HALLICRAFTERS S38 PROJECT

My interest in the S-38 receiver started during my teenage years. It was the first Short-wave Radio I owned. (1965) As I remember it, there was NO cabinet. (How I kept from killing myself with this receiver in itself is a miracle.) I got the receiver from a Junior High School friend. It didn't work very well, but brought in the power house short-wave stations. Image my parents horror, when I received cards and letters from Radio Havana during the height of the cold war.

Over the years my DX'ing and Ham Radio hobby has brought many receivers to my doorstep. My first GOOD receiver was A Hammarlund HQ145A bought at an Indianapolis Ham Fest in the late 70's. By this time the OLD S-38 was long gone to the trash bin. A Hammarlund HQ180-A soon followed, then A Drake R-8B. And Ham Gear from Yaseu and DX accessories to numerous to mention. A long love of old radios found many rigs from the 30's,40's & 50's on the bench, and a nice collection was built. But the interest in the first receiver was always in the back of my mind. I had also acquired an S-108 and a GREAT looking S-40 that I had sitting in my attic.

The S-108 was cleaned up, got new caps and a fresh coat of paint on the cabinet. Looks and runs great. It sits on the table next to the HQ180 & the Drake R-8a. The S-40 is slated for restoration

In early 2006 I noticed an ad on E-bay for an S-38. It didn't look too bad and I thought how nice it would be to have a set of S-38''s in the Ham Shack.

This is one of the receivers as advertised on Ebay. Not very good pictures. He packed the radio well, but several tubes came out of the sockets during shipping and the very brittle back was busted up beyond repair.

The Band The band selector knob was not original and the BFO adjust knob (that you can't really see in the picture) was really rough.. ALL in all, I was pleased. It was very DIRTY but ALL the main parts were there.

I also found ANOTHER unit for SALE at the same time. It was advertised as a PARTS radio. The cabinet was a DISASTER and it really looked like a MAJOR job to restore.

I decided to bid on it as well. My thinking was, it would be nice to have some spare parts as well as a complete set to refer to during the rebuilding. I decided to completely strip the number 2 chassis and do a "off the chassis" restoration (ass the car guys call it.)

These are pictures of the second unit I found. As you can see, the cabinet has been repainted and it not usable in its present condition. The chassis is just as bad. All in all, I ended up buying about a dozen S-38's of various vintage. We show these 2 to give you an idea of what you may find find.

In our E-bay quest, we also ran across a couple of other Hallicrafter gems ...

First and foremost, set your maximum price, AND DO NOT EXCEED IT. You will NOT win each and every auction. There are thousands of these radio out there, you will find some at a good price.

None of the Radios I got looked as good in person as they did on Ebay. Most of these radios have been sitting idle for decades... They are dirty and scratched and parts may be missing. Knobs and tubes are the most ;likely to be gone, or changed. Most of these radio suffer from "previous ownership modifications"

You may find better deals at local swap meets and Ham Fests. (You don't have to pay shipping)

There are MANY sites on the internet chronicling the history of the Hallicrafters S-38. So we will give you the highlights here, There were 8 versions of the S-38. The S-38, then the a,b,c,d & e version. No, that does not add up to 8. There were 2 version of the S-38 and two versions of the S-38 E..

The S-38 came in Smooth Black and Black WRINKLE FINISH. These were produced in 1946 They used 6 tubes with the exception of the later models that used 5 (same as the A chassis) It included a CW pitch control

TUBE LINE UP: 12SA7 (CONVERTER) 12SK7 (IF AMP) 12SQ7 (DETECTOR/AUDIO) 35L6 (AUDIO OUT) 12SQ7 (B.F.O.) 35Z5 (REC)

The S-38A, produced in 1946-47 had a smooth Black finish, used 5 tubes. This unit did NOT have the Pitch Control

TUBE LINE UP: 12SA7 (MIXER/OSC) 12SK7 (IF/B.F.O.) 12SQ7 (DETECTOR/AUDIO) 50L6 (AUDIO OUT) 35Z5 (RECTIFIER)

The S-38B (the one I had as a teenager) used the same tubes as the 38A and came in a black wrinkle finsh. Built from 1947-1953

The S-38C is perhaps the best of the bunch. (my opinion) Produced from 1953-1955. It's cabinet was different, as it came in a Hammertone Gray finish.

The S-38D was built from 1955-1957 Same tubes as the A,B,&C ,it's cabinet was a smooth Light Gray color. The front panel was also re-designed with a sliding dial.

The S-38E was another major design change. Kind of like the difference between a 58 & 59 Cadillac. It was produced from 1957 to 1961. The tube lineup was completely different using miniature tunes ( The all American 5 line up) Came in 3 colors (Gray Beige & Mahogany) A large black slide rule dial replace the 2 smaller ones from the previous version..

Pay attention here.... These radios (as all ALL of the AC/DC radios of this time period) ARE KILLERS !!! One side of the AC line is grounded. With no "polarized" plug, you could make the chassis HOT (120 V AC).. This voltage can KILL YOU !! SO, make sure you know what the hell you are doing. We will explain more of this as we go along. BUT BE WARNED !!! BE CAREFUL !!

Many of these radio have been "modified" by un-knowing users and made even more dangerous.!!!! Many times we find that the Chassis Isolation insulators have been removed or deteriorated. I found one radio where someone replaced a knob on the front panel... This knob had a SET SCREW sticking out of the knob about a 1/4 inch.... Every time the user touched that knob, he or she was coming into direct contact with the chassis..... Get the plug wrong, touch the knob with one hand and a ground with the other.....Bingo.... major shock time !!!

Here is one of my favorites... This radio had a earphone jack added..... right to the chassis....Ok folks, lets put 120 volts on our head...

BE SURE TO READ, UNDERSTAND, AND FOLLOW ALL OF THE SAFETY RULES THAT COMES WITH WORKING WITH HIGH VOLTAGES. KNOWING HOW TO PROPERLY TAKE THE NECESSARY SAFETY PRECAUTIONS WILL GREATLY REDUCE THE RISK OF SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH.....AND REMEMBER THIS, THERE IS NO MORE IMPORTANT SAFETY RULE THAN TO USE AN ISOLATION TRANSFORMER.....SAFETY GLASSES ARE A GOOD IDEA TOO.

SERIOUSLY, BEFORE STARTING ON A PROJECT LIKE THIS, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, READ THE ENTIRE PROJECT SITE.

DO NOT use these types of radios for everyday use.... Regards of your restoration work, you are STILL using a 50 year old radio. They are NOT meant to be table side/bed side radios.... If you want that, got to Wal Mart. ONLY use these radios while you are in the room and turn them off when you are not there. There are some ways to make them "safer" but not 100 % safe.

2006 .. NO COPYRIGHT ...USE ANYTHING HERE, JUST GIVE US A BIT OF CREDIT. THAT'S WHAT HOBBIES ARE ALL ABOUT. 12/10/2006 EMAIL US !!!!