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Summary of Contents for Hallicrafters SR-160
- Page 1 SUPPLEMENTAL TECHNICAL INFORMATION HALLICRAFTERS SR-160 AND SR-500 TRANSCEIVERS The little radios that could STUFF NOT IN THE BOOK By WDØGOF August 2010(updated 9/30/2012)
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Page 2: Hallicrafters, Ham Radio, & Wdøgof
I was working for Wilcox Avionics in the 60’s & 70's when Hallicrafters became part of Northrop/Wilcox. I was taken by the Hallicrafters gear so much so that I went and took the test and got my call sign. I left Wilcox in 79 and due to business travel requirements I became a dormant ham, but kept the ticket alive. -
Page 3: Table Of Contents
SR-500 PERFORMANCE DATA................................ 23 RECEIVER PERFORMANCE ................................23 TRANSMITTER PERFORMANCE ..............................24 SR-160 PERFORMANCE..................................25 RECEIVER PERFORMANCE ................................25 TRANSMITTER PERFORMANCE ..............................26 HALLICRAFTERS POWER SUPPLY TEST FIXTURE ........................27 TECHNICAL SUPPLEMENT FOR THE SR-160 & SR-500 by WDØGOF August 2010... -
Page 4: Sr-160 Overview
This SR-160 dressed up with a VFO tuning knob from the SR-150 Contrary to many reviews of the SR-160 Transceiver it is not a scaled down SR-150. It was designed specifically to fill a perceived market niche. The frequency synthesis is totally different and it is a single conversion receiver. The xtal filter in the 150 is 1650 KHz and 5200 KHz in the 160. -
Page 5: Sr-500 Overview
CW on 20, 40 and 80 meters. Introduced in 1965 at a price of $395 plus $119.95 for the AC power supply. It is in fact a beefed-up SR-160 using a matched pair of 8236 power output tubes in place of the 12DQ6B pair in the SR-160. -
Page 6: 160/500 Basics
SR-500 finals Hallicrafters selected the 8236 for the final amps. This is a truly remarkable tube. As long as it is not gassy or shorted it’s good. The solid carbon block plates are indestructible. With a plate dissipation of 50 watts each they will take a lot of misuse and a very heavy duty cycle. -
Page 7: Power Supply Notes
NOS parts. NOS parts were made with old methods and old materials. Modern methods and modern materials are far superior. The only good use of NOS parts is in museum radios that will never be turned on. TECHNICAL SUPPLEMENT FOR THE SR-160 & SR-500 by WDØGOF August 2010... -
Page 8: Alignment Tips
This oscillator has a trimmer adjustment, C48. Simply connect the frequency counter to test point B and adjust C48 for exactly 5.200MHZ. The adjustment of C48 and T6 do interact. So anytime you change the tuning of T6, recheck the oscillator frequency. TECHNICAL SUPPLEMENT FOR THE SR-160 & SR-500 by WDØGOF August 2010... -
Page 9: Alternate Vfo Alignment
Also note that the driver grid coils also act as the RX RF amp (V1) plate tuning. So some intuitive logic reasoning needs to be applied when aligning the RX. TECHNICAL SUPPLEMENT FOR THE SR-160 & SR-500 by WDØGOF August 2010... -
Page 10: T7 Agc Amp
8-15 thru 8-18 again. If this does not help then, most likely, one of the following is bad: V3, T3, C23, R19, R23, C21 or C20. TECHNICAL SUPPLEMENT FOR THE SR-160 & SR-500 by WDØGOF August 2010... -
Page 11: The S Meter
.1 to .3uv and doesn’t reach linearity until around 3 to 5 uv. This has become a de-facto standard, as is the case with the SR-160/500. The most linier area of SR160/500 AGC circuits is from 3 to 200 uv. So we try to get S-5 at 3 uv in and S-9 with 50 uv in. -
Page 12: Misc Notes
When the plate dip and power peak differ by more than 15 or so watts I re-neutralize. Be very suspicious any time the plate I dip exceeds 450 mills on the SR-500 and 300 mills on the SR-160. This is of extreme importance when using 6DQ5’s in place of the 8236’s in the SR-500. -
Page 13: Sr-160/500 Drift
+0.7ma) ] There is nothing magical about 12v, that's just what they used on the SR-500. On the SR-160 the voltage at the top of the resistor network is 19v. There are two things to be concerned about when changing the voltage at the top of the network. -
Page 14: Rit Offset And Range Test
