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Reviews For: Hallicrafters S-40 general coverage

Category: Receivers: General Coverage

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Review Summary For : Hallicrafters S-40 general coverage
Reviews: 3MSRP: 89.50 in 1947
Description:
desktop amateur/communications receiver 0.54-43 MHz in four
bands
Product is not in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
1434.3
N2DM Rating: 2024-11-28
Good Receiver Time Owned: more than 12 months.
S-40B:
I bought this rx in Spring Hill Fl hamfest for under $10.
It had been stored in not the best conditions.
Near a honey bee nest(bee's wax on top of cabinet) and moisture did their job!
But!, it worked, when I got home. Amazing!
I could hear the 11 meter band with a 10 ft wire, and used it as a BC rx for years. Then decided to clean it up, replaced the paper caps, electrolytic still good, and peaked IF's. DID NOT tweak front end, calibration was still good.
Needs 30 minute warm up to settle down. Great RX for a Novice station. I wish it had a calibrated bandspread like my S-85.
I feel this rx and similar others are overlooked for novice type stn's. Add a Q multiplier, and it works good on cw.
The "Heyday" of Hallicrafters!
Thanks for reading.
KB3QMT Rating: 2020-04-20
A good receiver. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
These are old sets and will vary in performance depending on how well they are aligned. I picked mine up at the NearFest a couple of years ago and it was already capped and aligned for $25.

I rate this as good, not for its age or its price, but for its performance. It isn't like my Kenwood R-5000, which I consider "great." However this particular set has a very good alignment on it and is very sensitive. It will drift a little bit until it's warmed up just as most tube equipment will do.

I just spent a couple hours listening to some international broadcasts as well as some guys I know on 3.885 transmitting AM. (I'm in Maine, you know who you are!) Then I dropped down to the 160m band and listened to a couple of hams on lower side band for about half an hour. I did not have to adjust the bandspread or touch the radio while they were talking. I've seen reviews where people say this set is "drifty." I've had receivers like that in the past and I know exactly what they mean, however that's not a good description for MY receiver. I could use this with no problem while transmitting AM on 80 meters. I'm not going to do that however because I'm using a Hammarlund HQ-170 for that.

Granted this isn't a top-shelf receiver, however, if properly aligned it's very sensitive and a joy to use. You've got to love the green dials, too! I was surprised at how well this receiver works.

That being said, I'm in a remote off-grid cabin in Maine with just about zero electrical noise. The nearest power lines are a mile from my house. Perhaps that's why it works so good for me? I don't know, but it does work good.

I have a lot of receivers, I'm not being generous, just honest.
VE3OWE Rating: 2013-01-06
great desktop reciever Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have 3 of these units in restored condition, purchased from a retired tv repairman from the tube era at $60 each i stole them. Great shortwave receiver, not too heavy or bulky, lid hinges open to view 9 tubes and components. great am audio from internal speaker. can tune on am/cw and ssb signals with use of the "pitch" control .has a receive/standby switch for use alongside a transmitter. nice clean looking straightforward, easy to use receiver. if you have an opportunity to get one in working order you wont be disappointed.