HALLICRAFTERS HURRICANE!
I was browsing some HIBID auctions, and I came across a beautiful-looking Hallicrafters Hurricane that appeared to be unmolested, so I bid on it.
I was winning at $100 until the end, but last-second bidders drove the price up into the $500 range. There was no power supply but I'm powering the receiver section as I write this with one of my Swan 117XC power supplies. UPDATE: I managed to get the transmit mode operational today using the 800-volt tap in the 117XC. Here is the auction ad and its pictures.
I was winning at $100 until the end, but last-second bidders drove the price up into the $500 range. There was no power supply but I'm powering the receiver section as I write this with one of my Swan 117XC power supplies. UPDATE: I managed to get the transmit mode operational today using the 800-volt tap in the 117XC. Here is the auction ad and its pictures.
As I awaited the delivery, dark thoughts went through my mind. Would the 8122 tubes be in there? Would I find 20-30 cheap aftermarket parts like I found in the Collins, many of them simply tacked onto the leads from the old removed part? I won this for $475, but with the 25% "premium", and taxes and fees, I paid $583. Add in the $147 for shipping and the inflated priced double-boxes, and my total investment is $730. If the radio was adulterated, I would be out of luck since certain parts are super hard to find. It would go on eBay as "parts or not working" or I would part it out.
the radio arrives
The radio arrived, and it was unmolested. Everything was completely original. No golden screwdriver stuff. I took the bottom cover off and all the OEM parts were there. All the knobs turned freely and nothing was bent. I gave it a light dusting and tested all the tubes, including the 8122's. They are all Hallicrafters branded tubes and they're all good. I built an adapter to test the 8122s and a paper is below in the ADAPTERS section. The radio is really pretty, with the exception of a large scratch on the top of the bezel that looks like it happened at the auction house. It's dead center so if I can't find Hallicrafters grey touch up paint I'll find a cool sticker to put over it for now. I might even have some 1" x 2" metallic stickers with my call sign made up. Here are some actual pictures.
The above photos are sort of self-explanatory. The power source with the big yellow Sprague Atom capacitors is one of my Swan 117XC supplies. I modified it to work with with the Hurricane and the 800+ volts provided by the 117XC provides enough juice to drive the Hurricane to a little over 200W PEP. I've already worked Japan, Australia, and other distant QTH's with my new baby.
Monster Hurricane Power Supply - It Works!
I finished my big power supply, and it works great! I'm working on a schematic diagram for it now. The power supply is literally two separate supplies in a single case, fed by a 12-gauge, 3-prong cord. Each transformer is a toroid made by Antek, with dual 115V primaries and dual full-voltage secondaries. The power switch for the high voltage section is a DPDT switch that switches the primaries between series and parallel, to switch between low (1000-1100 volts) and high voltage (2,000-2200 volts) output.
Most of the time I use the Low Voltage mode, which yields a leisurely 300-350 watts PEP - more than enough to make contacts all over the planet. I get "great audio" reports. High power (photo below) bounces the power meter up over 600 watts which allows me to break through pileups easily. I still have a couple circuits to connect, but basically it's complete.
Most of the time I use the Low Voltage mode, which yields a leisurely 300-350 watts PEP - more than enough to make contacts all over the planet. I get "great audio" reports. High power (photo below) bounces the power meter up over 600 watts which allows me to break through pileups easily. I still have a couple circuits to connect, but basically it's complete.
