I feel embarassed. I had no idea. Many emails and some phone calls. I never realized it. Probably because I know a guy named Carol.
I spent alot of time on that forum years back helping people. I have used 101s for many many years even before I was a ham
I have done extensive work with them and even fixed a couple nagging issues. One of which was distorted Audio on SSB that alot of 101 owners have. Some dont realize it and think its normal or a bias issue. In reality, I found that some types of the factory external 101 speaker where loading down the audio section. I found this on accident. I aligned a 101 that had this problem on the bench. Talked on it for a day and then later put the external speaker on it. Everyone told me that it was now distorting. I unhooked the rig, Carried it to the bench and it was clean. So we figured it was the speaker. sure enough.. We found that some of the speakers where faulty. while other brands do not cause this. Lots of guys emailed me thanking me for that one.
The other issue is that if you use the external VFO or worse, The VFO and Display you get low RX and power output. This is because of the loss of signal to the radio. I found two caps inside the external VFO to ground on that signal line. I yanked one and this boosted the output of the external VFO to compensate. As a result, This really increased the RX and TX. 100 watts SSB to 165 to 185. RX was S9 before and 20DB over with the mod. Now, Lots of people will buy the external VFO and do this mod just for the extra performance. It turns a Deaf 101 into a real performer. I never spent the time to find out how to do this mod internal to the radio itself.
I also spent alot of time aligning these rigs and came up with my own procedure that is easier and far better then the factory manual. If you follow the factory manual, You will have two peaks on the Pre-selector. One for RX and one for TX. Getting these to line up REALLY helps the performance of the radio. Most 101s that I have worked on where WAY WAY off and as a result, Most hams think 101s are deaf or have a weak RX. Thats not the case. A properly running and tuned 101 will hold up against modern rigs. One way to start is to use a sig gen middle of the band and peak the preselector. Then do the RX adjustments. Finaly do the TX adjustments and go back and check that RX and TX peaks on the pre-selector. If not, Go back and move the RX or the TX. You can figure out which one is out by using the SIG gen to max out the S meter reading while tuning the Preslector and RX adjustments. Start off by having the preselector set to the Silk screen band postion. Then go from there.
The only one real complaint I have with these rigs is the output of the transmitter section is dirty. Even when turned way down. I am sure that this could be cleaned up somehow. However, Running one of these things into a amp like an SB220 is a sure fire way to piss of neighboring hams. I think the sweep tube final section is the reason. Some people use the Ameritron radio to amp filter and of course, this problem goes away. This wont be an issue unless you are surrounded by hams in your town.
C
