en-Expo HB4FR - civil historical collection - HB4FR

Nous voulons intéresser les jeunes pour les sciences, la technologie et la radio
Wir wollen die Jugend für die Wissenschaft, die Technik und den Amateurfunk interessieren
We want to interest young people in sciences, technology and radio
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HB4FR
"Clin d'Ailes"
Swiss Air Force Museum
HAM Radio Club
Payerne - Switzerland
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Expo HB4FR - civil historical collection

In 2008, Max de Henseler (sk †), HB9RS, honorary member of our club, provides the Clin d'Ailes Museum with his personal collection of Hallicrafters radios, one of the most complete in Europe. It is shown for the first time to the public on September 19, 2008, in the presence of our honorary member Claude Nicollier, HB9CN. The jewel of the collection is the Hallicrafters BC-610 transmitter, visible between HB9RS and HB9CN.



The exhibition that we invite you to discover in this prestigious setting of the Military Aviation Museum "Clin d'Ailes" includes a collection of a hundred transmitters and receivers from the thirties to the seventies of the last century. Most of it consists of HALLICRAFTERS manufacturing equipment, one of the three giants of the American electronics industry - with Hammarlund and National - whose production is especially intended for the use of radio amateurs, without however forgetting an intensive production on the civil and military plan. This collection of Hallicrafters is one of the largest in Europe; a large space is reserved for devices offering historical, technical or even artistic interest. From the historical point of view first, there are some World War II relics (from Pearl Harbor in Hawaii to the Bletchley Park listening tables in England); on a technical level, we can cite the witnesses of its evolution: from wiring to printed circuits, from lamps to transistors and finally from the artistic point of view, it is the beauty that a designer known worldwide as Raymond Loewe has made to certain models. Several copies of other big names in the industry such as Collins, Eddystone, Geloso and RCA are also part of the collection. These few legendary masterpieces will forever be the flagships of the electronics industry in this field.

Among the many non-Hallicrafters in the collection, a sampling of some models of famous memory are worth mentioning, such as the AR 88 manufactured by the Radio Corporation of America in the USA and Canada from 1940 to 1945, weighing more than 45 kilos and exported mainly to Great Britain; the English consider it the "Rolls-Royce" of the receivers.

Max de Henseler (HB9RS, sk) left us a memnto (only in french at this time) of his collection. Its purpose is not to technically describe all the models in the collection, but to provide some features for the most important exhibited models. Click on the scrolling text in the bar below to access it.




HB9BOI - Michel, HB9DBB - Jean-Michel, HB9TNA - Fritz and HB9TYR - Renato, Club members, also helped to expand our collections. Raymond, HB9DMN, also member of the club, regularly puts us devices from his magnificent private collection of historic radios on display.

A touch screen serves as an information terminal for visitors who wish to learn more about the devices on display. As an example, below are the technical datas of the Hallicrafters S-38B Receiver as they are visible on the touch screen. Come and see us at the museum to see what devices are currently on display and to discover their history.

Hallicrafters S-38B
Récepteur, Ondes Moyennes (OM) et Ondes Courtes (OC), données techniques :
The S-38 model, presented in June 1946, was  almost identical to the EC-1 Echophone. A receiver of 6 tubes (or 5,  according to the model) at the price of 39.50 Dollars put it within the  reach of all with a resounding success. This receiver greatly  contributed to the attraction of young people for the shortwaves. From  1946 to 1961, more than a dozen models have succeeded the original S-38.  The S-38-A, B, C, D and E with even a few variants in the color of the  case. The boom years for Hallicrafters were  from 1945 to 1963, during which the company produced equipment  considered by many to be superbly designed, including the famous S-38  receiver, which received a cosmetic "makeover" by industrial designer Raymond Loewy.
Manufactured :S38B, 1950
Manufacturer :Hallicrafters Company, USA
Frequency Range :Medium Waves (MW) and SHort Waves (SW)
from 540 Khz (555m) to 32 MHz (9,4m) in four bands
Receiver :
Superheterodyne Receiver, Intermediate Frequency (IF) Amplifier  (IF=455 kHZ), Beat Frequency Oscillator (BFO), Bandspreading, Demodulator, Audio Frequency (AF) Amplifier, Loudspeaker
Tubes :
5 tubes:
12SA7 : as Mixer and Local Oscillator
12SK7 : as Intermediate Frequency (IF) Amplifier and Beat Frequency Oscillator (BFO)
12SQ7 : as Detector and first Audio Frequncy (AF) Amplifier
50L6-GT : as Audio Frequency (AF) Power Amplifier
35Z5-GT : as Rectifier
Cabinet :
Table top, metal, 327 x 197 x 178 mm
Power Source :
20 Volts AC, special power cord for 220 Volts AC available
Weight :
4 kg
HAM Radio :
Amateur Radio is „Communications Superpower".
The Radio Amateurs are the eyes and the ears of the
world in time when all other information channels are silent.

(Kristalina Georgieva, EU-Commissioner)
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