[AMRadio] WRL Globe king FS on QTH

[Robert Nickels]

On 12/14/2013 2:56 PM, Eric Nelson wrote:
> I own a GK-500C.  The Viking 500 is a better transmitter.
Guess you'd have to define "better".    A very basic design, my GK 500 
is reliable and solid as a rock.  But being a WRL product, the quality 
of some OEM components may be questionable.   My main power transformer 
is long-gone with a Peter Dahl in it's place,  and others have had to 
replace the Couplates used in the audio stages, perhaps another 
cost-saving measure.   It's easy to pull a deck out to work on if needed 
and interconnects are short and simple.

My Johnson 500 renovation has taken so long it's got it's own bench.   
It may be unique to my unit, but ALL the original iron has been 
replaced, and I'm still not sure the slow-release relay is going to work 
reliably.   The power switching is complicated, the separate power 
supply/modulator requires two multiconductor cables plus three HV wires 
where Johnson should be ashamed for using ordinary pin type connectors 
rather than the proper and safe Millen type HV connectors as used on the 
Globe King.   All this has been discussed in various restoration articles.

In the end the GK has 160 and the 500 doesn't, but it will fit on your 
desk easier.     Both sound terrific on the air and are fine 
transmitters, but which is "better"...we report, you decide.

73. Bob W9RAN