[Boatanchors] 51J3 vs SP600?

[Al Parker]

Hi Gary,
    Well, you're not the only one.  I've owned a lot of SP-600's, some are
good that way, some aren't.  Very few "drift like crazy".  It depends upon
the band in use, and I think, in particular, the health of the mica caps
in the oscillator sections of the turret.  I've had some trouble with
them.  But like Glen says, you're not likely to listen to SSB easily on 6m
with any of them.
    I presently have an SP-600-JX-6/R274B that is very stable on 20
meters.  It has a prod. det. mod., installed by Bob Roehrig, K9EUI, that
works well, and after 10 min. of warmup I can put it on 14.300 and listen
to the MM Net for 2-3 hours and only have to adjust the freq. 2 or 3
times.  I think I've done the same with an R-388, with abt the same
adjusting reqd.
73,
Al, W8UT
New Bern, NC
BoatAnchors appreciated here
http://www.thecompendium.net/radio/
http://www.hammarlund.info


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "GBrown" <gkbrown at gwi.net>
To: <boatanchors at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Tuesday, June 21, 2005 5:22 PM
Subject: Re: [Boatanchors] 51J3 vs SP600?


> Am I the only one that has a non drifting SP-600? Maybe for the first
few
> minutes of warm-up but after that, rock stable. As for tuning SSB, I
have no
> trouble doing that either, just takes a little playing with and in a
short
> time, you have the knack. I think that's what ham radio is about.
Working
> for those contacts, pulling them out of the qrm, twist and turn knobs.
True,
> I come from the old school and just a tad bit biased. Technology is
great
> ..........for most things.
> Regards,
> Gary...WZ1M
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <jhhaynes at earthlink.net>
> To: "Eugene Hertz" <ehertz at tcaf.org>
> Cc: <boatanchors at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Tuesday, June 21, 2005 12:29 PM
> Subject: Re: [Boatanchors] 51J3 vs SP600?
>
>
> > If you want to receive digital signals or SSB then the 51J3 is
> > incomparably better because the SP600 drifts like crazy.  And there is
a
> > product detector mod for the 51J3 that is a big improvement for SSB.
> > And if you know the frequency you want to land on the 51J3 is also
> > much better.  But I can accept the views of others that if you are
> > just spinning the dials to see what's there then the SP600 is a lot
> > easier to use.  And maybe if you are wanting broadcast quality audio
> > rather than communications quality then the SP600 is better.
> >
> >
> >
> > jhhaynes at earthlink dot net