[Heathkit] performance of sb-301

[Van K7VS]

My comment:  I built the SB-301 when it first was advertised in QST back in 1966, I think in December of that year when first advertised as an upgrade to the SB-300.  Ordered the 301 and 401 at that time and took Heathkit about three or four months to actually ship me the equipment.  The 301 went together and fired up first time I turned it on.  The alignment required nothing beyond turning the crystal calibrator on and following their instructions.  My SB-401 was another story as I had one of the diodes reversed in the balanced modulator that took some time to figure out with a Heath technician’s help.

I found the receiver a joy to use and never had a complaint other than the audio never sounding quite like my S line.  Further, audio quality from the receiver seemed to develop some distortion over time and had to replace the audio output tube, a 6BF? something to solve that issue.  On a regular basis.  That would resolve the distortion issue for a while and then another audio output tube!   I may have been driving the audio output to high, I dunno.

As far as sensitivity, tuning, and general operation I was VERY pleased with operation.   On SSB/CW and RTTY.  Once in a while I would check, realign with the calibrator, and replace an occasional tube.  Worked a couple hundred countries and added every accessory piece they made...SB-610, SB-620, two and six meter converters, SB-500 transverter, and a SB-200 amp plus the “operating console” and eventually the Heathkit digital readout display.

Never failed to to enjoy operating that station.  As far as “mods” were concerned...there is nothing to “mod” on the SB-301.  It works great.  As does the SB-401 that I have currently.  

From: Glen Zook 
Sent: Monday, February 18, 2013 8:04 AM
To: yash at aol.com ; heathkit at mailman.qth.net 
Subject: Re: [Heathkit] performance of sb-301

My SB-301 works fine!  It is the second one that I have had over the years, the first one being built new in 1968.  In late 1972, I acquired a Collins 75S-3A (considered by many to be the best of the S-Line receivers) and ran the SB-301 in parallel with the 75S-3A before deciding to go ahead and obtain the matching 32S-3 transmitter.  This was done for about 6-weeks.  In 9 out of 10 situations, the SB-301 performed as well as the 75S-3A.  It was that 10th time that made me go ahead and get a 32S-3 transmitter.  Things like rejection tuning and slightly steeper "skirts" on the SSB filter, combined with the 200 Hz CW filter instead of the 400 Hz filter in the SB-301 made the difference.

I have worked on a number of Drake R-4 series receivers over the years and definitely prefer the SB-301 to those.  There is no comparison with any of the Swan units that I have serviced.  The SB-301 is considerably better.

Presently, I use my SB-301 / SB-401 combination on 160-meters with a home brew transverter ( http://k9sth.com/uploads/transceiver_discription-1.pdf ) and with transverters for 2-meters and 222 MHz.  On 160-meters, I find the transverter plus SB-301 combination easier to use than my Collins 75A-4.

The SB-300 is not quite as good as the SB-301.

Glen, K9STH


Website:  http://k9sth.com


________________________________
From: "yash at aol.com" <yash at aol.com>
To: heathkit at mailman.qth.net 
Sent: Monday, February 18, 2013 9:01 AM
Subject: [Heathkit] performance of sb-301
 
                         Just finished going thru the 301, all the usual stuff, replacing caps, out of tolerance resisters and doing a complete test equipment alignment,all came out just fine ,as per the manual. Have worked on a lot of boat anchors over the years  and run a Drake 4 line ,all the time. I was very disappointed with the 301,comparing it to the drake, several swans and a ken wood ts-599. Keeping in mind that these rigs are what they are, the Heath 301 doesn't even come close, to the performance of all the others. Iam I overlooking something with the 301? Gone back and read the old reviews and writ ups in QST and the other out of print mags, all gave the 301 decent marks. I find few if any mod's for the 301 shown anywhere,please let me know of a source, about the rig. I guess I expected more from the old rig. Iam seriously wonder if its worth the trouble to go ahead and rework the 401 transmitter and put them on the air as a
working set of Heath twins. 
                  I would sure like to hear from others concerning their results with the 300/301 receiver and as using as a twin setup.
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