[AMRadio] B&W 5100 Possibly the best built ham transmitter? (imho)

[russ dworakowski]

Mark,  of passing  interest-  you  mentioned  the T-368-  guess who  
designed  it?  Note  the use of all that  nice   ceramic.  Yes,  the 5100 is 
a  cool radio.  The  modulator   is just a bit small but?
You  would  get some  boo-hoos from  Collins   people,  but  I  think a good 
  close  second.  Definitely easier to work on.  I have a early
5100  [1000 serial number]  1953 vintage,  in  real good  original  
condition,  its  definitely  one  of  my  better BAs.  I  does need a good  
1/2  hour  warm-up,  but  its  real stable  after  that.   Russ.






>From: Mark Foltarz <Foltarz at rocketmail.com>
>Reply-To: amradio at mailman.qth.net
>To: "amradio at mailman.qth.net" <amradio at mailman.qth.net>
>Subject: [AMRadio] B&W 5100 Possibly the best built ham transmitter? (imho)
>Date: Sat, 23 Nov 2002 10:47:09 -0800 (PST)
>
>I just finished cleaning up the B&W 5100 I picked up
>at the Butler meet last Summer.
>
>I don't know what prompted me to buy it , but now I am
>sure glad I did.  Maybe it was all the great food (
>including Russ's fabulous baked beans of mass
>destruction HI!)
>
>  What strikes me the most about this radio is how well
>it is designed and constructed. My only complaint
>about the design is that the mode switch intereferes
>with access to one of the audio input shield screws -
>boo hoo.
>
>Other than that, this is by far the best built radio I
>own in terms of construction, ease of servicing and
>overall engineering. Better than my Collins,
>Halicrafters, WRL, Drake, Eldico etc. The only thing
>that comes close is  my TMC gear or the T-368 - but
>these were obviously not for the amateur market.
>
>Modular construction allowed for easy replacement of a
>few parts in the modulator. I essentially replaced
>several .001 with some .02 and two out of spec
>resistors.
>
>The use of an oil filled cap in the filter was a nice
>change. Typically one  has to take a  small loan for
>direct replacements or cobble up a string of
>electrolytics with eq. resistors. In fact I only had
>to replace three electrolytics - the double 20 @ 450v
>and a 20 @150v.
>
>A wire brush was very useful cleaning up the milled
>edges on the knobs.
>
>I plugged all the interconnects and applied power
>through a variac. No problems at all in ramping up to
>120v. Soon I had 150w CW and 100 phone output.
>
>I am really impressed how well the B&W 5100 is built
>and how easy it is to work on  and put back on the
>air.
>
>I'll lug it upstairs and put it on the air for the
>DX-60 net tomorrow.
>
>So I ask you fellow buzzard ops, what is your favorite
>"best built ham transmitter?"
>
>73 DE KA4JVY
>Mark
>
>
>
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