Hallicrafters HT-40 transmitter 80-10m FS

[Andrew Yoder]

1960s Hallicrafters HT-40 transmitter $40 + shipping. This is one of a few different crystal-controlled AM/CW novice transmitters from the ‘60s that pirates collectively called “shoebox transmitters” in the ‘80s & early ‘90s.

Condition: Missing the case & original knobs have been replaced. How could someone lose the case? I ran it into a dummy load and it fires up fine. Not sure exactly how much power it’s putting out, but I think it was about 30-40 watts peak on 43m & maybe about 10-20 watts on 15m (21 MHz)

The audio to this transmitter is input through an obsolete microphone connector on the back. I alligator-clipped an audio cable to the transmitter (bypassing the connector) and played music. The modulation sounded OK…screen modulation, restricted for voice use, and using the carrier-controlled scheme.

Application: I could see someone really enjoying using this as either a first transmitter or for use on the higher-frequency bands. It’s a great price for all of the frequencies in which this could be used. Because it’s missing the case, it’s not exactly a good transmitter to either let sit where anyone could touch it while it’s operating or for mobile operation. I could imagine it being kept at someone’s cabin or powered shed…it uses 110 VAC, but only draws about 90 watts in, so it could be run on a battery & most inverters as well.

Reliability: Didn’t hear any hum from the electrolytic caps, so my thought is that they’ll last for years. But if you want to be safe, replace them. I didn’t test the tubes, but the crystal oscillated, audio sounded decent, and the power output seemed pretty good, so I didn’t feel like there was a reason to test them.

Media: Photos available upon request. I might be able to do a video, too. Still experimenting with that…

Shipping/packing: I’m planning to double box it. These don’t weigh much for “boat anchors,” I’ve seen them listed at about 19 lbs. online, apparently mostly the power & modulation transformers.

I'll include a copy of the manual & a couple of FT-243 crystals