Fortunate for me, I had my father’s SX-42! Unfortunately for my classmate, he had to keep his National. I had loved watching those mesmerizing green back lit dials, S meter, and geared tuning knobs. “How about we give you my SX-42?!” Gee, twist my arm. “Hey, I’ve got an idea!” When a Dad says that, a son usually wants to run. At this point, the SX-42 and his other two Hallicrafters were seeing “backup” duty, having long since gone solid state in his post. My Dad came home from work, and I just had to tell him about this great opportunity, which of course, would require his financial backing.
Not as ambitious or as savvy as my father, a classmate, who was also a ham radio operator, told me about a National HRO he had, with some coils, and maybe needing some work. Moving ahead to 1978, and yours truly had the radio bug, in the worst way. He came back home, and became an electronics engineer. And the birth of Rock and Roll on FM! He graduated high school, went away to the Korean War, serving two Tours of Duty.
He heard the start of the Cold War, and the Soviet Union’s Sputnik. The radio, we think, was about $279, which would make it the equivalent of almost $3500 in today’s dollars. All 15 tubes and 50-plus pounds of boatanchor.Īlways ambitious and industrious, he mowed lawns, repaired motorcycles, and did odd jobs for neighbors in his suburban Boston neighborhood. Never satisfied with “good and better”, my father wanted “the best”. I don’t know the complete story, but prior to acquiring his SX-42, my dad also purchased an S-38 and S-40. The SX-42 was being hyped up in Hallicrafters ads as the ultimate radio to own, one that could tune the shortwave and ham bands, and beyond.
Back in 1946, Hallicrafters was THE brand to own, and their postwar designs from Raymond Loewy, were catching the eye of many enthusiasts. He often told me the story of how he became interested in radio at an early age, and how he saved up for expensive radio gear, with a little help from my grandparents. He was also in the Korean War, in the US Army Corps of Engineers, with access to a wide variety of equipment. We always had cool, exotic radios and electronic gadgetry around the house. My dad was a ham radio operator, electronics engineer, and designer. The Story And Restoration Of My Hallicrafters SX-42Īs a junior high student way back in 1978, I had a natural interest in radios. Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Arthur Smith, who shares the following guest post:
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