How NOT to buy Johnson Viking II Ham AM CW Tube Transmitter Swapmeet Special

Video 800, Landmark goal by D-Lab electronics. Has this ever happened to you? Find a cool looking Vintage Ham radio, get it home and "eyes open" a disaster! A fellow from Cleveland did. He brought this monster to me for restoration. Great project. I'm removing more than Installing. Lucky at this point, the transmitter is operation at full power, super modulation. Unfortunately, the repair cost will be equal to or more than the purchase price. Lots of time involved to UN-mod this device. The owner is very cool and understands the situation, Thank GOD. When I complete this job a follow up video will be posted. Be careful at those swap meets, used radio dealers will blow smoke up your skirt, then when you get home the radio will do the same!

[@robertcalkjr.8325]

Thanks Terry. I would always expect to at least change the caps in vintage gear. Happy New Year!

[@KAZMANDRRB]

👍

[@rciancia]

Good Advice Terry. Same is true for old radios and amps. You never know what you are going to get. It is becoming harder and harder to find untouched gear... but the quest continues. :) Thanks Ron

[@billmoran3812]

At this point, I consider most if not all old receivers and transmitters to be projects. So many have been butchered over the years. It seems more so now than ever. A lot of people are selling stuff that’s been supposedly checked and recapped that has multiple errors, uses cheap Chinese parts and is way out of alignment. I won’t pay good money for junk. I’ll buy if I can get it for cheap and it’s worth fixing or has useable parts.

[@nobodyyouknow222]

I love it when some yo-yo decided to recap a radio... using ancient dried out capacitors ! Paying for repairs on radios like this makes little financial sense, either for the repair man or the ham.. because Hams Are Cheap. they have a one size fits all idea about what radios are worth. Just take the parts. If you are buying the caps onesy twosy at retail.. you get to spend $25 + shipping. Tubes, expect to replace the finals and the modulators and 1 or 2 rectifiers, and what are you up to if you don't have a well stocked junk box ( or have to replace the ones that go into this radio ) 2 6146's 2 807's a 5U4, and already some real cash if you cant get them at the flea market.. and you dont want crummy tubes in your final or unmatched or soft tubes in you modulator... so you at least have to have tube tester. So you can get 100 to $300 into parts... you paid $50 or 100... and if you do the work yourself.. this is ok, because the radio will play for 30 years with no grief.. If you do a REAL OVERHAUL... if you keep it fine. If you sell it.. not so fine... but if you pay to have it fixed.... oh dear. Somebody can "make it work" in a few hours... but doing it right is one but probably 2 days for a guy who has done it many times before... if you are thorough. you do the math. and think about how to say Thank You.. big time.. when somebody hands you a well rebuilt transmitter for a few hundred bucks !

[@nobodyyouknow222]

If you cant look inside, top and bottom, then you are taking pot luck. Sometimes, you get a raft of almost new tubes, a chassis that wipes clean with a damp cloth, and no damage, or weird mods to un-do. Bingo ! you won the lottery. Sometimes you get a real bag of worms. Replacement Modulation and Power Transformers really only come from parts radios...so it is often SAFEST to test the power transformer with the rectfier removed FIRST.. on a variac to make sure it isnt gonna smoke.. and use an ohm meter to test the mod xfmr ( resistance measurement are in the manual) to make sure it is good.( no shorts or opens) IF there is a capacitor across the mod transformer secondary ( high cut ) then it is smart NOT to apply power untill it has been removed or replaced !

[@thomasmiccolis9051]

That Viking II has so many issues it’s a SUBSCRIPTION!

[@magicalselena]

I love watching your videos. You don't just show what you had to fix. You go into explaining what is wrong and how to fix whatever it is. I just bought a Yaesu ft-102 from a lady who's husband passed. And she clams the transceiver was never used by him. Came in the org Yaesu boxes. Looks brand new. After watching your videos on the ranger. You got me wanting to sell my ft-102 and find a EF Johnson Viking Ranger now. Please keep making great videos. 73,

[@craign8ca]

I've learned my lesson from my many years of going to hamfests. Hate to say it but some hams can be real dishonest. One time, I was helping my brother-in-law purchase a Drake transceiver from a guy who said he just used it last week. Took it to the test bench (The Dayton Hamfest had a test setup just for this purpose). Anyway, plugged it in, powered it up, and received great. Keyed the mic and NOTHING. And NOTHING on all bands. Needless to say, the seller had lots of sweat on his face claiming that it worked fine. Yea. . . .sure.

