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Reviews For: Hallicrafters S-38

Category: Receivers: General Coverage

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Review Summary For : Hallicrafters S-38
Reviews: 22MSRP: $39.95
Description:
Six tube general coverage receiver.
Product is not in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00223.8
VU3MES Rating: 2022-05-14
Hallicrafters S38C Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Hi Radio enthusiasts,
Just got my S38C completely recapped, added a tunable BFO and RF gain and glad that it is working extremely well after so many years. Reception is equal to my Icom IC7300 ham radio transceiver, what ever I hear on that I can hear in the 38c also. Reception is by coarse tuning by tuning knob, fine tuning by band spread and audio adjustment by the BFO. I have posted some video clips in Facebook groups for shortwave radios. Overall satisfied with a 56 year old radio still on its original tubes.
K8ESE Rating: 2021-05-12
Good old S-38 Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I was 12 years old in 1961 when I got my Novice Ham ticket. I busted my tail working small jobs to earn money to buy my Hallicrafters S-38 receiver and Eico 720 crystal controlled transmitter. I had a lot of fun with these. Unfortunately, our apartment got broken into then, and these radios were stolen.

Today, I have two fully restored Hallicrafters S-38 receivers that work flawlessly. I have both of them on my ham radio desk. These little radios are great to have for sure!
K7LZR Rating: 2021-03-23
Not a bad receiver after some updates Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've owned many Hallicrafters S-38s over the last few decades. I really didn't give any of them a fair chance and kept each for only a little while, mainly for nostalgia because my first "real" receiver - to me anyway - was an S-38D in 1975 as a teen and it was old then!

Recently, I dug out an old, sad looking S-38 (original, no suffix letters) from my garage which has been sitting there for at least 10 years, probably longer. I don't even remember for sure where I got it but I do remember that I bought it for parts to fix another unit which is now long gone from here.

I was going to toss this one in the landfill because I'm having to get rid of many things now but at my wife's suggestion I decided to try to repair it and I'm glad that I did.

After much effort, its become a great little receiver for casual MWBC and shortwave listening. And after changing the BFO injection point to the input of the IF amplifier rather than at the detector, it performs surprisingly very well on CW & SSB also :). I've used it to monitor several nets on 75 & 40m and it sounds very nice and has good stability. I'm confident that I could even use it on the air as a ham receiver along with a transmitter in a pinch or just for fun.

The more desirable of these is the original S-38 because it has a real BFO, not just regenerative feedback from the IF amplifier as is seen in the S-38A, B, C, & D models. It also has a noise limiter circuit.

I performed the simple safety update regarding the hot chassis also, and I always use this one with an Isolation Transformer for added protection.

For a 74-year-old low end receiver, it actually isn't too shabby.

EDIT: I think that this receiver is really underated. What a shame. After I cleaned all controls, replaced all needed capacitors & resistors, did the BFO injection modification, and did a complete alignment on this particular unit, I'm actually very pleased with the performance of the S-38. After warmup - about an hour - it is very stable on CW & SSB. I use it to monitor a couple of nets on both 75 & 40m among other traffic, and I rarely need to readjust the BFO or tuning. This is a very quiet receiver, and audio is clean and very nice. On AM, it sounds very good for what is supposed to be a low-end receiver circa 1946.

This one changed my opinion of them, and it really is fun to operate - a nice break from the plethora of digital everything.
N6BIZ Rating: 2017-11-06
Great Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have one
It's great
VK2MS Rating: 2017-11-05
Just doesn't cut the mustard in any deparment except looks(50%) Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Well...the best thing to do with the 38 is to rip it to bits, put in a decent power supply and rebuild it to a different circuit using the tuner and band-spread, improve and available tubes. I bought one from eBay someone had rebuilt...I didn't realise until I had a look at it about a year later...couldn't get much going....too it to a reknowned tube repairman (active since occupied Holland in WW11) who took the axe to it in components...but said "I don't know what's wrong with it....I've done everything, fixed some circuits but it just will not perform as it ought....He gave it back to me, running, with a bag of bits....only a little better than when it went to him and he'd peaked it....it's still sitting in a box. Give me a BC348 GC or a Command set anyday....The Murphy B-40's (C and D) I have, single conversion are also a great piece of gear....but if I had my "'druthers" I'd go back to the EF50 tube model.

