Saturday night, Dec. 12, 2020
Finally! We’re getting some pretty nice band conditions on 75 and 80 meters in the evenings!
I got up to Studio C a little early this evening, and decided it was time to try out the SB-102 on the bench. I repaired the dial assembly and then replaced the electrolytic cap in the audio section of the radio (located in the rear right corner of the rig looking under the hood).
I feared that I would release the Magic Smoke when I fired up the rig. My inspection of the radio top and bottom was that it appeared to be neatly soldered. The rig has a dial light out, but it did warm up and hiss was heard from the speaker. Every switch and control seem to be very dirty; I had to cycle the bandswitch several times to get the receive to come to life. I tuned across 75 meters and heard signals — but all of the SSB signals sounded like I was listening to them on AM. I tried out transmit — actually the “tune” selection — and could not get any output. The meter seemed to indicate on received signals, but it showed zero high voltage. I know that’s not right because the power supply is working.
I may just get some pictures of this rig out of the case and then just list it on eBay. I can honestly report what I’ve heard from it, so it won’t be listed as “untested.” I think before I’ll do that, I’ll clean all the controls and double check the high voltage to the finals.
One problem this rig has is the male power connector on the rear of the rig. The male center keyed bakelite part of the connector is broken off; its possible to connect the power supply incorrectly, which could be catastrophic to both the rig and power supply. I put a mark on the rear of the chassis to indicate the location of the key, and if you’re careful you can properly hook up the supply.
I nearly missed the CW traffic net I was so intent on the Heathkit check-out. I really think I’ll sell the rig; I have two other Heathkit SB-102s that need to be checked out. Chances are once I give those a check out, I’ll probably send them on the way too. As far as SB-102s, I think I’m going to keep the two working rigs and get rid of the rest, though keeping one of them may be good insurance as a parts rig.
I’m going to check out both working rigs and see which one I’ll install the factory CW filter in. I would like to get a second CW filter, and I guess I’ll keep watch for one on eBay.
OTHERS WAITING IN THE WINGS. I have the Swan 350 I would like to get working; the transmit isn’t working. I also have a very clean HW-101; the receiver doesn’t work, but it transmits full power.
In addition to that, I have a second Tempo 2020 and I would like to remove the front panel to see if it needs new nylon gears.
I have a Swan 500C still in the box that is supposed to be a working rig; if that rig works OK, I may sell the 350. I also have a nice Hallicrafters SR-150 and the Hallicrafters “twins”.
SHACK UPGRADES. I’m going to build some shelves for my six-foot table; using glass blocks, I’ll add two full-length shelves. My plan is to buy an 8-foot cafeteria-style table and put it on the north wall of the room. I’ll probably build full-length shelves for that table as well. I need to make sure I have room to set these stations up! I have to move out a card table and some other stuff before I’ll have room for that table.
EBAY ISSUES. I’m sure the issue is related to the COVID pandemic and the Christmas rush, but I have several things that are DAYS late. Most of the times, the “estimated” delivery date is pretty accurate. I have one item that’s a week late on the delivery date; one part for my 1956 Plymouth was supposed to arrive days ago; its been “stuck” in Kearny, N.J. for 4 days!
For most of the year, I’ve only had a handful of items that were significantly delayed; since the middle of November, nearly everything is arriving late. Again, the pandemic has sent people doing a lot of online shopping, not to mention the holiday shopping too.
73 es CUL … de KY4Z …. SK … SK …. (dit dit) ….