VINTAGE RADIO COLLECTION AT AB0X
     Recently with the poor band conditions on the low bands, my interests have turned to obtaining and restoring vintage radios from the past. Some of the radios have personal memories, but most have just been picked up because they are really neat radios! Many, but not all,  were picked up on Ebay. Others were carefully scouted out at hamfests and flea markets. Like most collectors there are still many models out there I want to add to the collection. I am especially interested in Hallicrafters radios. There are four shown in the large photo of the radio table. Take at look!

Here's a run down on the radios. Left to right, top: A Hallicrafters WR600 receiver(great little receiver but scratches on cabinet top), Uniden scanner, not part of  collection. Next row: A Hallicrafters S-129 receiver(Mint condition, a 9.5+,one of late production models  by Hallicrafters), a Hallicrafters S-120(Mint condition!), a Drake R4B receiver(Mint, no scratches on entire cabinet, plays great!),
Bottom row: A Hallicrafters SX-110 receiver, my novice receiver(Good condition, plays real good but a couple of paint chips on cabinet), a Realistic DX-200 receiver(Excellent condition overall), a Ten Tec Argonaut 509 transceiver(Mint condition, great QRP rig). Not Shown is  a Realistic DX-302 receiver, loaned out to a prospective ham friend.  The packet station and homebrew power supply in the background  are  not really part of the collection.
 Click for close up of Hallicrafters radios

 Click here for a close look at the Drake, Realistic & Ten Tec:

   Additional  Vintage radios in the collection include a very classy Hallicrafters SX-111 and  the classic SX-100 receiver on the top row. The SX-111  is very sensitive and hears lots of DX. The bottom row shows a recreation of my novice station used when first liecnsed in 1961. The SX-110 receiver and the WRL Globe Scout 65A transmitter.
The Globe Scout works well even today and operates with 75 watts on CW and 60 watts on AM.

 Click here to see a close up of the SX-111

 Close up of SX-100 Receiver

Here's my latest treasure! A beautiful National NC-183, in excellent condition, has found its way to the radio shack! Used almost daily, it has been recapped and aligned for maximum performance. The audio of this beauty is so sweet it rivals studio fidelity! Now only a matching speaker is needed!

Expanded radio desk and display of Vintage radios at AB0X's Shack.
 
 

Here's another view of the main operating position in the shack. Note the beautiful Drake R4B on the top shelf. It works as well as it looks!

   The photo below is of the current Drake position. It consists of a truly Mint R4B, so good it looks like it just came out of the box back in 1971. The Drake T4XB was a recent pickup and has been repainted to almost a perfect drake match. It puts out about 120 Watts on 20 Meters CW, but coiuld use some more clean up and re-bluing. It is a work in progress. The AC-4 is a 52,000+ serial number and works great. The MS-4 has been repainted also, and works well.
 



 




   The photo below shows the Drake C Line I owned for awhile. It had the Sherwood Mods to the agc and audio circuits as well as the  first IF  filter replacement. It worked well but was  in need of a new face plate silkscreen. The T4XC had the DX Engineering Speech Processor attached and wired in to the audio path of the transmitter. It was sold  to a ham in England and is in daily use on the bands.

    Here's a photo  below of my latest Drake set up. It is a stock, mint T4XC, and a "Souped up" R4C with all the mods from the Drake Shop  shown on the right. It has a new GUF-1, first IF 8 pole filter, plus the power supply mod, audio amp mod, and AGC mod. It has a narrow 1.5 KHZ filter and 500 HZ CW filter plus the wide Drake AM filter as options with a stock Drake Noise Blanker. The result of these mods is fantastic! The noise floor is better and the radio hears better than any Drake I have ever owned. The audio is good with the mod and it runs much cooler with the new power supply. The Real Difference is the GUF-1 IF filter. It gives the radio much better rejection from adjacent channel QRM with the additional filtering. When compared to the new Icom IC-775, it is a real toss up most of the time. Many times the  R4C is better copy than the very expensive new Icom! The IC-775's  DSP will give it an edge sometimes, but the audio  sounds so processed it is hard to copy. The tests continue!
   The Drake twins are getting lots of operating time! Especially on the low bands!


 

      

  The photo below shows the shack as it existed for several years with the IC-765 as the main rig. It has been replaced by a new IC-775 and the Drake moved over to another desk. Take a look at the main page for the current main operating position.

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