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| Reviews Summary for Heathkit SB-104-A |
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Reviews: 8
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Average rating: 4.6/5
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MSRP: $694.95 (Kit )
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Description: SSB & CW solid state transceiver for thr HF amateur bands
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KT9O
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 31, 2008 18:46
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Another classic Heathkit !!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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The SB-104A is another classic Heathkit transceiver that was full of innovation and cutting edge technology for its day. The nicest surprise of all is that many of them are still on the air and working perfectly. The radio, along with the matching accessories, makes for a classy station.
My transceiver works perfectly, gets greats reports on the air and has an excellent receiver, even on 10 meters. It's a keeper at this qth!
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K8AG
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Rating: 5/5
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Aug 18, 2006 09:11
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For its day.
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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This was one of the last Heathkit bargains because it was in kit form. Price and features beat everything at that time. I built the unit and it worked perfectly straight through for over 20 years. In the last few years I did get some newer radios but couldn't see simply shelving the SB104A. I donated it and hopefully it (or its parts) are still in use today.
Great for its day. But today's rigs are really awesome.
73, JP, K8AG
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KA3CJX
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Rating: 5/5
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May 16, 2005 09:16
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Old reliable
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Built my SB104A in 1978-1979 and used it until 2004. Had to replace a crystal once and one of the display driver chips. One of the electrolytics in the power supply shorted, less than one year old, and also took out the bridge rectifier. Has been a reliable rig. I'm sure I will fire it up and use it once in a while. For the most part it's in a well earned retirement, replaced by the FT-1000D and FT-847.
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N7EKX
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Rating: 4/5
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Jan 22, 2005 20:17
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23 Solid Years
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I built this rig from a kit in 1982, one of the last in Heath's production run before the ill-fated HW-5400. The rig was pretty easy to build, with the plug-in circuit boards and wide-open spacing. Everything worked OK after building, and I made thousands of CW contacts before the final transistors went out in 1986. Heath sold me the parts (even a blank circuit board), and I was back in business. After a few more thousand contacts, the finals again went out in 1997, and RTO sold me the replacements. Since then, I've had to repair the power supply, the digital readout, the driver board, etc., but all these were pretty easy because of the troubleshooting charts in the Heathkit manual (I'm an ex-Navy sonar technician, and these 1970-vintage boards are exactly what I was trained to fix). However, if you are tempted to buy a basket-case SB-104A from Ebay or wherever, you better figure in the cost of RTO getting your rig going, because it's unlikely that the average ham can solve the common problems (even with a manual). Having said that, the SB-104A has generally been a solid and reliable rig for me, staying on the air for 23 years of heavy usage. It still has the place of honor in my shack, right next to the matching SB-221 (and other Heathkits).
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WA2DYA
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Rating: 4/5
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Dec 12, 2004 10:27
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Very pretty
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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The SB-104 became available in 1974 just in time for Christmas. Unfortunately, kit builders experienced lots of problems with the early radios. After a few years of turmoil, the design began to mature and the SB-104A varient was introduced. That radio remained in Heathkit product line into the early 80's.
Kit prices from the Fall 1981 mail order catalog are:
SB-104A $694.95
SBA-104-1 Noise Blanker $ 32.95
SBA-104-3 400 Hz CW Filter $ 44.95
I bought a pristine SB-104A on Ebay. It didn't function on 75 meters and the VFO hopped around within a 500 Hz band. I fixed both problems; they were caused by unsoldered connections.
How well does it perform? Receiving, there are too many 'birdies' and a bit more sensitivity would be nice on 10 meters. The transmitter performs as advertised, generating close to the specified 100 watts on all bands and I get good audio quality reports.
The SB-104A is very easy to operate because it has a minimal complement of controls and the Sperry neon display is clearly visible.
Its a fun vintage radio thats also very pleasent to look at.
--- CHAS
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WB8RKQ
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Rating: 5/5
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May 22, 2004 16:40
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great radio
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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this is one of heathkits best transceivers it is solid state broadband no tune dig-readout 100 watts out vox cw filter qrp switch it is just a great radio you will love it. i have all kinds of new modren radios but i have more fun running my heathkit sb-104a it is just a good looking radio it hears good and everbody tells me i got beter audio then my new hf stoff what more could you want for around 140 bucks on ebay i think it is the best radio out there for the money nothing else even comes close to it its like a modren radio just put on freq,and talk no tune deg-readout all for a little over a 100 doller bill and if it ever brakes you can send it to rto and get it fixed for around 130 bucks. its a great deal well 73
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VE9VIC
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Rating: 4/5
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Nov 9, 2003 13:26
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good rig
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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i used this radio for 5 years and worked
185 countries and many contets worked great
of course it don t have the newests things
you can find on modern radio but the rig can do
the job,the last year i was using the rig only
qrp because something was working wrong inside
i worked all state and many countries so it also great on qrp+i got the exterior vfo great if you
are in a big pile up and the exterior speaker
quit a good sound.. now the radio doesn t work
because of interior probleme and i can t fix it
but the rig was a good one,i ve bought the rig
second hand from a ham who bought it second hand
.rino..ve9vic
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KG4OVB
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Rating: 5/5
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Sep 13, 2001 23:57
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Fantastic Radio
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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This is my first HF rig...My father WB4ULJ built it in the mid 70's..I sat in the barn for about 10 years until I dug it out a month or so ago 8/15/2001. It doesn't do 160, 12, or 30 meters, and it only RX's on Ham bands, but hey, it's a Ham Radio.
I get consistant 59's all over the world. It lacks filters, (CW only) but I bought a little Timewave DSP filter at a hamfest for 25 bucks and I can tune anything out.
It works great on PSK TTY and packet too. All I had to do is make a cable to my computer to hook to the mic.
I LOVE IT!! I have people ask me what kind of amp I'm running. They are very suprised to hear that I am running 80 to 100 watts straight off of the radio.
If you want a good SOLID radio (solid state too) that you can work on and modify, get this one. There are alot of different modules you can get to go with it, and it is affordable at hamfests.
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