[Heathkit] Heathkit SB 110 6m transceiver question

[Glen Zook]

The differences are minor.

As to performance, it is excellent.

The basic sensitivity rating is 0.1 microvolts (or
better) on the receiver.  The "front end" is a
nuivistor and you definitely do not need a pre-amp
with the unit.  In fact, a pre-amp will usually cause
problems and definitely not help with the sensitivity.

Image rejection, etc., are excellent.  Basically, the
SB-110 / SB-110A is the same as the Heath SB-101 but
covers 50 - 52 MHz.  The stability of the oscillator
is extremely good.  It uses the same LMO as the rest
of the Heath line.

I have had an SB-110A for over 25 years and it holds
its own in performance.  Since it uses a tube for the
receiver "front end", you do not get the intermod,
overload, etc. problems that happen with solid-state
receivers.  By the way, DO NOT put 6146B tubes in the
SB-110 / SB-110A.  The 6146B is a different tube from
the 6146 / 6146A and can cause problems in the SB-110
/ SB-110A.

The only problem that sometimes happens is that there
is a shift of about 100 to 200 Hz between transmit and
receive.  This is due to the change in the regulated
voltage applied to the LMO.  Although the unit uses an
0A2 regulator, it doesn't hold that close.  I have
been going to put the LMO in my SB-110A off of a
separate Zener regulated position.  However, I haven't
gotten around to doing that.  The shift in frequency
is not that bad, but it can cause a slight distortion
on the received audio when the other station "zero
beats" your transmitted signal.

Glen, K9STH


--- greg mijal <bmw@sonalink.com> wrote:

Can anyone tell me the basic differences between the
SB 110 and the SB 110A?

Also, is this rig still a contender on the 6m band for
occasional openings? I do have a decent 6m receive
preamp but am wondering about images and stabilty in
the receiver.

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