Echophone EC-1B Part II

Here it is in all it's splendor and glory, happily playing away on the 49 Meter broadcast band.  Spoiler alert:  Radio Habana isn't a big fan of our President.

As mangy as this critter looks, it didn't take much to get it playing like new.  Actually, I think I spent more time mucking with the dial string than it took to replace all the defective electronic parts!  There's something to be said for simplicity.

Now it's on to the cabinet.  When I bought the rig, it was missing it's bottom and rear covers, so tonight I fabricated a reasonably correct bottom cover out of 20 Guage steel.  Even though it's a simple panel, I spent about an hour measuring and laying out the bends and holes before picking up any tools.  The old adage "measure twice, cut once" applies, though my technique was measure twice, cut once and cut yourself for good measure.  No project is complete without at least a little blood letting.

But, the care taken in plannng pays off - it only took a few minutes to fab the panel and it looks/fits like it came from the factory.

So, now that it's all working, I get to tear it all apart to prep it for paint!  

Side bar:  Some of my friends, well, lets just say they don't share my appreciation for these simple receivers.  Sure, they're not the most stable or selective, but they work, and work pretty well considering how basic the circuitry is.  I think Hallicrafters did just fine designing a solid, entry level receiver that sold for about the same price as a decent tabletop broadcast set.

As for resolving SSB/CW, CW isn't a problem, but SSB takes what Cmdr. MacDonald of Zenith called "Micrometer Fingers".  It can be done, but it takes patience and, without an RF gain control, strong signals will "override" the BFO signal.  This is true for the EC-1, S-41 and original S-38.  Don't waste your time trying with an S-38 B, C, D, E or S-120.  The regenerative IF BFO scheme in those sets is all but useless.

Oh, and if anyone's wondering, I'm still working on the SDR-2017-2018, but it's slow going.  I am learning this Python stuff, though.  Upward and onward.  Excelsior.