Hallicrafters HT-9 Restoration

[K8JLY]

I am in the process of restoring a pre-war HT-9 Hallicrafters Transmitter.  Using all precautions I removed meters, knobs, and the front panel from the cabinet.  I managed to get the cabinet separated from the chassis, but what a
bear.  Getting the front bottom rail to clear the (4) extended thread toggle switches was a real problem.  After removing the lock nuts and allowing the switches to be pushed in as far as possible there was still a problem clearing the bottom
front cabinet rail.  It seemed simple enough to raise the rear of the cabinet and angle it toward the front, but the rear portion of the cabinet would not clear the power transformer, choke and oil filled capacitor.  At some point in time I will be assembling the chassis to the cabinet and wonder if there is a better way? 

Also, if there is any interest:  I have had the front panel powder coated matte black closely matching the original.  (The pre-war HT-9's had a black painted front panel and the cabinet was black wrinkle finish).  I had a local screen printing shop scan and create the mask for applying all graphics exactly as the original.... In case anyone is interested.

Any comments are appreciated
tnx.... Cid Vance
K8JLY

[Opcom]

That's a valuable mask. Hope they keep it. Was this done digitally? A local T shirt wholesaler says silk screening is all digital now.

At least your HT-9 is worth restoring. Of the three that have passed through my hands, one had extreme surface rust on the top surfaces to the ruin of the cabinet, and one was a hack job converted to that special "non-ham service". A row of crystal sockets was added inside and the band switch wired to that. Yes it did make plenty of signal - was working fine in that way.. but so much had been removed and changed (and all plug-in crystal units missing) it was not worth restoring. Eventually a ham wanted it, so it went. Impossible to say whether it was fixed up in some way perhaps with a 2-3W VFO setup and home made tank or PI coils, or now serves as the voice of freedoom somewhere near a truck stop. I wish well for all HT-9s, they are magnificent desktop rigs.

[Carl WA1KPD]

Did,
Good luck with yours, they are a great rig.
I never removed mine from the cabinet as I did all the work by removing the bottom plate.
I had to HB the 160 osc and PA coils but that was easy enough to do. I get great audio reports.
The osc HV xfrmr failed on me, but I had a junker that I got a replacement from. Interestingly, that was obviously a replacement, so it looks like that may be a weak spot.
73 as GL
Carl

[n5ama]

I have completed all but the cosmetic restoration of my HT-9. This includes recapping, a home brewed tuning unit for 80m, modified location for the 45v battery and changing the mic input connector to 3/16". What remains is a minor modification to put a Hallicrafters HA-5 vfo feed into a crystal socket.

I also would like to find some of the factory TU for other bands. Cosmetic work will be removal of some flaking paint on the rear cabinet and local spray paint to match. Attaching a pic of the setup as it stands right now.

73,
Tom N5AMA

[Carl WA1KPD]

Tom,

That looks like a post-war HT 9 with the green color round meters and numbered knob on the speech amp. The prewar had square bezels, and a classic Hallicrafters pre-war knob on the speech amp.

BTW, the  HT 9s I had did not have a crinkle front panel. It was almost a low gloss black or green,
Nice looking set up.