HALLICRAFTERS AT THE LIGHTHOUSE

February 22, 2015

HALLICRAFTERS AT THE LIGHTHOUSE

(Click on each photograph for an enlarged view)

During my road trip through New South Wales and Queensland last October and November, I visited a tiny coastal village called Seal Rocks, on the mid-north coast of NSW. Aside from the wonderful views, surf and sun, a visit to Seal Rocks is not complete without checking out the Sugarloaf Point Light, also known as the Seal Rocks Lighthouse. This is a really beautiful part of the world and it was my second visit to the area. I have included here photographs of both the lighthouse and the surrounding bay.

There's a small wooden garage on the property that acts as a sort of museum with bits and pieces of lighthouse memorabilia stored in a fairly random fashion. One of the items caught my attention immediately! It was a Hallicrafters marine radio from World War 2.

I'm no expert on vintage radios, and we don't often see Hallicrafters in Australia. However, I've done a little research and came up with the following information on this radio:

Model: The Ensign HT-11 by Hallicrafters, Chicago IL
Year: 1939–1945
Type: Transmitter & Receiver
11 Valves / Tubes: 6SK7 6K8 6SK7 6SQ7 6K6 6V6 6V6 6V6 807 6X5G 6X5G
Wave bands: Broadcast and Short Wave (SW).
Power type and voltage: Line / Storage batteries (perhaps also batteries) / 105-125 / 6 / 12 Volt. (Probably modified to the Australian 240v AC standard - Rob)
Loudspeaker: Permanent or electro-dynamic (moving coil)
Coverage: 0.550-1.6, 2.1-2.9MHz, Transmitter crystal controlled between 1.5 and 2.9MHz, power source can be 105-125 Volts AC or 6 or 12 Volts DC,
Output: 12 watts.
Price in first year of sale: US$150.00

Sources of data:
http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/hallicraft_the_ensign_ht_11_ht11.html
Radios by Hallicrafters, 1999, Chuck Dachis

Professor Google had only about four entries on this Hallicrafters model, so perhaps it's somewhat rarer these days than other radios of a similar ilk? Maybe one of our readers can shed more light on this unit.

Here's another radio (above), a more recent addition to the museum: the Codan 6801 Mk2 SSB transceiver, probably putting out 100 W PEP. It was crystal locked and covered covered 2-16 mHz in 10 channels (14 frequencies). I'm unsure of the date of this unit.

VIEWS OF THE LIGHTHOUSE (Click on each photo for an enlarged view)