[Boatanchors] Johnson Viking II

[Ernie Rader]

Afternoon, Gents…..

Several years ago, I bought what I thought might be a repairable Viking II to put on the air.  I had one when I was in high school, and I wanted to recreate my novice/general days at that time.  Since the purchase date, my wife and I have retired and are living full time in our RV.  Needless-to-say, the Viking II is larger than I’d like to pack around in the RV, so the old Viking remained in storage until now.

Yesterday I put the transmitter up on a friend's bench to just take a look, and was horribly disappointed.  Though all the main things like tubes, transformers, variable capacitors, knobs, and things that would be very difficult to find and quite expensive if they were missing were there, there still was evidence of a terrible hatchet job on the underside of the chassis.  I didn’t even put it on a variac to see if filters were shorted.  Even if it did “come up”, I wouldn’t feel comfortable with a piece of equipment like that, in that condition, at my operating position.  In addition I wouldn’t feel comfortable selling it to anyone in that condition even as a restoration project.

The result of all this is that I want to take on the restoration of this piece of nostalgic equipment on my own at some time in the future.  BAMA has provided me with an operator’s manual, but it’s my understanding that the Viking II had two versions: one that was factory built, and one that was kit built.  I need the “Heathkit style” construction manual, if one’s available, so I can start from the back, completely disassemble the radio, check all parts, and part by part reassemble the unit in its entirety.  Does such a manual exist, and if so, does anyone on this reflector know where I can get a digital copy of one?

Your collective help would be most appreciated.

Ernie Rader, W5NH