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

[russ dworakowski]

Hello Pete,  must  comment  on  all,  as I  have  most of  these.  I  do not 
  have a Central  Electronic 100V,  a friend  however,  refurbished one,  it 
was a basket  case,  he  said  it  was a SOB  to  fix, but  he  eventually  
got it,  he  said  it  it a great  rig.  Always a  preasure  to get a  tuff 
fixer  working.  I  had a  similar  problem  with a 5100.  Took a while  to  
figure  out  but,  worth  the trouble.   Viking II-   great  radio-  easy  
to work on.  Apache-  real good, needs rework in  speech amp,  then great  
rig-  love  the comments  on  mine.  "  thats  no scratchy apache".  DX-100- 
  real good-
minor  audio fixes.  100B is  better with  continuous  loading.  I have  not 
  been in Valliants,  but  like  the Apache,  needs audio help.
73s  Russ.






>From: Peter A Markavage <manualman at juno.com>
>Reply-To: amradio at mailman.qth.net
>To: amradio at mailman.qth.net
>Subject: Re: [AMRadio] B&W 5100 Possibly the best built ham transmitter? 
>(imho)
>Date: Sat, 23 Nov 2002 14:51:20 -0500
>
>B&W 5100B was a much better transmitter when it was introduced into the
>market. B&W took all the 5100 fixes, corrections, updates, etc. and made
>a much better and more reliable transmitter. Although I have a 5100B, I
>rarely use it.  Much prefer the Central Electronics 100V or my Heath
>Apache for over all performance, ease of use, easily repairable,
>functionality, and cosmetics. The most reliable rig in my shack is the
>Johnson Viking II. Since 1958, it has never required a tube or part
>replacement.
>
>Pete. WA2CWA
>
>On Sat, 23 Nov 2002 10:47:09 -0800 (PST) Mark Foltarz
><Foltarz at rocketmail.com> writes:
> > 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
> >
>ncreases necessitate this change. First major across the board increase
>since 1994.
>
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