[Heathkit] HW-101

[W. Harris]

Thanks for the replies. I have gone into the VFO and made some 
recommended mods, made sure that the caps were stable so they would not 
vibrate ect. , voltages all good. I know these rigs were known to drift a
 bit, even my SB102 (my first serious SSB rig) I had would drift a 
little, but after a few minutes warm up it was pretty stable. This 
HW-101 belonged to my sister-in-law who passed away some years ago. I 
purchased it second hand for her after she got her license. She used it 
very little. It was stored for years and I inherited it. I have had it 
quite a while and decided one day to pull it out of the closet and get 
in back on the air just for fun. I use it as back up to the regular 
station, a KWM-2. 



John, I like you comments about the damn RIT. Some of these hams with 
their high dollar digital frequency readout to six figure rigs get upset if 
you are 100 Hz off frequency like it was a great transgression. HI.



73, Bill - K5MIL

http://radioremembered.org

> Date: Wed, 27 Oct 2010 21:19:02 -0500
> From: vanmet at tds.net
> To: nbcblue at hotmail.com
> Subject: Re: [Heathkit] HW-101
> 
> Hi Bill,
> 
> Welcome to the world of Heathkit.  Drift is normal.  They drifted a 
> little as soon as they were built.  However, no one ever cared, and then 
> some rigs came out with RIT's to compensate.  When working the newer 
> solid state-digital read out stuff it has becomes more apparent.  If you 
> turn the rig on an hour before net time, etc. the drift will be very 
> little.  This is what I do with my SB-102 and HWA-101.  If someone finds 
> it objectionable tell them to use their damn RIT!! This is the fun of 
> using older tube gear--you have to turn the knobs a little more.  One 
> trick the guys who ran the Heath Marauders used was to use a separate 
> filament transformer that bypassed the off and on switch, wired directly 
> to the AC line, and on all the time for the VFO stage and maybe another 
> stage.  The time of warm up was really cut down for this early SSB rig.  
> Also keep in mind that the HW series and SB series rigs were well 
> designed, but the kits were supplied with cheap control components and 
> electrical components that in many cases were way out of tolerance when 
> new.-----I just run the rigs they way the are and have a ball......
> 
> 73,
> 
> John  WD9JIM