The ultimate insult: Hammarlund SP-600 dismantled

[W1RKW]

I've seen this with classic motorcycles in good to excellent condition.  A nice bike goes out to bid. It's bought then a couple of weeks later you see the parts showing up.

[K5UJ]

PREACH IT BROTHER!  WHY I AM INTO VINTAGE GEAR 

I assume Yaesu has "discontinued" replacement CPUs.  Funny how manufacturers have a knack for discontinuing replacement parts just about the time the product is getting old enough that it might need replacement parts.

Not sure how old the FT-1000D is, but I remember it was the top of their line not that long ago. Something to think about next time you even contemplate the idea of spending big bucks on one of the more expensive plastic appliances: how many of them will still be operational and in use 60, 70, 80, or for that matter even 15 years from now? Yet we hear 1930s, 1940s and 1950s era transmitters running AM every night, and reports of receivers of the same era receiving it.

[Steve - K4HX]

You have an FT-1000 MP. Is that vintage now?   

[K5UJ]

You have an FT-1000 MP. Is that vintage now?   

Haw haw I have a FT1000MP MK V!!!    But when the day comes and I can repair and restore boat anchors and build then I will KICK THE PLASTIC HABIT   

[Steve - K4HX]

Eh, get a 1000D. It's metal and weighs 51 pounds - that more than nearly every so-called boat anchor receiver from the 50's and 60s. The venerable 75A-4 weighs a mere 35 pounds, a lightweight!

[w3jn]

I'd trade my FT-1000MP mark V for a FT-1000D any day.

[W2VW]

The plasdick radios I play with today are the same age as the old tube rigs I played with 25 years ago.

Get on the air cheap.

[K1JJ]

Yep, the FT-1000D is still the best bang for the buck out there. Add a SoftRock to it and youse gots it all all ALL!

I know of a few corntesters who have stock-piled several as station backups.   Yaesu put 25,000 man hours into designing that radio. I think it's the peak in ham radio technology and construction for its era. (late 1980's-early 1990's)   I believe some late 1000D units were last made in the late 90's.

I got mine about 10 years ago and still get the "new rig" feeling when I use it on AM or ssb. Love that radio.

T

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

You guys make it sound like hours and hours of work to take apart a radio! 

In my experience Bruce, talking about taking an old radio apart and actually doing it vary considerably in the actual time involved. There are always issues to hold you up: frozen knob screws and mismatched/damaged/frozen hardware are just a few that come to mind. Same with photographing, listing on ebay and any other number of factors. In theory, is sounds like it's pretty simple and straightforward. In practice, there's always something.

Plastic radios take about 15 minutes to dismantle. As Todd said.
( I don't quite get the jab about taking a board out of an E-rig though.. geez..)

Geez.....you Class E guys sure are sensitive. 

Consider that comment ignorance on my part, Bruce. Certainly not a jab, it would've been far more obvious. I based that comment on my remark about pulling apart a newer plastic radio and my recollections of guys first getting into Class E some years back who changed out boards they'd built for newer or the next latest, greatest kits or designs, then sold the other rig-on-a-board to someone else who was just starting out. IIRC, the power supply, case, etc could be retained for the new rig/board and it was off to the races.

So my comment was meant to reflect that simplicity only, nothing more. I admit, I didn't pay much attention to the details involved with the Class E scene and remain blissfully ignorant of digital gate drives, multiple FETs and all the rest. Just focusing on that old, inefficient, band-switching tube gear is enough to keep me occupied.

[Steve - K4HX]

You forgot the loads of clip leads. Those are easily recycled.

Just rememeber, the newer designs require more tuning. Even when operated on the same frequency day after day, tuning is required. It really livens up the conversation. 

[KF1Z]

You forgot the loads of clip leads. Those are easily recycled.

Just rememeber, the newer designs require more tuning. Even when operated on the same frequency day after day, tuning is required. It really livens up the conversation. 

Maybe for some....

I don't seem to feel the need to constantly retune....Maybe should, but I don't...

At least if I do... I don't talk about it, as if it is an interesting thing.

Unlike some that "have to pull an INR", and give a play-by-play of what the meters say..   


I STILL don't ow any clip-leads ! 

[KF1Z]

Geez.....you Class E guys sure are sensitive. 

Consider that comment ignorance on my part, Bruce.

No problem Todd...

It's just that there are only 3 small boards in a Class-e rig... and not much else...   

---
As far as tearing down any rig to resell...

Same as stripping cars..

There is very little care taken! After all... it's just parts.
Wires get clipped, screws remove ( broken if needed) etc.

Tubes and LCD displays are the exception...

Again... "worthwhile" is going to be decided by the individual.

I've seen several rigs I've sold over the years that were out for bid, show back up as a pile of parts. And fetch more money than was paid for it...

Sometimes you make out really really good... sometimes not..

And this is why I tend to stay away from tube rigs... Because I know absolutely nothing about most of them..
A few I've played with... like  the National NCX-5 ( actually the cabinet from the NCX-5 ended up housing my first E-Rig!)

