The combination is very good. The B&W has excellent audio and is very well
built and mannered. The SX-101 is a wonderful receiver and is a joy to QSY
with. I used one for years on 10 meters and it was so much more convenient
to tune the band than the S-line. The later SX-101A has a product detector,
but eliminates 160 meters. With a home built quad on 10-15-20 meters, I
worked over 150 countries on 10 meters in just a couple of years. Of course
the high bands were a bit better then.

I just started restoring an SX-101A to put back on the air. It is in good
shape, but someone painted the cabinet a puke silver-green. That has to go
soon.

I remember when we took this stuff out on Field Day and cranked up the
surplus 5 kw generator that had its own trailer.

The only thing bad about the SX-101 I had is that when the heater came on,
while on 10 meter cw, the frequency would gradually change. At first I
thought it was the oscillator plate voltage regulation. But, in fact, it
was the filament voltage dropping. The good news, however, was that the
oscillator tube was a 12BY7 and had its own transformer (which was left on
all the time). I built a voltage regulator and that sucker stayed put when
my heater came on.

A couple friends had the B&W and they both sounded very good. One of them
had mounted the T/R relay on the back of the B&W and when they first came on
the air, you could hear the "klunk". Seems almost like yesterday. I think
they were having a gas war during the summer and it was 19 cents a gallon.
Gee, I am almost getting teary eyed.

Calibration is not that good, but otherwise it is a fine receiver.

73, Colin K7FM

"COLIN LAMB" wrote in message
m...
The combination is very good. The B&W has excellent audio and is very
well built and mannered. The SX-101 is a wonderful receiver and is a joy
to QSY with. I used one for years on 10 meters and it was so much more
convenient to tune the band than the S-line. The later SX-101A has a
product detector, but eliminates 160 meters. With a home built quad on
10-15-20 meters, I worked over 150 countries on 10 meters in just a couple
of years. Of course the high bands were a bit better then.

I just started restoring an SX-101A to put back on the air. It is in good
shape, but someone painted the cabinet a puke silver-green. That has to
go soon.

I remember when we took this stuff out on Field Day and cranked up the
surplus 5 kw generator that had its own trailer.

The only thing bad about the SX-101 I had is that when the heater came on,
while on 10 meter cw, the frequency would gradually change. At first I
thought it was the oscillator plate voltage regulation. But, in fact, it
was the filament voltage dropping. The good news, however, was that the
oscillator tube was a 12BY7 and had its own transformer (which was left on
all the time). I built a voltage regulator and that sucker stayed put
when my heater came on.

A couple friends had the B&W and they both sounded very good. One of them
had mounted the T/R relay on the back of the B&W and when they first came
on the air, you could hear the "klunk". Seems almost like yesterday. I
think they were having a gas war during the summer and it was 19 cents a
gallon. Gee, I am almost getting teary eyed.

Calibration is not that good, but otherwise it is a fine receiver.

73, Colin K7FM
I'm starting to feel better; I wasn't familar with the B&W
transmitter, and wanting to be able to sleep at night, I
probably offered more than most would have under the
same circumstances.

Pete

If you end up using the gear, you will not regret the bit extra you paid for
it. Just forego a couple of golf games or a couple of pedicures and that
covers the extra you paid.

Speaking of audio, there was a ham on 10 meters. When I first spoke with
him, he had a KWS-1 and it was the best audio I had ever heard. Apparently
he had some money, because I worked him with different rigs. Next, he had a
Hallicrafters HT-32A. It was also some of the best audio I heard. Not much
later, he got on 10 meters with a Central Electronics CE-100V. It too had
outstanding audio. I was impressed - this guy had selected the three best
rigs I had ever heard. I wanted one, although I could not afford any.

A while later, I was down at the local radio shop and I heard "the voice".
There he was in person and I realized instantly it was not the rigs, but the
voice that was so wonderful. I turned and saw a short, skilly and bald guy,
in a suit and tie belonged to that voice. We chatted and I asked him if he
was a radio announcer. No, he wasn't. What he told me was not impressive
for me to remember, but it was something like an accountant.

As for me, when I change from my Collins KWM-380 and Heil mike to my old TCS
12 and carbon mike, people say my voice has improved. Even got one of these
W2IHY voice equalizers and after long tests the listener likes it best when
I restrict audio as much as possible. But, it gets through the pile-ups.
And, I need not waste money on expensive mikes.

So, whether or not you get compliments on the 5100, may depend upon your
voice.

73, Colin K7FM

"COLIN LAMB" wrote in message
m...

So, whether or not you get compliments on the 5100, may depend upon your
voice.

73, Colin K7FM

I sound like a squeaky old foghorn, so maybe I should rehone my
CW skills!

"COLIN LAMB" wrote in message
m...
The combination is very good. The B&W has excellent audio
and is very well built and mannered. The SX-101 is a
wonderful receiver and is a joy to QSY with. I used one
for years on 10 meters and it was so much more convenient
to tune the band than the S-line. The later SX-101A has a
product detector, but eliminates 160 meters. With a home
built quad on 10-15-20 meters, I worked over 150 countries
on 10 meters in just a couple of years. Of course the
high bands were a bit better then.

I just started restoring an SX-101A to put back on the
air. It is in good shape, but someone painted the cabinet
a puke silver-green. That has to go soon.

I remember when we took this stuff out on Field Day and
cranked up the surplus 5 kw generator that had its own
trailer.

The only thing bad about the SX-101 I had is that when the
heater came on, while on 10 meter cw, the frequency would
gradually change. At first I thought it was the
oscillator plate voltage regulation. But, in fact, it was
the filament voltage dropping. The good news, however,
was that the oscillator tube was a 12BY7 and had its own
transformer (which was left on all the time). I built a
voltage regulator and that sucker stayed put when my
heater came on.

A couple friends had the B&W and they both sounded very
good. One of them had mounted the T/R relay on the back
of the B&W and when they first came on the air, you could
hear the "klunk". Seems almost like yesterday. I think
they were having a gas war during the summer and it was 19
cents a gallon. Gee, I am almost getting teary eyed.

Calibration is not that good, but otherwise it is a fine
receiver.

73, Colin K7FM
A lot of receivers have problems with unregulated
filaments. After moving to a new location I found my SP-600
would take off and drift off frequency. Not broken, just
large line voltage variations. The cure for that was to run
it from a Sola constant voltage transformer.
Many receivers had filament regulators, usually
Amperite balast tubes. These work but require a filament
transformer with enough extra voltage to make up for the
drop. If run within ratings they are reasonably long lived
but still tend to go when most inconvenient.
There are oscillators that are immune from reasonable
changes in filament or B voltage changes. For instance, a
properly designed electron-coupled oscillator, essentially
the type used in the Collins PTO's, but they are rare in
commercial transmitting or receiving equipment.
--
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles
WB6KBL