I’ve been thinking about this for a while. Back when I was first getting interested in ham radio, one of the things I loved doing was drooling over the latest Heathkit catalog. Years before I began I was lusting after the H-8 microcomputer, the ham gear was the stuff of dreams. I’d have loved to have a nice SB series station. I eventually bought a slightly used HW-16, but the SB-401/301 or the SB-101 – or especially the SB-104 – those were the ticket.
Of course by the time I could actually afford anything, Heathkit had stopped making ham radio kits. The old rigs faded into the sunset as new, solid-state equipment took over.
So now I’m older, not flat broke, and the gear is of course comparatively a lot cheaper. I’ve had and used and enjoyed several solid-state rigs, and in fact still own a Kenwood TS-850S. Not exactly super modern, but far removed from tubes and mechanical dials. I do find joy in operating the old HW-16, though, and got to thinking about something a little more capable but of similar vintage.
To make a long story short, yesterday Fedex delivered a badly mangled box containing a mercifully well cushioned SB-101 CW/SSB transceiver, a matching SB-600 station speaker, and the HP-23 power supply that provides the various voltages needed by the tube equipment. It’s been in storage for decades, is pretty grungy, and has a few minor mechanical issues – all of which I knew or expected when I bought it. The plan is to do a complete restoration. Electrical, mechanical, cosmetic – which, fortunately, seems like it will be the easiest part; the cabinets and paint seem to be in great shape. The SB-101 is extensively documented not only in the Heathkit assembly manual – which of course I got with the gear – but by countless hams and magazine articles since. If there’s a little tweak or fix to get it running at peak performance, that information is easy to find.
I didn’t get detailed “Before” pictures, but I did pull some from the eBay listing that show the condition. “Decent but grubby” I think captures the cosmetics.