As for the 'once was 38'They were mediocre, entry level receivers with that marvellous dial arrangement. I had the opportunity to buy a nice one today for $80 Australian and decided not to do it...I think they had a hot chassis originally...at least mine was change to a less lethal B+ supply system.

I'll strip it and rebuild it one day...to some old Radio and Hobbies or ARRL or RSGB circuit...after replacing any IF capacitors or other 'hidden from view' caps which could be a problem...If I owned a good one like the one offered today I'd still make some substantial changes...which I would not do to say a Command set or a 348...where I'd pair the 348 gc (don't like the SET's much) with a 453...I have a passion for good 1930's Rx's but they have to be really well designed and built. Cheers.
K4HPP Rating: 2017-10-14
Good first receiver Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought a lightly used S38B in 1956 from a guy down the street. I saved for months working at a corner grocery store on Saturdays stocking shelves, cleaning up, etc. and I think I gave him $15 or $18 for it. It worked fine and opened up the whole world of radio to me! As a 12 year old kid, I thought this was the best thing in the world. The best memory of this receiver was actually hearing Sputnik beeping in October 1957. I never actually saw Sputnik in orbit, but heard it several times during it's short life.

It was a pretty good receiver and I still remember being fascinated by hearing Radio Australia, HCJB, and countless other shortwave stations during the fantastic solar maximum during those years.

I sold that receiver in 1959 to help fund my novice DX-20 transmitter. In retrospect, the S38B was only a fair radio, but it sure made a major difference in my life by getting me interested in ham radio. I learned to copy CW at 5 wpm using it and became a ham in May of 1959.
KI6NVP Rating: 2013-07-22
Great radio Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
It's a fun little radio with a real classic look. If its aligned right, preformance is good for what this radio was designed for. It can pull in stations from all over, it still could spark that interest in shortwave and ham radio.
NZ5L Rating: 2012-09-30
Wose than bad Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Where do I began? AC hum, poor audio, weak sensitivity, drifty, poor dial calibration. Did I mention chassis "hot" for AC? Belongs on the rifle range - as target. Plumb awful.
KD5PNT Rating: 2011-09-15
my first SW receiver Time Owned: more than 12 months.
My father brought the S-38B when he came back from europe . He gave it to me in 1963 and I went through it in 2010 and replaced all the old capacitors and aligned it and it works like it was new again . I am it's second owner and it is still in the family . It gets used daily with the Viking II . the tuning is accurate and adjacent signal rejection is good enough . Is also a good performer on SSB even with the lack of a real BFO . it is a keeper .
N4CT Rating: 2011-01-10
FIRST RCVR Time Owned: more than 12 months.
MY GRANDMOTHER BOUGHT ME A S38-D FOR CHRISTMAS. USING IT AND A GLOBE CHIEF I WORKED DXCC. OF COURSE CONDITIONS IN 1957-58 WERE GREAT AND NOT MANY HAMS HAD HIGH POWER AND BEAMS. MOVED UP TO HQ-100 WHICH WAS A BIG IMPROVEMENT. THOSE WERE FUN DAYS.

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Earlier 4-star review posted by N4CT on 2006-04-11

MY GRANDMOTHER BOUGHT ME A S38D FOR CHRISTMAS IN 1957. IF WAS MY FIRST HAM RADIO AND I WENT FROM SWL TO NOVICE/CONDITIONAL. I WORKED WAS, WAC, DXCC WITH THIS RADIO AND A GLOBE CHIEF TX FROM WRL. LOTS OF SWITCHES TO THROW TO GO FROM RX TO TX BACK IN THOSE DAYS. BRINGS BACK GREAT MEMORIES AS A NOVICE (KN4PHY)AND CHASING DX!! THE FCC WAS ISSUING HAM LICENSES BY THE TONS IN THOSE DAYS AND MANY OF MY FRIENDS GOT THEIR TICKET AT THE SAME TIME. OF COURSE WE HAD GREAT PROP IN 57-58 WHICH HELPED.
73-DX FROM CHARLIE N4CT HS0ZDR