ok i gotta ask about this heathkit sb220

[troyota]

well i heard a guy here locally had a heathkit sb-220 for sale with 2 3-500z tubes in it. first off the bat he said it would do 3500+ with 300 drive in AM mode. hmmmm got me to thinking. is this possible? maybe so...i dont know. he did say it was set up for am and 11 meter. not that i have anything against 11 meter, i was looking for one to use ssb on the ham bands. still kinda interested i thought it may be able to be put back there to work 10-80 meters. i asked about the bandswitch and he didnt know, he said he never had it apart. he also said it would do the power he said on am without much more than getting warm.
he also said that it had been to nomad electronics in louisville to have the work done. now again dont get me wrong i have never met chris at nomad but i would love to meet him. from what i have heard he is one of the best tech guys on large amplifiers. he really knows what he is doing. i have heard this from many different people, never one bad word. so i suppose if it can be done from what i hear he would be one to do it.
first off i dont want a spitting match here. just honest answers. i have seen that chris posted here before. so maybe he can give an answer. the reason i ask is because i am interested is something like this, or maybe a clipperton l or something. i had ran across this close so i thought i would ask. sorry so long just want my intentions to be clear.
again no spitting matches please. also not to be a plug for chris either way. i think a mans work should tell the story. from what i hear the story has been told already.
BTW chris i would like to talk to you sometime too. you can Pm me if you want.

 

[W5LZ]

Well, I guess if that '220 has been heavily modified, and if he was talking input power, not output power, then the 'B.S.' level is probably still within possibility. At least it hasn't reached toxic levels yet, although it wouldn't take much for 'WHO' to issue a warning.
An SB-220's power supply is barely adequate, it is not capable of making the required voltage levels for 3500 watts -input-, much less output. Everything else in a typical SB-220 would also have to be up-graded, might as well just build a new amplifier, the chassis wouldn't be all that useful, even.
As far as this Chris, I don't know him or anything about him. He could certainly be one of the best technicians in the world, but he can't do 'miracles', and that's what it would take for a '220 to do what's claimed.
- 'Doc

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

Output power be damned, it's the drive level that scares the hell out of me. 300 watts!?

 

[555]

i would even have to say hell no
might be his meter all jacked up

even when i get on my 5 tuber 3-500zg
i only go to 500 watt deadkey Max
just cruising i run about 100 to 125 deadkey then let it swing into the 5 tuber

3500 watts 2 tubes Not happening

 

[troyota]

yeah i was thinking the 3-500z was just rated about 500 each..safely anyway. the 300 watt drive scared me too. anyway im not going for it. had pretty much made my mind up before the post. just wanted to ask. of course the meter can say almost anything the SELLER wants it too. there is a guy here that gets 45 watts on a cobra 148. my meter shows 10-12 same radio. another guy has one that will show a galaxy turbo with 320 watts. mine shows 90 on the same radio. i tell them a good meter is like a good woman. do you want a loose lier, or a tight truth teller? they dont like to hear the truth tho. they tell me my meter is bad. hmm so i hook up another one, then another one, by the time i have hooked up the 4th meter i have they are ready to leave.
still want to meet chris sometime. i had talked to him a couple years ago on the radio. i live about 100 miles south of louisville. maybe i will pay him a visit. always good to know a great tech.
thanks

 

[295]

There are good unmodified SB220's available all the time. Just with all the hype, I would pass and find one that has not been worked over. Unless the guy has it for sale at a give away price, I don't think it is worth thinking about.

 

[troyota]

i had my mind made up not to get it anyway. i was pretty scared of it when he was telling me the power out. he had a couple more there too. with outrageous power out too. one with m-2057 tubes in it. i forgot to say this guy told me the 2057 tubes would do 300-350 watts each too. LOL i had a maco 1kw with 11 of these in there. nearly 4000 watts on his meter i guess!! ha ha. it would swing about 15-1700 on my meter. anyway thanks guys i will keep looking.

 

[EA5HIY]

Hey there, this sounds like a fairytale, never heart about 3,5 kw from a sb220. they go up to 1,2 kw and thats about it, maybe a little more but NOT that much more and besides, 350 watts input ?? I think a 100 is about the max you should put in to it, otherwise your neighbor HAMs are complaining about your SMALL spectrum your using.
good luck with it, but in my opinion, dont touch it