Brett,
I noticed you omitted the 32V1 from your hit parade
of AM rigs. Any reason in particular?
--... ...--
John, WAØSTX
----- Original Message -----
From: "Brett Gazdzinski" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, November 25, 2002 12:27 PM
Subject: RE: [AMRadio] B&W 5100 Possibly the best built ham transmitter?
(imho)
> 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
> >
> >
> >
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