[25-Aug-2010]
New in the shack - the good old Yaesu FT-101e. Purchased via Internet and collected last week (August 25th) in Ridderkerk. The radio was sold as "defect". The owner, who had been using this radio infrequently for short wave listening only, still had the original tubes available. They had been taken out on purchase long time ago. According to the owner, one of the capacitors had blown up. He did not exactly know which one and why it blew. But the RX should still work fine. Since the price was right, the cabinet scored a cosmetic 9, the faceplate of the radio a solid 10, and the tubes looked OK I took the radio home. One day later I had some time to give it a first look, and found out that four HV electrolytic capacitors needed replacement.
Later that week I replaced the capacitor, inserted the tubes and voila - up and running! And my goodness - what a superb receiver. Why for heaven's sake did we ever made the transition from tunable pre-selector front ends to broadband front ends?! This is love at first sight again!
[19-Sep-2010]
Managed to acquire both a CW- and an AM-filter via eBay at reasonable prices. The OM selling those filters lived in the UK, and did not want to ship abroad. Good luck for me that I happen to know the owner of a (great) B&B in the very same town where this OM lived. End of the story is he could drop them off at the B&B, at walking distance from his home, and they shipped it to to me. Thank You Mary ;)
The CW-filter is now in the rig for about two weeks and works great. Whenever in the shack, I put the rig in USB-mode and listen to some 3Kc segment of the band (usually 3.772Mc - 3.775Mc). Whenever I want to join in to a qso I switch over to "CW" and make my call. Great FUN!
Too bad one cannot fit in both a CW- and an AM-filter. Now looking out for a second FT-101E to make that my standard AM-box.
[29-Sep-2010]
Lucky me! Yesterday night I had a positive reaction on my "wanted FT-101E - dead or alive" add and this afternoon I picked up the radio. Not functioning, producing smell and smoke in TX-mode according to it's owner, but cosmetically tip-top. Even the plastic foil still on it's front plate. First pre-buy inspection disclosed no serious issues. All components in place, no visible damage. The deal could be closed quickly and the radio was moved into the booth of my car.
This may very well turn out to become my standard AM-platform. More news to come!