[@PapasDino]

"It was working when I last powered it up." Heard that a gazillion times so as a seller I've started putting rigs on the bench before the hamfest and taking a video of them in operation on my phone...I then offer that to prospective buyers as at least some indication that the gear is functioning correctly. Surprisingly not a lot of guys want to see the video before buying something, I actually have to go out of my way to make them watch! 73 - Dino KL0S

[@craign8ca]

Dino, I llike your technique. I wish others would do the same. I've sold many items at hamfests (and eBay, too). If there's a problem, then I tell them. I sold a mixer board on ebay once and indicated that one of the 16 channels is out. Even with that info, bidding was high and I sold it for more than I was expecting out of it. Being honest saves a lot of frustration. 73's Craig N8CA

[@glenmiskulin3483]

Good job Terry you definitely know what you are doing

[@paulh6591]

O.K., ya got one "dislike" from the fella who installed that relay in the first place, expect one more, from the swap meet dealer with the abundance of promises!

[@d-labelectronics]

Roger that Sir

[@chansetwo]

Most hams are not very good technicians or engineers. Most homebrew projects and repairs i come across are second rate or worse.

[@cwguy8960]

Didn't that feel good, taking wire cutters to someone's poor workmanship?!? There's always some satisfaction in doing that!

[@Masterkill45588]

Hey, you should do a video on what to look for if someone does want to buy one, stuff like more info on red stamp you mentioned, things that would be a bad sign if you saw them on a radio you were looking at, etc.

[@PapasDino]

TNX Terry...having seen you and others work on these rigs I've always wondered if the large gray Sprague caps ever go bad? 73 - Dino KL0S

[@ne2i]

They are the oil filled caps. They last a looooong time.

[@sshannon1948]

Terry..thank you..I love the last two vintage videos you have posted as they remind me of ham radio when I was first licensed in 1962. I hope you'll do more...

[@dennisperusse3837]

Any chance of doing a tutorial on how to convert one of the D104 from its standard plug to a 3/4 inch jack for these old rigs?

[@OldWhitebelly]

Love all your videos. I'm brainfarting on the music in the intro, and now I can't sleep. What is it?

[@wayneharrah1784]

I saw that you changed out the resistor in a later part of the series. I just had the impression that your emphasis of the hazard would have called for replacement (or at least reorientation ) right away. Great vid. thanks. 👍

[@DeadKoby]

Another day.... another project.

[@daveogarf]

Terry, you are AMAZING! I hope that we don't lose your knowledge to the ages.

[@MIKROWAVE1]

Timmy WA1HLR used to call them Junkstons, but he said it in a loving way.

[@TerryMcKean]

LOL :-D ... yup.. Timtron definitely has lots of custom words. ;-) Speaking of Mr Timtron, here's a great classic... lol! :-D kzbin.info/www/bejne/mYm5q6OjbZujnLs

[@TerryMcKean]

I used to QSO with him on 40 meters AM when I lived on the East Coast years ago. Great days they were. I definitely remember lots of QSOs with Ashtabula Bill W8VYZ, too. I definitely miss talking with Bill, too. :-( ... May he Rest In Peace. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jaLIiHqQn7qSd8U.

[@MIKROWAVE1]

Excellent work! Let's face it - they are all projects at this age. Even my military radios are failing now, and they used fantastic grade components. Even a perfectly untouched stock radio that demonstrates good at the meet, will shortly fail without the basics. Contact cleaning, cap replacements and a good tip to tail component and wiring inspection.

[@TerryMcKean]

@@MIKROWAVE1 Yes indeed... even milspec gear is subject to Father Time. I found another great Timtron video... besides being very humorous, he's also definitely a genius with old gear: kzbin.info/www/bejne/maKwXqGYnrJ1hac

[@richardcunningham5764]

Nice job Terry. Thanks for sharing!

[@johnplaid648]

Anyone know the composer of the opening music?

[@wayneharrah1784]

Am I the only one that noticed you didn’t replace the “shock hazard” 20k ohm bias resistor kludge? You didn’t even move it farther from the metal parts... otherwise a great video.

[@d-labelectronics]

It was corrected be before leaving the shop. Just wanted to keep the video time under control

[@rickvia8435]

What a nit-pick. No hurrah for Harrah. Get a life...

[@jimdawes7261]

Part 2 please, I wanted to see how you replaced the resistor etc. you had me on the edge of my seat and then before you know it the video was over.

[@d-labelectronics]

Roger that, will do

[@pushpendrakhaira9337]

Those sprague DRY electrolytics still check good after 50 years.

[@MichaelLloyd]

Good thing he brought it to D-Lab!

[@nazarlive2137]

Good 😄hi

[@RobertKohut]

Nice!!