This video trys to show how I evaluate and do basic repairs of vintage gear. Mainly replacement of the high voltage and other capacitors needed to make a rig operational and safe to operate. Rig used is a Swan 350 and power supply.
Great video! Just restored my Drake TR-4 going through the same steps and it works like new...Did the same on the HW101, SB-200, Drake 2B and the Hammarlund HQ-170 ;So much joy in bringing these vintage things back to life. Thank you for posting!
I am ce3roi and one of my vintage rigs is the Swan 359 with 6hf5 power tubes. My regular s qso's are in Cw and phone . I love this electronic system from 1960's. Best regardas from Chile.
I bought a Swan 350C back in 1970 from Henry Radio. It was my every day rig for many years. I went off the air for 29 years and a little over a year ago, I got back on the air with the same rig. I tested the capacitors with a capacitor tester. Low ESR and right on value. The Mallory electrolytics in the power supply are very good quality. I brought it up with a Variac, current meter and a dim bulb tester. No problems. The 350C uses 6LQ6's. I still have the originals (have a matched pair on hand should I ever need new ones but the old ones work fine. ) I cleaned the wafer switches. I got on the air (40 meters) and it worked just like new. I put up a Hy Gain 14AVQ trap vertical which I also had when I started out (the antenna was NOS). My first contact after being off the air for so long was on CW. I never lost it. Back in the day, when I was a teenager, a ham friend and myself showed up at the front door of the Swan factory in Oceanside, California. We knocked on the door and a kind gentleman there offered to give us a tour. It's still my main rig. I also bought an old Drake 2NT which was my first rig. I sold the original to buy the Swan. 'Bought another one for old time's sake. Still a fun trip down memory lane. I also revived an old Heathkit SB100 that a coworker gave me several decades ago. I really like reviving the old stuff and using it.
Barry, thats an awesome story. I am glad you caps were still good. I had one to many things happen over the years and just wont chance it on the elec caps. You should change out the couple bb caps that are floating around however I guess if its working then why bother. If you are on the west coast please come join us on Saturday nights at 730pm / 3895 for the swan net. Very loose nit group and we have a bunch of fun. Also we have a small groups.io at groups.io/g/WestCoastVintageSwanNet Hope you can join us sometime.
@@tseckwr3783 I would of been a Central Electronics 100V guy. I wasnt even born yet. However I do have the 100V now. As far as the 350 they were very problematic with so many changes it was nuts. But once you dealt with it they were okay. Many guys bought them because it was affordable. The 350 was the most sold model of all swans. I myself like the 700CX the best.
Sure if someone wants to send me a new set of sweep tubes. Its not super diffacult as you just follow the manual. I had a 350B one tube version that I did that on last year.
@@n9amiwavelengthradio I know. Those sweep tubes are very expensive these days. I have a spare matched pair for my 500cx but I don't operate that station much anymore.
@@HD7100 The biggest issue woth sweep tube finals is operator error. Tuning up like a gorilla lol. Short 3 to 5 second bursts your good to go. The tubes should last for years. And add a fan to the top or back to suck out heat and your golden.
@@n9amiwavelengthradio Very true. Even in a television set if the horizontal drive is off they will red plate. The radio I use the most is an Icom 756 pro.
Thanks for the video, enjoyed it. I hope you checked the Swan 350 on 10M? More Swans were used on 11M then as ham radios in their day it seems. I bought a Swan 500CX used from Henry Radio years ago and all I heard on 10M was 11M.
New caps...after that normally you will still hear some hum from the power supplies swan designed. Microphonics type hum. I have 3 supplies here, and all rebuilt all do it. Thanks for watching.
