Photo: Universal Radio
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mike Stutzer, who recently shared the following listener post:
I started SWLing as a teenager. My favorite uncle gave me a Hallicrafters S-120.
My dad hung a longwire under an eave and through a casement window frame into my bedroom. I marveled at all the AM international stations broadcasting in English, listening to everything from BBC cricket coverage on Saturday morning to hysterically unbelievable Albanian political news coverage.
After college I could afford something better, so I upgraded to a “boat anchor” Hallicrafters SX 110. It had a useful crystal filter to improve selectivity, but it was still nigh on impossible to decipher a Ham on SSB.
Photo: Universal Radio
Many decades later I bought a house on a steep foothill. Realizing that it was a perfect QTH for a Ham station, I got licensed and now am President of the local ARC. Here is a loving look at the original SWL receiver that got me hooked.
Prof. Mike
Boulder, CO
Thank you for sharing this, Mike!
Mike’s radio story is the latest in our multi-year series called Listener Posts, where I place all of your personal radio histories. Feel free to submit your own by contacting me.
The S-120 was my first “Real radio” as a kid given to me by my sister. Even though my father had a Hallicrafters TW-1000 that I listened to, the thrill of the S-120 in my bed room could never be surpassed. Listening to the various SWL stations and hams on AM started me on 50 year journey in both electronics professionally and amateur radio to this day. I still have that S-120 and it could use a new capacitor, perhaps taking it’s place among the other vintage receivers that adorn my present-day shack.
I really enjoy these stories. Having been licensed in 70 after a period of SWLing , these ring so many familiar bells!
The S-120 was my first receiver. Got it as a Christmas present in 1968. Started me on a journey in radio that still continues today.