I have three old shortwave radios, Zenith transoceanic, a Hallicrafters S-108 and a S-38e.  All of them work well (the S-108 needs a speaker)  and have a minimum amount of AC Hum.  It is hardly noticeable in any of them.  I do not know their history.  I read about recapping old radios and I wonder if I should do it on them.  But I do not want to do something that is not needed.  How would I tell if the radio needs it and When is it normally done?  

73
David

I have an old Hallicrafters  s-108 that has a bad speaker in it.  I want to used a set of headphones with the radio.  Any idea what type and where I can get them.  If I can use a modern stereo set with an adaptor that would be great.  Please let me know.   The speaker is going to be replaced as soon as I can get a replacement.

Thanks

When I was a kid we lived in the country.  Any of you who live out in the woods are familiar with the annual fall invasion of the mice.  My father   saw in a catalog an ad for an electric mouse trap.  Now this being the late 60's it was bound to end badly.  Especially if it involved my father and tools, of any sort.  So my father orders this thing and it is basically a plastic pipe with two wire brushes with the ends of a power cord attached and you plug the other end into the wall socket.  So the great white hunter decides to try it and puts bait inside and plugs it in.  Later that evening an unsuspecting mouse come by and decides to get the cheese.  Well the thing kills the mouse but not before it lets out a horrible scream while being fried.  The poor mouse basically explodes, and catches on fire.  Of Course my mother is screaming as well and yelling at my father.  fortunately the thing blew the breakers in the house and now we have a burning mouse in the dark.  So now we are sitting in the dark with the smell of  charcoal mouse  combined with burning plastic.  After we put the fire out the trap went in to the trash.

Google Crystal radio and you will be amazed the detail and complexity that shows up.  Those can provide hours of experimentation.  

Just don't plug them in.  Bad things happen.  I know.

I want to set up a HF station but I have limited space to do it in.  The basement of the house is too damp and a mess, so I am limited to my office which is small and crowded.  So any ideas for a movable station would be appreciated.  The biggest problem is the antenna.  I do not own the house so I can not start punching holes.  There are no trees to run a wire antenna.  Has anyone used one of the apartment antennas with any luck?  if so Which one?

thanks

I remember in the 70's USA made stuff was of declining quality.  The classic was the U.S. cars.  They were getting worse and worse.  Same went  with other items.  I do not know what triggered it but it happened.  The mantra of free trade drove the nail in the coffin.

Make a Chicken stick and use it to discharge the caps when you about to start work on a tube radio or tv.  It can save your life or at the very least a painful shock.

This is a little off topic but Hamfests are dying partly because hams are not participating in clubs as much.  Many of us have to take jobs far from home due to the economy.  Many times it involve hours of commuting.  One of my friends has to commute 120 miles one way due to job layoffs.  He is simply to tired to do anything when he gets home.

I stopped going to hamfests because I was not going to go to things that start in 7 am.  That means that I have to leave the house at 5 am.  It is not worth it.  

Creativity is good.  New Ideas of activities at the fest need to be developed.  Unfortunately the ones that are creative (as a generalization) do not have the time to do it.  (me included)

One way of getting the dealers to stay is to give incentives to them to do so.  Offer to pay for some expense if the stay the whole day.  Be creative.  

Years ago when I lived in  a large city I liked going to Model RailRoad shows amoung others.  One of the big complaints was that the dealers were always packing up to leave while there were several hours left.  I was not happy since I paid to get in.  The best show had a rule that If you left early you lost your deposit and could not come again for 5 years.  They only had one leave in the 4 years I went.  

73

I have nothing against CW  When I have more time I plan on building a CW tube transmitter because it looked like fun.  Of Course It will be a paperweight if I do not learn code.  I also am interested in Satellite and radio Astronomy.  Who knows maybe I can talk to alien chicks,  Probably have better luck.  

I do not have anything against different modes etc.  I just do not think the FCC should require one over all of the others.

73

Accepted and sorry for the misunderstanding

73

If you want a 2m fm  you can not go wrong with a Icom Ic-2200h.  They are well designed, rugged, and hold  their value.  They are reasonably priced.

I have had several of  them (or the earlier models) over the years.

If you can not understand that was sarcasm in the most clear form then I will just put you on the ignore list.  It was said to make a point about how childish this whole debate has degraded on this and other forums.  

To bad since everyone has something to contribute here even if you disagree with me.

This is what I have been trying to say.  Respect is what all of us want.  This is not about having an entitlement mentality, it is about the times changing.  If you want to operate in the code mode fine, do so, no one will stop you. There is nothing wrong with code, it is not my interest at this time.  I am more interested in voice communications.  Since the radio bands are public the only entrance to using them should be knowledge on how not to kill yourself; not interfere with other bands, stations, and devices; and the rules and regulations.  That is about it.  This is not a fraternity.  If you want to have hazing rituals and other impediments to entry then form a frat.  

Simply put the FCC decided and Code lost.  So to put it at the level of all of the whiners  who don't like the new generals ect.  

WE WON!  WE WON! YOU LOST!  WE WON!  HAA! HAA!  WE WON!
SO THERE!



David

Keep something in mind.  Despite all of the talk of emergency communications and such the reality is that very very few Hams have ever done any emergency communicating.  It is a hobby, period.  Nothing more or less.  I personally resent being called lazy and believing that I am owed something for breathing because I find code tedious, boring and totally uninteresting.  If the code was required I  probably would not have gotten my license until I retired, because I am too busy doing my research and studying more useful things.   Because I look at amateur radio as a hobby.   One that can be a lot of fun, that can be enjoyed when you get too old to do many others.  

The old geezers who constantly complain about how easy these new guys have it, blah blah blah.  Need to get off of their fat wrinkled butts and welcome the new hams and offer to teach them some things about the hobby, instead of waiting for the day when they can send a code message around the world that will save the earth from an invasion.  It is not going to happen.