Fate of a Hallicrafters S-19 Sky buddy Ham Shortwave Tube Receiver D-lab

A Hamfest find gone bad. I was hoping for the best, However was dealt a mouse trap. Filled with carpet and mouse pee. Not a good investment. This one may join the scrap yard.

[mikesmout]

I feel your pain Terry. I picked up a Hallicrafters SX-18 Sky Challenger in December 2023, brought it home and found a mousie nest in the chassis. It had a feast of wax filled capacitors (took a few bites out of three of them) and removed the insulation off some wiring, It appears his visit there was very short, no smells, no urine etc and the damage was very minimal. Best Wishes, Mike in St. Thomas, ON, Canada

[HENSLEYMB]

A friend gave me a Sky Buddy, a later version that had been sitting a storage room for over 60 years. Fortunately, I was able to have the rig restored at a cost of $400.00. Works great.
Many classic radios were stored in open air barns, car ports, garages and store rooms.

[billymoretti]

Love that red tolex Marshall behind you I used to have a red tolex JCM 800 lead series 50 watt no reverb amp back in the early 80's miss that amp now I'm into hallicrafters and shortwave thanks for these videos! The mouse won this one though..bummer!

[JeffCounsil-rpqv]

I know this is an old video, but an old friend of mine brought over an old Hallicrafters S-120R in need of repair and of course someone was into it and, (cough cough) "repaired it" at some point. Well anyways, I cannot find the schematic for this particular version. I can find the S-120, but not the R version and it is somewhat different. Oh, and my friend (74 yr old Marine) said the previous owner "removed the speaker" Heh, sure enough it's gone! Well, at least there isn't any signs of rodent activity. lol! Would you have a schematic? Or have a clue where to find the right one? Thanks Terry!

[OtterLakeFlutes]

Seems like Hallicrafters chassis make popular mouse hotels! My friend has one like this. I paid $150 for one I looked inside and the guy claimed he's replaced all the components "needing replacing", and it sounded great for minutes. After I got it home, after several minutes of operation the audio amp stage (I guess) distorts at pretty low volumes, but I'm up to finishing the unit's refurbish job. If you keep the audio level very low (and amplify it via the headphone out into a guitar amp) it sounds fantastic. I love the S-20's lack of electrical fine tune, just highly geared tuning knob! Feels incredible.

[jballen]

My neighbor said he had a 'ham radio' for me. It turned out to be an S-19r.

Yep...it had a mouse nest in it. The mouse squeezed up into the 2nd IF can and gnawed the secondary windings. Why? Because it's an unobtanium proprietary part and it's difficult to replace.
Because it looked very nice, I recapped it and stuffed a NOS Thorotest IF can into the old one.

It works ok but it is definitely not a highpoint in Hallicrafters' history.

[CliveDrone]

I got a BC-348 that had a mouse nest in it, also some bare wires but only 4 short sections. Other than the smell and bare wires what other problems with a mouse infested radio should I be aware of and why couldn't you just fix the bare wires in your Hallicrafters?
Thanks

[SendARope]

That was hilarious. I wasn't expecting the dead mouse. Maybe the toxins from the electrolytics did him in.

[EdWatts]

That radio was almost a drive-in! "Drive-in theater: Wall-to-wall car petting."

Ed, KI6DCB

[Scribaux]

Hey Therry, don t put the mouse in the rubbish bin?! It IS vintage part of the circuit...lol
I had nearly kind of surprise on my 48' radiola amp!

[carlpaulicelli]

Terry, I can't wait to see the next barn find.73Carl ks4ij

[umajunkcollector]

Someone sure did a Mickey Mouse job on that rig! 
I've heard of fried resisters, but fried mouse?  
It wasn't enough ohms for those killer volts. 
Don

[patrickgorman]

or call Mouser for parts hahahahaha lets all laugh like at the end of a Flintstones cartoon!!

[captlarry-]

This is why you clean and inspect before you fire it up.  Maybe that was a no code ham..?