[Heathkit] Any SB-102 Experts out there?

[Edward B Richards]

Hi Grant;

Measure R-106. If out of tolerance replace it with a higher wattage.
Check the grids of V3 and V4 with a VTVM. If the least bit positive,
replace the tubes. Heathkit recommends GE brand only. Good luck.

73, Ed Richards K6UUZ
Simi Valley, Ca 93065
Home of the Air Force 1 pavilion


On Wed, 14 Jun 2006 21:41:39 -0500 "Grant Youngman" <nq5t at comcast.net>
writes:
> Long version of the short story ...
> 
> In 1970 my wife gave me a the best of all Christmas presents -- an 
> SB-102.
> I was operating from Hawaii at the time, and it was a lot of fun to 
> be (even
> if not so rare) DX.  In the late 70's I sold it, but still have 
> fond
> memories of the radio and all the matching green piece-parts.
> 
> Last year I found a beautiful radio.  It was "restored and working", 
> and
> while it was one of the best physical specimens I've come across, of 
> course
> it didn't work, period (Grrrrrrrr!!! - should have gotten that guys 
> call
> sign!).  So I sent it to RTO for a rehab not too long ago since my 
> bench was
> full.  Got it back, and finally made space on the table and fired it 
> up
> yesterday.  And noticed, alas, that even though everything has been 
> wrapped
> in thick towels, I had somehow chipped the perfect paint on the 
> speaker
> cabinet -- groan :-(
> 
> So after the work by RTO, there are still some lingering issues:
> 
> 1.  The S-Meter won't zero.  I know there are some resistors to 
> check, etc.
> and hopefully that will be relatively easy to rectify.  Swapped out 
> V3/V4
> with a couple of other tubes, to no effect.  I was surprised that 
> this
> immediately obvious problem hadn't been noticed and fixed.
> 
> 2.  The receive and transmit audio are just a bit "rough around the 
> edges".
> I don't know how else to describe it.  It may be that that's just 
> the way
> these things are, and frankly it's been too long since I've owned 
> one to
> really remember first hand what to expect.  But that isn't my 
> recollection
> of the radio.
> 
> So -- finally -- the question:  Can anyone who has recent experience 
> suggest
> whether the latter issue is normal, or if not, where the usual 
> suspects
> would be?  There's no obvious hum, but I'm going to R&R my two 
> HP-23A's with
> the HP-23R rehab kit just because.  
> 
> Could be I've been listening to a TR-5 for too long, and that makes 
> almost
> any radio sound "rough" on a relative basis :-)
> 
> Any suggestions, help, advice, etc. would be appreciated.
> 
> Thanks ... Grant/NQ5T
> '
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> List Administrator: Duane Fischer, W8DBF        
> ** For Assistance: dfischer at usol.com **         
> $$ See the vintage area on the HCI web site - http://www.w9wze.org 
> $$ 
> Heathkit mailing list
> Heathkit at mailman.qth.net
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/heathkit
> 
>