[Heathkit] Play Solomon...kinda

[Eddy Swynar]

On 2013-01-02, at 9:59 AM, Glen Zook wrote:

> Keep the SB-301 and dispose of the SB-303.
> 
> The SB-303 was Heath's first attempt at a real solid-state receiver for the amateur bands.  Unfortunately, the receiver overloads very easily (the "attenuator" is nothing more than a 50-ohm potentiometer across the antenna), they tend to have a fairly high "noise floor", they are difficult to "work on", especially if you don't have the extender cards, etc.
> 


Hi Guys,

FWIW / IMHO, the SB-301 is probably one of the best bargains going to-day in terms of vintage tube-type receivers...

It is self-contained, light, good-looking, has 1-KHz dial resolution, it's sensitive, stable, and very easy to work on---and CHEAP, too (good examples can be purchased here in Canada for around $25.00, or less).

The only negatives would be that it doesn't cover 160-meters (remedied here with a HB converter), it frequently requires a touch-up of the variable coils (mine does, anyway), and there's that cursed roller-pincher-dial monstrosity that---it works OK---is great...but if it doesn't, well, prepare yourself for a lot of cussin' & swearin'!

About the only other receiver that comes close---and has a few more features, to boot---would be the early Drake R-4 series of receivers, I think...

~73~ de Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