Just a note of appreciation for Walt Cates’ generosity?
In offering downloads of his SR 500 repair manual free
of charge. I don’t own an SR 500 but sure appreciate his spirit. Hams like Walt make this such a wonderful hobby.?
73,
Mark
AF6IM
Hi Scott,
The Tornado (SR-500) is an excellent tri-bander. It is a single conversion receiver that performs better than a lot of dual?conversion rigs. With its 250 to 300 watt output it will punch through the noise. The SR-500 is actually an SR-160 with a beefed up
PA subsystem and a power supply providing higher voltages.
The 8236 tubes ARE a problem. Although these are magnificent tubes, with solid carbon block plates, they do occasionally go bad. There are not many good sources for them. When you do run across them there is no guarantee that?they will be matched. Matching
is key to proper operation of the PA.?
The 6DQ5 is a direct replacement for?the 8236. There is a problem with the height of 6DQ5. They come in various?sizes and even with the shortest tubes you need to dimple the PA gage cover.?
The final Achilles heel is the vfo. The 500, like all the SR series rigs, are three times older than the shelf life of its temperature compensating capacitors. This is not a difficult problem to solve, replace C129 NPO and C133 N470.
I hope I have not scared you off the quest for a Tornado. But all ventage rigs require a little TLC.
I have written a repair manual for the SR-500 Tornado. It is a no cost download at:
Good luck with your quest, 73.
Walt Cates, WD0GOF
?
A majority of acceptance is not proof of correctness.
Hi, Lately I’ve been waxing nostalgic about the old Hallicrafters transceivers.? A friend loaned me his SR-160 for several months back in 1971 while I was in Senior in High School and I used it for that
summer before heading off to the Vietnam War. ? It was a wonderful transceiver! ?
The premium Hurricane, Cyclone, and Tornado have fascinated me for many years but I never pursued them during my collecting years.? The collecting years are long over and I’ve sold 99% of my collection with only a few left, but I’m still
intrigued by those premium Halli transceivers.?
Maybe I need another one just to enjoy the nostalgia it gives.?I’m thinking of buying a Tornado for my one last remaining SSB tube transceiver.
The Hurricane and Cyclone scare me in terms of big size and complexity of repair.? What about the Tornado?? Do you Tornado owners find them easy or hard to repair?? Are final amplifier tubes available or do you have to rewire
the socket for something else? ?
What do you Tornado owners think of them? ? Do you know of any working one’s for sale?
Thanks. ?73, Scott WA9WFA
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AF6IM
www.parachutemobile.com
