Steve, N2DXM had one of these about 20 years ago when we both got into AM. A nice transmitter, well made, but poor choice of modulator tubes, 6146's I think they were. I never got a pair of 6146 tubes to sound good as modulators, but I suspect some people have. A prime candidate to switch to KT88 or KT90 tubes in AB1.
My top pick for a 100 watt transmitter is the 32v2 or 32v3. Robust iron, good stock sound, very stable pto, reliable operation. I have had 2 for 15 years now (sold the third for $200.00) and never had a single problem with any of them, despite using them a lot. I am using them for exciters now, to drive the homebrew rigs. I run mine on high voltage with solid state diodes in the low and high voltage power supplies, no problems at all. No grid tuning or drive levels to fool with, tune the vfo to frequency, dip and load the final, and yak.... There is not much that HAS to be done to the stock rig to make it sound very good, just a resistor change to match a d104 better... Ask anyone who has had a number of 100 watt rigs including the 32v3, and most likely they will tell you they like the 32v best. I have got rid of all the others, but kept the 32v's. The only Collins stuff I really like is the 30k-1, the 32v series, and maybe the kw1 (never had one of those). Did not like the kws1, kwm2a, 75a4, r388, etc. Brett N2DTS > > I just finished cleaning up the B&W 5100 I picked up > at the Butler meet last Summer. > > I don't know what prompted me to buy it , but now I am > sure glad I did. Maybe it was all the great food ( > including Russ's fabulous baked beans of mass > destruction HI!) > > What strikes me the most about this radio is how well > it is designed and constructed. My only complaint > about the design is that the mode switch intereferes > with access to one of the audio input shield screws - > boo hoo. > > Other than that, this is by far the best built radio I > own in terms of construction, ease of servicing and > overall engineering. Better than my Collins, > Halicrafters, WRL, Drake, Eldico etc. The only thing > that comes close is my TMC gear or the T-368 - but > these were obviously not for the amateur market. > > Modular construction allowed for easy replacement of a > few parts in the modulator. I essentially replaced > several .001 with some .02 and two out of spec > resistors. > > The use of an oil filled cap in the filter was a nice > change. Typically one has to take a small loan for > direct replacements or cobble up a string of > electrolytics with eq. resistors. In fact I only had > to replace three electrolytics - the double 20 @ 450v > and a 20 @150v. > > A wire brush was very useful cleaning up the milled > edges on the knobs. > > I plugged all the interconnects and applied power > through a variac. No problems at all in ramping up to > 120v. Soon I had 150w CW and 100 phone output. > > I am really impressed how well the B&W 5100 is built > and how easy it is to work on and put back on the > air. > > I'll lug it upstairs and put it on the air for the > DX-60 net tomorrow. > > So I ask you fellow buzzard ops, what is your favorite > "best built ham transmitter?" > > 73 DE KA4JVY > Mark > > > > __________________________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Mail Plus Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. > http://mailplus.yahoo.com > _______________________________________________ > AMRadio mailing list > [email protected] > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/amradio >
