Was the D-104 a good match to an SB-101?

[Hallidy, Dave]

Hi, Randy-
The SB-101 I've just restored is using a D-104 without the preamplifier.
Works fine, the audio reports are excellent, but the mike gain DOES need to
be run up a bit- it shows the correct ALC readings at about a 3 o'clock
setting of the control.  For comparison, I also run a Turner 454X and at
times an EV628, both of which I had over the years when I had my SB-101's
and/or HW-100's.  All three get about the same reports, but the D-104 is
always reported to have the "fullest" sounding audio (I suppoes that means
the best overall frequency response)- which makes sense, since it was
tailored more for the old AM days than either the Turner (advertised as an
"SSB" mike) or the EV.
If you're not seeing the right output from the transmitter till you really
crank up the mike gain, it may be because the speech amp circuits in the
radio aren't working correctly, or possibly the carrier oscillators are far
enough off frequency that the output to the crystal filter is far enough
down the filter skirt that the output is low (and this could mess up the
frequency response, too).
Hope this helps.
Dave K2DH

-----Original Message-----
From: Randall C. Iliff [mailto:riliff at COMMSPEED.NET]
Sent: Sunday, March 09, 2003 6:31 PM
To: HEATH at LISTSERV.TEMPE.GOV
Subject: Was the D-104 a good match to an SB-101?


Hi,

I've been trying to get my venerable SB-101 fully operational once more
after almost 10 years of storage.  There are a few idiosyncrasies I'm still
chasing, but the main question for the group is this:

Would a normally functioning D-104 crystal mic provide enough output to
drive the SB-101 if it too were functioning properly?  Right now I get lousy
SSB drive using the bare mic at full input gain, or distorted audio if I
resort to the amplifier that Astatic built into the base.  Before I go off
on a search / repair mission, it would be nice to know whether anyone has
experience using the D-104 and the SB-101 together.

(BTW- I did a search of the archives first out of courtesy and know that the
SB series needs a high-Z mic.  I also thank those who noted that AES still
sells replacement parts for the D-104 if that's what I end up needing!)

73's

Randy (KE0BN)

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