SB102 restoration project

[@walnut9360]

Excellent Kevin! My SB102 works well enough so I doubt I'll try your level restoration but will certainly remember your sharing information in case I ever try it. Thank you for sharing.

[@vernonraines3002]

I've had a SB-102 since I made general back in 1971 and have made soooo many contacts with that old rig. Now it does not want to xmit and receives 'fair'. I think this sounds like a fun project, although ambitious in scale. Thanks for the video. WA0ZMF

[@orbitingeyes2540]

Now THAT brings back memories. My 2nd HF rig was an SB-100.

[@robevans5222]

Very impressive restoration workmanship. You are clearly very capable, determined and patient. The idea of using colored heat shrink tubing to accomplish multicolor wire coding is great. Thanks for sharing this, and congratulations on a beautiful job!

[@stevenfeinsmith3567]

I appreciate the valuable time you spent providing your presentation about restoring reliable Heathkit SB-102. I will receive the SB-102 tomorrow via UPS from California. My primary goal is to overhaul the components, such as resistors and electrolytic capacitors, check the tubes, and pay close attention to wiring and solder joints to ensure they are solid. I hope to see the chassis with a 400Hz crystal installed. Then, I expect to go through an adjustment procedure to bring the unit to full specification. My concern is the plastic pieces for the dial, which I learned were fatigued and brittle due to age. I must be careful to remove it and use a can of plastic coating spray to reinforce the back of the dial assembly. It will be a tremendous challenge for me to work on used conditions compared with my years of experience with Heathkit assembly when it was new. Thank you for sharing the information to help me.

[@FredThomas-vx4ml]

I built a brand new SB101 in 1968 and used it for quite a number of years. It was a terrific radio, and connected to my Classic-33 Mosley tribander beam I was able to work the world with it. I ran hundreds of phone patches to soldiers in Viet Nam over nights in the summertime. I was one of the louder signals off the West Coast, no doubt due to our elevation. Years later I bought a used SB102 and it was also a great radio. And finally I located a Collins S-Line transmitter and receiver for sale, and I will say, the Collins gear was just heads and tails superior in every respect to the Heath... but the Heath for the money was spot on. The Collins stuff was truly a dream to run though.

[@PY2FRQ]

congratulations just like new, I have an SB101 and it needs to be restored, your video is motivating, 73

[@briannotafan3368]

as a kid my cousin built built many Heathkit S/W radios he knew the moris code to get his ham licence my dad got me many heath kit projects i built all H/K R/C i still have everything in working cond & a servo simulator i never built at 18 i went to work for motorola in 1977 my cousin went to work for Moog his name is on the blueprints of the minni moog synthesizer all because of heathkit he's a retired engineer i have a master electricians licence

[@hunt555fish]

What a beautiful job.

[@peterock8217]

Wow, just wow!!! My dad had that radio when I was just 13 years old, got my novice at 14. I remember playing around with the load and plate current, lol! 40 years later and hear you are a 3 year ham, well maybe 6 years now, lol I praise you brother, I was a radio tech in the MARINES, studied electronics in high school, avionics in college, and with all that training the most I've done was make my own antenna, a delta loop, with a 9:1 transformer oh and my own 460 ohm ladder line , no comparison, definitely not! Awesome job, love the L.E.D.S ! 💪👍🙏 N3WUB

[@dennislivesay]

This was my first rig. Worked hours and hours of CW on it. Dennis ..KB4LSX.

[@wa4aos]

Very nice job Kevin.. I hope you have a great time with your NEW SB 102 73, Glenn WA4AOS Laurens, SC

[@hs0zed]

A fantastic restoration Kevin, very nice indeed. I have an SB-102 I pan to do exactly the same with. Just saving it for retirement in a few years time. Most important now is to get on the air and use it plenty. 73.

[@kevinmeyers9804]

Thank you. It was a fun challenge and I learned a lot about how the radio works. It was fun being able to experience what many other got to do back in the day. :)

[@towerman75]

A man with more courage than me. Several years ago I did the same thing with a Heathkit DX-100. Making the new wiring harness proved to be a nightmare, however, I did finish the restoration, and when I brought the rig up on a variac, the HV capacitors started arcing to ground. This was my fault because I had used the original filter caps. I could have replaced them, and I feel that the rig would have been fine. However, I lost interest, and the rig never got on the air.

[@markw4udx]

I used to have old Heathkit transceivers years ago. The agc was always to fast for my liking, so I would add a capacitor to the agc circuit to slow it down and add more hang time. That really makes them sound better (to me). Nice stuff

[@briannotafan3368]

in the 70s i was the first kid on my block with a 150 watt motororola mocat 20 20 C/B radio thanks to heathkit my neghboros TV went goofy every time i keyed my mic

[@msf60khz]

Really enjoyed the video. Making a transceiver so it was very interesting for me. 73

[@boxingday11]

Fantastic 👍🇬🇧🇬🇧❤️

[@ks1u]

Very nice job looks fantastic.

[@vlupis1]

Great job!

[@briannotafan3368]

kid nowadays need projects like this instead of those god dam video games i looked a long tome to find a simple sringboard project kit for my son at 13 he loved it i found a crystal radio kit once i can see his face with a shiteatin grin i came home from work HEY DAD LOOK AT THIS IT WORKS WITH NO BATTERIES i said good job we need icecream

[@kkteutsch6416]

I have one SB102 I'm needing to recap and a SB 104 too... What is the better product /way to clean metalic chassis ?

[@jim_ka2iwk]

Hi Kevin. What part# are those LED's? I did a search on eBay, but not sure which ones. I see some turn signal LED that have a bayonet base... Also, did you do a cap replacement? Do you know of a source for replacement caps for the SB-102? TY! 73

[@pendulum4734]

Kevin that is a very nice job done!! Do you have a list and source for your capacitors and resistors that you replaced? What process did you use to clean the circuit cards from dirt and old solder? Did you replace the hardware for the circuit cards too? If so what did you use for replacements?

[@thechaddad1609]

Did you have to replace any of the tubes? Is there such a thing as upgrading tubes to equivalent transistors?

[@shawnvarani6734]

Hello, do you have the complete SB-102 Assembly And Operation Manual, please? Every version I've come around online is missing pages 2-87 (which I need). Thank you!

[@luminousfractal420]

She's handsome

[@kb5hxt]

bang up job, 73 and gud DX de kb5hxt