The Heathkit RX converters

[Michael Hopkins]

Heath made two principal lines of receiver converters and, it turned out,
an unintended one for 12M.

  The XC-2 and XC-6, not pictured in Penson, use pairs of UHF pentodes
(6AK5s) in a cascade arrangement to a 12AT7 mixer for output at 22-26 mc
to the Mohawk RX.  But other IFs from as low as 14 mc are accomplishable
and the dark green boxes are seen connected to Black Box Collins
receivers as well as RX-1s. Large for converters at 9 x 4 3/4 x 5 1/2
inches, they are hard to miss on a sale table if the covers survive.  And
despite their size, they need outboard power.  A detailed review of the
the XC-6 appears in QST for October, 1959 at page 41.

   With the new receivers came the SBA-300-3 for 6M and the SBA-300-4 as
pictured in Penson at page 190 on the back of an SB-300.  These are hard
to spot as they are not green and, in fact, look like the many sub
chassis trinkets one sees for sale at every hamfest.  They have two tubes
in the Cascode, not cascade arrangement that was born in TV tuners and
ruled the converter roost through the Nuvistor age and beyond.  Techno
purists call this arrangement the "Wallman" cascode.

   Finally, at least the Pawnee HW-10 6M AM/CW transceiver, and perhaps
its 2M pal the Shawnee, will serve as converters for 22-26 mc and thus
cover the 12M band.  Viewed from the front with the case removed, one
finds a left side subchassis with a 6U8.  Remove it and place the antenna
lead until the output pin is found.  HF signals will be heard and 12M is
around 53 mc on the dial.

   I have located copyable material on the SB-300 series but am still
searching for manuals for the XC-2 and XC-6.  I have a fair copy of the
HW-10 manual.

de ab5L, michael in dallas, MNHopkins at JUNO.com
Student of Tecraft, ICM and Six Meters' Golden age: 1957-58
Box 226841, Dallas, TX  75222

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