Monday, July 13, 2020
The SB-102 is alive! It sounds great on receive, and so it was time to try transmit.
I had the power supply on the “low” high voltage and was only getting about 20 watts out on CW. I switched it to the high side, and its nearly 50 watts output, which is still about half what it should be on 80 CW. I haven’t made the first check of tubes, or attempted any alignment. Unfortunately, the NCS was pretty much down in the static crashes, and I didn’t get a response when I tried to check in.
I’ll give it a try again tomorrow. I need to take a bug or a keyer upstairs to Studio C to use with the rig. I had my trusty Nye Viking Master Key, which worked fine. But no joy with the net.
I guess I’m going to have to break down and buy another tube tester. The one I had was soaked in a basement flood, and it came out trashed.
I’m seriously considering upgrading my HP-23 power supply with the upgrade kit from The Heathkit Shop. I hear some hum in the SB-102, so I think it would be smart money to have a rock solid power supply (and not chance a 50-year-old filter cap letting lose!
Tomorrow I’m hoping to put the loading o-ring on the HW-101, and cobble together — or purchase — an adapter to use adapt my coax to the rigs’ RCA jacks. I’ll have to check with the local radio shack if I can’t find parts. Stay tuned!
73 es CUL …. de KY4Z …. SK SK …. (dit dit) …