"Kenneth Scharf" wrote in message
...
sctvguy1 wrote:
On Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:34:37 -0800, COLIN LAMB wrote:

The Star Roamer is the same basic configuration as the
S-38 series and
the S-120. There is no good reason why the Star Roamer
should be
significantly better than either.

For minimalists, I like the regenerative sets.
Super-gainers (super-het
with regenerative if stage) can be quite good, altough
there are not
many examples - and a few that were sold were cheaply
made.

Simple rigs can be fun to use.

One note - using a simple receiver with one tuned stage,
a long antenna
can allow the receiver to overload badly, especially by
broadcast
stations. In that case, a short Hi-Q antenna (a
loopstic), can
significantly improve reception.

Congratulations on restoring the receiver.

73, Colin

For some reason the old S-38 and the Knight are more
sensitive than the S-120 was. I have never heard any
good things from people who had the S-120, most said it
was deaf as a post! My mother got it from Sears on
layaway(does that date me?). I think it was $69.95, or
some such. What did I know then? I do know that it was
very inaccurate, not very sensitive nor selective, and
basically a dog. My dad in the AF later got me a surplus
R-390 from a comm squadron that was scrapping them, and
then I found out what SW/BCB was really like!
Unfortunately, it was an aircraft model, that required a
28 volt power supply to go along with the radio. When I
turned it on, the lights in the house dimmed!
I had a Heath GR-54, which was a bit better design than
the Star Roamer. It worked ok on the lower bands, but on
the highest frequency band it didn't get much besides TV
birdies.
I almost bought an SP600 when a surplus store on Canal
Street in lower Manhattan got a truck load of them in and
was selling them cheap. The major reason I didn't buy one
was that it was too heavy to carry home on the subway.
(Now if I had thought ahead and brought a hand truck with
me.... assuming I would have been allowed to bring one on
the subway). Then again I wonder how hard those things
are to restore.


SP-600s are, in general. not too hard to work on and
use mostly standard parts. There are some difficult areas,
for instance if you have to take the tuning unit apart but
this is mostly not necessary. There are a lot of parts
because something like twenty five thousand of them were
built. They worked very well when new and can be brought
back to this performance. I have come to the conclusion that
there are a lot of SP-600ds which work but are really sick.
I read complaints of poor RF tracking, poor dial
calibration, etc, all signs of misalignment or tampering
such as plate bending on the tuning capacitor.



--
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles
WB6KBL