Ham Shack Windfall

Our local radio club, Capital City Amateur Radio Club, (http://w7tck.org) was donated a bunch of equipment. We decided to have a silent auction for it for the club members. The idea was to allow members to obtain some equipment inexpensively rather than try to make a bunch of money off of it. Here is my windfall.  WOW! What Fun!

Click to see a slide show of my new equipment.

Click a picture to see a larger view, or click HERE for a slide show of my new “Junque”.

My favorite acquisition was this beautiful Heathkit SB-230 Amplifier.  When I built my shack several years ago, I plumbed into it 220 Volts for that day that I may have an amp.  It is about 1 KW input (probably about 600 Watts output), but that is very sufficient for me, since I operate in the QRP range much of the time.  This will be fun too though!  Look HERE to see my Ham Shack equipment; and you will see that I like Heath gear.

Heathkit SB-230

The photo below shows an old Heathkit Impedance Bridge.  At first, I was hoping it would be an instrument I could use to measure impedance of RF circuits, but it is usable at audio frequencies.  Non the less, it is a beautiful instrument with a wooden case and will sit up on my shelf with my other vintage items.

Heathkit Impedance Bridge IB-1B

The photo below is of a James Millen model 90662-A Grid-Dip Meter.  It is in perfect shape and is a very beautiful piece of test equipment.  I have a much older Heath grid-dip meter that I have been using that I will be glad to put up on the antique shelf, and put this beauty to use.  It is really a nice piece of test gear and a welcomed addition to the Ham Shack.

James Millen Grid Dip Meter 90662-A

The picture below is of a Heathkit Tube Tester model IT-17.  I have wanted a tube tester for many years, and passed up an opportunity to acquire one a couple of years ago and have been beating my self up over it ever since.  Since I have vacuum tube equipment, this will come in handy at that time in the future when it will be needed.  Tube testers are becoming increasingly rare and I am glad to add this one to my test equipment collection.

Heathkit IT-17 Tube Tester

The picture here, is of a Step Attenuator.  I have been thinking about either building, or purchasing one of these for a while now.  Of all the pieces of test gear I purchased in this sale, this is probably the most practical.  I am eager to put it to use while I learn and build transmitter and receiver circuits.  This is going to be a good piece of gear to have.

Step Attenuator

The following picture is a Wilcom Reference Level Test Set model T 105B.  I believe it was used with phone systems.  I purchased this gem for the case.  It is a very nice case that has nice rubber feet, handles on the instrument face, buckles to keep the lid closed, and a rubber seal to help keep the elements out.  It would make a very nice case for a piece of portable radio equipment that might be made some day for it.  It looks like it will be a good source of some nice parts also.

Wilcom Test Set T 105B

Here is another piece of Heathkit gear.  It is a model IM-5228 VTVM (Vacuum Tube Volt Meter).  I really purchasedit for the meter movement and for parts.  I might, however, keep it together as I do not have a good analog meter.  I fired it up and it works, so I might keep it around for those times an analog meter will do better than a digital one.  It will make a nice addition to my test gear collection.

Heathkit IM-5228 VTVM

There was a few odds and ends that the club was trying to just get rid of.  I just couldn’t let this one go to the dump, so I acquired it.   I’m sure I will be able to use some parts of some sort from this box of goodies.

Junk Box