[Heathkit] SB-610 solid state conversion

[Dave Cook]

Very good comments Heinz.

A bit of clarification about this project. This wasn't about restoring a
vintage SB-610, nor about reinventing the SB-614, nor about completely
replacing the guts with an LCD display. The purpose was:

a) Save a very junked SB-610 from the trash.
b) Rebuild the circuitry that would provide MUCH better performance than the
original low-bandwidth capability.
c) Adding the feature of the digital station clock, which is what got this
project idea started in the first place.

I have a fully functional SB-610 (and several more for future use), which I
recapped myself, and love the original state of operation. I have an SB-620
as well (and also spares), so I'm not promoting that everyone run out and
trash a perfectly restorable SB-6xx scope, but rather that there are a lot
of units out there that are not in restorable shape that can be revitalized
and reutilized with modern retrofits. In my quest for this project, I've
found so many sad basket case SB-610 scopes that would have otherwise wound
up in a dump. Worst case, there are salvageable components in these things.
Best case, the chassis, front panel, and CRT are usually still usable.

Congratulations to you Heinz if you happen to find a good candidate for
restoration. Anything you don't think makes the grade for that and is headed
for the dump, please let me know.

73, Dave WA0TTN

> -----Original Message-----
> From: heathkit-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:heathkit-
> bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Heinz Breuer DH2FA
> Sent: Tuesday, May 08, 2012 4:12 AM
> To: heathkit at mailman.qth.net
> Subject: Re: [Heathkit] SB-610 solid state conversion
> 
> Hello Dave,
> 
> thanks for the update on your conversion. The pictures are nice but for me
the
> chassis looks much too empty.
> 
> YMMV but I prefer the original.
> 
> vy 73 Heinz DH2FA, KM5VT
> 
> 
> 
> Am 08.05.2012 03:55, schrieb Dave Cook:
> > Well guys, it's been a long time since I posted this original request
> > for opinions, and the project is finally completed. I just submitted
> > my article to QST today and I hope it makes the cut for publication.
> > My thanks to everyone for your feedback and support. The photo album
> > still needs some editing and doesn't show the exact completed version,
> > but it's enough to share for now and I'll clean it up between now and
> > when the article is
> > (hopefully) published.
> >
> >
> >
> > https://picasaweb.google.com/wa0ttn/SolidStateScopeConversion#
> >
> >
> >
> > Thanks for all the feedback on my original posting and I hope you
> > folks enjoy the results.
> >
> >
> >
> > 73, Dave WA0TTN
> >
> >
> >
> > From: Dave Cook [mailto:wa0ttn at netdave.com]
> > Sent: Wednesday, April 06, 2011 9:12 PM
> > To: Heathkit List Server (heathkit at mailman.qth.net)
> > Subject: SB-610 solid state conversion
> >
> >
> >
> > Hi Group,
> >
> >
> >
> > I'm about to rip the guts out of a SB-610 scope and convert it to a
> > solid state device. First of all, yes I know this is blasphemy, but I
> > have a couple of these spares that I've picked up on eBay pretty
> > cheap. Secondly, it's hard to find the compactron tubes these guys
> > use. And thirdly, rather than replacing all the ancient out of
> > tolerance carbon composition resistors and leaking capacitors, it
> > seems to make more sense to just build a new scope around the existing
HV
> power supply and CRT.
> >
> >
> >
> > So, my question is, has anyone on the list done one of these
> > conversions before? I've found some excellent designs on the web using
> > HV transistors for the deflection plates, driven by wideband op-amps.
> > And of course the associated sawtooth and two-tone oscillator circuits
using
> op-amps as well.
> > I think I've got a good design in mind, so I'm only asking if anyone
> > has done this before, or seen such a rebuild project out on the web,
> > or is totally offended by the thought of my desecrating one of these
> > classic scopes?
> >
> >
> >
> > 73, Dave WA0TTN
> >
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