SB-104(A)

[Keith Rowland]

Hello David and Fellow Heath Fans:

First, let me say that your dissertation on the rig's problems has
pointed me in a direction that may assist me in correcting the problems
that have arisen in both of mine, for which I am grateful.

Secondly, as I thought I had made clear, none of my comments were meant
to disparage either the rig, its designers, or Heath gear in general.  I
have more than 40 pieces of Heath ham and test gear in my shack, and use
them regularly.  Some I built, most I have aquired recently, since my
retirement, which provides ample time to pursue enjoyable things like
this. As you say, and as I pointed out in my comments, you guys were
working on the forward edge of the technology of the day, and were
pressed to get it out before Christmas as well.  I know how this is.

Third, you seem to have assumed that I built these rigs.  Alas, not so.
However, one of them was built by a EE who had at the time been in that
field for more than 40 years, and it looks as if it had been factory
assembled.  This is the one with the VOX problem.

The other one was very obviously built by someone who knows how to
solder. It looks almost as good as the other one. This is the one with
the inoperative 10-meter reception problem.

I assure you there are none of the "frustrated kit builder's" goofs in
either of these rigs.  I looked for them, and they are not there.  As
far as my own credentials, I have been a consulting engineer, with a
BSEE degree, for nearly 50 years, and have since picked up a second
bachelor's degree and a Master's as well.  I have designed and built 14
AM and FM radio stations and seven TV stations, and consulted on tough
problems for more than 200 other stations during that time.  My comments
were not meant to express "frustration." They were meant as a simple
factual exposition of what I have experienced with these particular
rigs.  In fact, I rather enjoy the pursuit of solutions to the problems
they present.  Otherwise, I wouldn't own and use them!

You never did say what your actual exceptions were to my comments.  If
you'll scan them again, you'll find that every comment was actually
factual, and no exceptions can be made from a fact.  Chuck Penson has
pointed out some of the same things in his book, and you even reiterated
them in your comments.  Actually, every time I work on one of these
rigs, I think back to that time, and what we were doing in commercial
radio and TV technology, and every time I have to admire the Heath
design and engineering gang for coming up with a piece of gear like the
SB-104(A).  Even today, it represents a complex piece of engineering and
design; one that not everyone can repair even now.

Finally, please note that these two SB-104As are still my main
rigs,despite the several others in my shack!

Seriously, please accept my thanks for the info you sent in your
posting.  I am not writing in anger...just wanted you to know that I'm
not a ham-handed beginner using a 100-watt soldering gun to work on
printed circuits, and that I have the greatest admiration for the old
Heath group and their products.

73,

Keith

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