[K5UJ]

Eh, get a 1000D. It's metal and weighs 51 pounds - that more than nearly every so-called boat anchor receiver from the 50's and 60s. The venerable 75A-4 weighs a mere 35 pounds, a lightweight!

Not only that but the 75A4 is a quasi-slopbucket rx and doesn't have a rack cabinet     

In order from most to least, what is the most plastic of the plastics?   I'd say Kenwood, Icom, Yaesu.  It would be Icom, Kenwood, Yaesu, except Icom at one time make a rig with a CRT in it, thereby de-plasticising itself to some degree.

[K5UJ]

I'd trade my FT-1000MP mark V for a FT-1000D any day.

I would too.  Interestingly, there was a strange time (unless you are in advertising and therefore understand the agenda) about 10 years ago when Yaesu put out glossy color brochures that devoted 2 or 3 pages to the 1000MP Mk V then on the last page there was around 4 column inches on the 1000-D, but it was labelled "The Best of the Best."   In 2000 AES had it on closeout for almost $4000, about twice the price of the 1000MP Mk V, which Yaesu was trying to push as somehow better.  It seemed like the 1000-D in the end was too good for Yaesu's own good.

[WQ9E]

Yaesu did the same thing previously.  In 1983 I was a fairly new college grad and bought my first brand new rig, a Yaesu FT-980.  It was the first of the Yaesu CAT computer controllable rigs and was their high tech rig.  The somewhat older staid and more expensive FT-One was sold alongside it. 

The FT-980 and FT-One shared the same heatsink assembly for the power supply and final BUT the FT-One used a switching supply while the FT-980 had a traditional analog supply.  The heat sink wasn't large enough for the FT-980 analog pass transistors and after a few minutes of receive only the very noisy fan comes on to cool the supply.  Yaesu service in CA suggested cutting every other blade from the fan to quiet it.  I finally resorted to using an external Astron supply for the 12 volt bus and used the built in supply only for the 24.5 volt final supply.  Operating this way the rig ran cool and quiet but it was an irritant to have to use it this way.

A few years ago I picked up a mint and loaded FT-One and it is a very nice classic rig.

[W1ATR]

I'd trade my FT-1000MP mark V for a FT-1000D any day.

Throw in the 750 and u got a deal. (but you have to pay shipping haha) j/k

[W1ATR]

The thing I like about the 1000D is the overall feel of it. Even being a sand state rig, it's has that analog sound and performance. No nested menu's so there's one button or knob for each function. The controls don't feel like they are going to fall off anytime soon. Mine started out as a D, then I went through it with all the Inrad filters including the 73mhz "roofin" filter. That alone made a huge difference as I have an operator close to me that always runs a heavy strap. I can get as close as a few kc away and not hear him blabbing while this would wipe out my other rigs like the icom pro3, mkiig, ft-100d, icom 746pro junk, and a few others. When the economy was in better shape, I would see 1KD's upfitted like mine sell on ePay in the $3K+ range. (Just the Inrad filters alone added up to around a grand spent over a year or so)

If it's cpu or other unobtainium part ever takes a puke, I'll shove it back in it's box and shelf it until a parts rig or replacement part shows up. Otherwise every few months or so, I'll open it up and give it a dusting and a quick lookover. That's really the only maintenance it needs. Heat is a killer.

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

I STILL don't ow any clip-leads ! 

WHAT?!?? No CLIPLEADS?? And you're a Class E guy to boot? I thought that was a requirement? You some kinda commie, boy?? HMMM??   

Not only that but the 75A4 is a quasi-slopbucket rx and doesn't have a rack cabinet     

Eh.....technically I s'pose you're right, Rob. But they did make a rack kit for them, basically rack ears that mount to the sides. If you have one, or next time you see one, look at the holes down the front sides. Kinda R@RE these days, wooooo!  They even made a similar kit for the speaker that went with the 51J. I've got the speaker, same holes down the side.

[K5UJ]

That's interesting Todd; I didn't know that.

Rob

[k4kyv]

Plastic radios take about 15 minutes to dismantle. As Todd said.

Assuming you can figure out how to open the case. Maybe most ham appliances are not that way, but I have been known to take hammer and chisel to open the case of some piece of consumer electronics junk when I wanted to at least salvage some of the parts if I couldn't fix it. Only after I busted open the plastic case, was I able to find the hidden screws with little snap-on covers I could have easily pried open for access if I had only known they were there.   

[K5UJ]

Plastic radios take about 15 minutes to dismantle. As Todd said.

Assuming you can figure out how to open the case.

I think the method is 15 minutes to the nearest rural overpass where you stop, get out, and let it drop to the pavement below.  Then run down the embankment and gather up the parts before anyone drives by.

When my mac died and I wanted to get it open to put fans on it and cool it better I couldn't figure out how to get the case open.  I finally pried it open with a wood chisel.  Later an Apple repair tech told me the officially sanctioned Apple tool for opening the mac mini basically looked like my wood chisel.