Hallicrafters HT 32A Restore

After word was out that this young guy in Columbus was becoming a Hallicrafters nut, the sets began to appear.  Once after a net that I check into, a familiar voice from 50 miles away said,

"Hey Chris, be sure to come to our flea market...there's a couple ol' Hallicrafters for sale."

Well, that's all I needed to hear!  I planned on going to it anyway, in fact I rented two tables for the day.  The Pioneer Amateur Radio Club flea market is one of the best around...very local & draws from the bigger cities close by, like Omaha, Lincoln, and the Columbus/Norfolk area.  It's not a huge show but sure brings a lot of us together.

So when I get there, Larry, K0SW, introduces me to an old dusty HT 32A from an estate of a SK.  The wife said to get it gone & the club could keep the money.  He said they powered it up and it lit up but that was about all.  Couldn't get any power out.  Funny, that's about the only reply I get when I ask if it works...I gave it a good look, seemed OK and looked good under the hood...

So I asked what the bid was up to.  Larry says, "You haven't given me an offer yet.  You'll be the first."

Oh, OK, well I gave him a rather modest offer...I mean there was hope for the radio, but it was going to be a bit of work and it was early, I'm sure there will be more offers.

Had a great day there as we all usually do and it was time to pack up.  I went to Larry to see what the rig went for.

"Your offer was the only one Chris, so here you go.  And here's an HT 37 parts rig too that we're throwing in so we don't have to mess with it."

Huh???  Yeah, I got the HT 37 at home & I guess I might need parts some day, but really, I didn't think I'd get the HT 32A for a song.  I felt obligated to give a bit more & did but actually, I can't think of what I even paid, but it wasn't much.  So I thanked the guys & told them maybe they'd hear  the rig someday soon.  Sure...sure...

Well it was a start.  Usually a good cleaning of switch wafers, contacts, and a light brushing of the variable capacitor plates with an artists paint brush is where I begin.  Then a can of compressed air blows out the gunk.  I use cotton swabs & sometimes just the shaft of a cotton swab dipped in alcohol to work the contacts of a wafer switch.

I opened the top & put power to it.  All looked fine but the guys were right, nothing to the dummy load.  Tried re-tuning the rig & still nothing.  Back to the basics, let it sit a while under close watch & about 10 minutes later, I'll check the bias voltage.  After checking out the manual & schematic, I should have  negative 49v....WHOA! Showed about 15v low, not even close so we corrected that right away.  Interresting, I'll try it to a dummy load again.  BINGO!!  Rig really came to life.  I replaced lamps, (wrong ones in there) some questionable resistors & some electrolytics then checked things again.  Humming right along....

I'll never forget the suprise in Larry's voice the very next day when we spoke on the air for a while without him knowing I was using it!  Then he asked if I had a chance to do anything with it yet.

"How's it sound, Larry, I'm using it now,"  followed by a pause...

"WHAT? Are you kidding? I can't believe it Chris, it sounds great!"

I love these ol' rigs!

Comments? -- ac0dn@yahoo.com