I have for sale a Hammarlund SP-600 JX-1 receiver for $75. Also known
as the Super-Pro 600.
The JX-1 suffix tells us that it was made in 1951, which was the first
year that this receiver came out.
The radio has 20 tubes and weighs _*66 lbs!*_ Coverage is 540 to 54000 kHz.
Modes are AM & CW. It will tune in SSB with a lot of fussing.
The power supply is built-in. There is no cabinet, as most of theses
were used in rack mounts.
_*History*_
I purchased (rescued) it from Karen Stetson WA1SQO, the widow of Ralph KD1R.
It was in a detached garage for several years. The garage door would
not open because of broken springs.
A few years ago, Ralph asked me to try and open it, but I could not.
The family recently got it open and I went up for a visit.
Beyond that, the history is not known.
_*Condition
*_I powered it up slowly on a variac, and it receives well on all bands.
It requires a separate 400 Ohm speaker and antenna.
The chassis is quite dirty, but according to the web site below, it's
possible to clean it up with East Off Oven Cleaner.
The SO-239 connector was shattered. I replaced it with a new one, and
an elbow.
The main problem is mechanical. The dial mechanism works by friction,
and two rollers are barely making contact.
Normally, it has great fast flywheel action. Currently, turning the
dial is slow and fatiguing.
I made a video of my attempts to correct it. Suggestions are also on
the web site below.
The rollers don't look too worn down to me, so I don't know what is wrong.
I cleaned the front cover, all the knobs, and the dials. They appeared
to have a lot of nicotine on them.
These were used by the military and there is military writing on the
front cover. I'm sure that there was a lot of smoking going on around
it, back in the day.
I did not test the tubes. I broke two tiny C clips behind two knobs.
See video.
According to the info on the web, these radios really need to be
recapped, even if they are currently working.
Operating the radio for several hours with old capacitors can damage the
resistors.
This unit has 50 capacitors, plus the filter capacitor. I think most of
them are the same.
Hayseed Hamfest sells the filter capacitor only, not the whole kit.
I've recapped a few radios in the past, but this is more that I want to
get into.
I already have a Hammarlund SP-200 that I never get to listen to. The
SP-200 does not receive most of the AM Broadcast band, but the SP-600
tunes all of it.
The manual is available on BAMA:
http://bama.edebris.com/
Here is a link to my video of the radio:
https://youtu.be/1d3dySEBblc
Here is the web site dedicated to the unit:
https://www.radioblvd.com/sp600_rebuild.htm
This receiver had a long and illustrious career and had many variants.
It was produced up until 1972.
If interested, write to me at:
AA1SU@xxxxxxxx
I can bring this to the STARC Hamfest, or maybe even deliver it, as I
drive around the state for a living.
--
73
Paul N. Gayet AA1SU
ARRL Vermont Section Manager
Fists #4028