The addition of a zener and replacement of R97 is highly recommended for improving the operation of the SR-160. The same process is used to determine the value of components on the 160 as used on the 500. RIT OFFSET AND RANGE TEST To test the range of the Cal/Rit circuit turn the RIT off. -
Page 15: Critical Note 150V Regulator & 240 Vscreen Supply
TX driver and PA tubes. A drop in the 240v line will have negative impact on both RX and TX operation. R82 very seldom drifts out of spec. TECHNICAL SUPPLEMENT FOR THE SR-160 & SR-500 by WDØGOF August 2010... -
Page 16: The Problem
THE PROBLEM Over the last 5 years every single SR-160 and SR-500 I have had in the shop has suffered from freq. drift. I reviewed the repair files and eliminated the obvious random component failures. I found that a combination of at least two of 4 specific components was involved in all restorations. -
Page 17: Receiver Fault Isolation
NOTE: If the receiver is working properly a 1 microvolt signal at the antenna input will produce a minimum of ½ watt of audio output. Once properly aligned ½ watt output can be achieved with from 0.4 to 0.8 uv input. TECHNICAL SUPPLEMENT FOR THE SR-160 & SR-500 by WDØGOF August 2010... -
Page 18: Low Level Audio Constant In Receiver
VOX ckt then thru cr5, r98, c117 and directly into the secondary of The oscillation is there in the SR-160 and SR-500 rigs. The only indication you get is the carrier balance does not quite meet spec and receivers on the other end report a low level squeal or tone in your audio. -
Page 19: Sr-160/500 Neutralization Process
PROCESS. IT IS A PROVEN PROCESS THAT HAS BEEN IN USE FOR OVER 50 YEARS. ALL I HAVE DONE IS SPECIFICALLY ADAPTED IT TO THE SR-160/500. BEFORE STARTING THE PROCESS, YOU NEED TO TUNE THE TX AS BEST AS YOU CAN AT 21.3 MHZ. AFTER TUNE UP TURN THE POWER OFF AND DO NOT RE-ADJUST THE PRESELECTOR OR FINAL TUNE THROUGHOUT THIS PROCESS. -
Page 20: Cleaning
SR-150 but they should make the point. This was after second spray of bubbles. You can see that as the bubbles run down the chassis it is clean and shiny TECHNICAL SUPPLEMENT FOR THE SR-160 & SR-500 by WDØGOF August 2010... - Page 21 BEFORE CLEANING CLEAN CHASSIS TECHNICAL SUPPLEMENT FOR THE SR-160 & SR-500 by WDØGOF August 2010...
- Page 22 TECHNICAL SUPPLEMENT FOR THE SR-160 & SR-500 by WDØGOF August 2010...
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Page 23: Sr-500 Performance Data
With a signal at the antenna terminal from 5uv to 1500uv no more than a 10 db variation shall occur. MEASURED CHANGE “S” METER CAL The S meter will read S-9 when between 25 and 100uv are injected at the antenna terminal. LEVEL FOR S-9 TECHNICAL SUPPLEMENT FOR THE SR-160 & SR-500 by WDØGOF August 2010... -
Page 24: Transmitter Performance
Manually sweep audio osc from 600 HZ to 2700 HZ if multiple peaks occur within the pass band there will be no more than 2db from the peak to valley between. _______ Db TECHNICAL SUPPLEMENT FOR THE SR-160 & SR-500 by WDØGOF August 2010... -
Page 25: Sr-160 Performance
With a signal at the antenna terminal from 5uv to 1500uv no more than a 10 db variation shall occur. MEASURED CHANGE “S” METER CAL The S meter will read S-9 when between 25 and 100uv are injected at the antenna terminal. LEVEL FOR S-9 TECHNICAL SUPPLEMENT FOR THE SR-160 & SR-500 by WDØGOF August 2010... -
Page 26: Transmitter Performance
Tests performed with 50ohm resistive load. Measurements made with BIRD avg power and PEP power meter. Hi voltage __vdc B+ __vdc Bias -__vdc Final amplifier bias SR-160 set to 60 ma SSB mode zero drive. ________ Neutralization performed @ 14.150 MHZ. _______ Carrier balance null _____ db below full power output level. -
Page 27: Hallicrafters Power Supply Test Fixture
Hallicrafters Power Supply Test Fixture I restore or repair 10 to 15 Hallicrafters P and PS series power supplies a year. Not wanting to risk a rig or run a power supply without a load I built this test fixture. It was specifically built to test the PS-150, PS-500 and P-500 AC and DC power supplies. -
Page 28: Technical Supplement For The Sr-160 & Sr-500 By Wdøgof August
TECHNICAL SUPPLEMENT FOR THE SR-160 & SR-500 by WDØGOF August 2010...
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