Mostly on CW but the other night I was working a station in Alabama and got a glowing report on my audio with the Astetic D-104 crystal mic. Sucess is pretty hard to beat.