eHam
eHam Forums => Amplifiers => Topic started by: WD8OTT on February 11, 2023, 07:35:28 PM
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I attended a swap meet today. I looked at a Heathkit SB-200 amp the guy wanted only 275.00. His story was this....." i bought it from Ebay for 375.00 and had 125.00 shipping into it. I got 500.00 in it. When it came , I set it on the shelf. I can't say if it works but I did plug it in and the tubes lit up. I never opened the cover or tried it out so I don't know the operating condition." My thoughts are who spends 500.00 and doesn't even try it out? Who spends 500.00 and sells it for 275.00?? Cosmetically it was a 6.7 to 7 out of 10. Anyway, I passed on it. What do you think?
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I attended a swap meet today. I looked at a Heathkit SB-200 amp the guy wanted only 275.00. His story was this....." i bought it from Ebay for 375.00 and had 125.00 shipping into it. I got 500.00 in it. When it came , I set it on the shelf. I can't say if it works but I did plug it in and the tubes lit up. I never opened the cover or tried it out so I don't know the operating condition." My thoughts are who spends 500.00 and doesn't even try it out? Who spends 500.00 and sells it for 275.00?? Cosmetically it was a 6.7 to 7 out of 10. Anyway, I passed on it. What do you think?
When you buy 40 to 60 years old device, you should assume that it is dead. You may try to revive it yourself and make it useful again or fail to do so and write off these $275. Is $275 a good price to buy yourself a DIY repair excercise - this is your choice to make.
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I can’t speak of other type of ham gear but I know amps! It’s so common for many hams to purchase literally untested, unknown, and not inspected amplifiers. You can’t possibly believe that for $275 with no guarantee and admission of not knowing it’s functionality that this amp will not need a total restoration . Amp is average 50 years old! If you can’t do all the work yourself and have to pay for parts and labor including new tubes for a restoration and shipping both ways to a competent technician your investment is now way over the value of the item. Now if someone makes a $275 purchase like that and adds up the aforementioned expenses for restoration, you quickly realize you are into this deeper that you’d anticipated and someone may opt to cut their losses than to add to it. One fellow admitted that he had $900 invested into an SB200 purchase after all said and done. If you think that’s a worthwhile investment than that’s fine. Unfortunately buying on eBay requires absorbent shipping costs and then two more on top of that to send it out for work. If you are looking for an sb200 in particular fully restored with new tubes, you are better off buying on like that from the get go! So yes I can relate to the seller in this case.
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We all get old. It is quite possible that he may have once had the skills to use that amplifier but can no longer do so.
Failing eyesight and fine motion skills deteriorate with age for many of us.
Cutting your losses and selling it now makes a lot of sense, rather than leaving it as part of your estate.
Ham gear is sufficiently esoteric that it may be difficult for survivors to deal with.
Personally, I've decided to retire sooner rather than later while I can still enjoy playing a round of golf.
Who knows how many years I have left before I won't be able to walk a hilly golf course?
Zak W1VT
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I had a Clipperton L at the Shelby hamfest. It had a Peter Dahl transformer, Harbach power supply board and soft start. Full output Cetrons. The parasitic supressor that Ameritron puts in their AL572.
And, I couldn't get $500 for it. Absolutely nothing wrong with it other than I wanted a tuned input .
Worked out OK since I traded it to a CB'er for an Alpha 374A since he wanted it to drive a pair of 3X3's LOL .
Box of chocolates I suppose.
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There are two kinds of hams. They are either crooks or pigeons.
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I attended a swap meet today. I looked at a Heathkit SB-200 amp the guy wanted only 275.00. His story was this....." i bought it from Ebay for 375.00 and had 125.00 shipping into it. I got 500.00 in it. When it came , I set it on the shelf. I can't say if it works but I did plug it in and the tubes lit up. I never opened the cover or tried it out so I don't know the operating condition." My thoughts are who spends 500.00 and doesn't even try it out? Who spends 500.00 and sells it for 275.00?? Cosmetically it was a 6.7 to 7 out of 10. Anyway, I passed on it. What do you think?
When you buy 40 to 60 years old device, you should assume that it is dead. You may try to revive it yourself and make it useful again or fail to do so and write off these $275. Is $275 a good price to buy yourself a DIY repair excercise - this is your choice to make.
Not a good deal if the power transformer is fried, which is common in those amps!
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All valid points. The seller was a younger guy with school age kids. One screw was missing on the lid so it would have required loosening only one other screw to peek under the hood and see what he got for his 500.00. He said he never opened the lid and couldn't say if it had upgrades or not. All he could attest to was the tubes lit up when turned on, he could see that through the holes in the lid he said. I did assume it would need new tubes. Add in the filter cap upgrade, soft start, etc, and it didn't seem like anything I wanted, even if the transformer HV was good. I felt that although he wasn't trying to deceive, I wasn't getting the whole story. I'm glad I passed but the temptation to gamble was there I must admit.
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Try building an amp and see what you can come up with for $275.
Generally speaking if I had a good working SB200 I would throw it in the trash before I would sell it to any ham that I didn't know.
Last year I sold a MFJ Giant Watt Meter at the Shelby Hamfest that had never been taken out of the box it shipped in. Had a couple of Auteks given to me that worked fine. Just needed for my lake house. This year the guy comes and finds me and says the watt meter was bad. I asked him if he contacted MFJ. Well, no.
I did not coin the phrase, the wife of a friend upon attending her first hamfest said it looked like a bunch of carnival workers. About right.
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For $275, try it, if it don't work , put it out on the curb and scrappers will pick it up in a jiffy.
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In my book, any complete SB-200 is worth 275. Chances are you can fix it up for less than the cost of any new amp and learn something in the process. I learned to make my own PC boards in order to use snap in caps and fixed a Dentron using one. somewhere out there is an amp with my call and picture etched into the cap bank board. I did the same with my Hallicrafters hurricane and installed the old cardboard cap covers over the new caps so it looks somewhat original.
You will always over invest in this hobby and sometimes come out ahead. Most of this stuff is worth more dead than alive anyway. One guy on here always advertises that he is looking for mint radios only to bust em up for parts on ebay. BTW, I've had quite a few 200's and the odds are good it will work with a little repair and restoration.
Regards, Richy N2ZD
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Not much different than buying a quantity of lottery tickets hoping to get rich.
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I separate out people's stories from actual data when evaluating a deal. Stories are meaningless. Inspect the thing, if they provide any actual data consider it, add up your risk vs reward...
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If no one has noticed lately ameritron amplifiers are at least double their MSRP from only a few years ago.
If you buy an amp new from mfj it's a good kit, as I have found all the parts there, only some rolling around inside the new unit.
With that considered, I'd say that's a deal even if I had a sink a few hundred into it.
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Hi,
I wouldn't call it sketchy -- it sounds like something that could happen to anyone. When one has little to no free time, dream projects can kind of turn into some day projects to never gonna happen projects. Plus taking the time to haul it all the way down to a swap and such, he probably just wanted to get rid of it. Was there no power outlet around? I think those amps have an HV switch for the meter which I guess would have shown if the transformer was OK or not. I imagine he could even have been talked down a bit in price.
But an amp like that would have to be considered a project anyway right? Many things to check out, cleaning to be done, recommended upgrades and replacements to be done. I like doing things like that, but don't have an interest in high power at the moment so I would have passed. But it seems like a fun project to do!
73, Mark
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I'm not so sure it's sketchy. I've bought stuff I had intentions to fix up / use and life gets in the way or plans shift and it ends up sitting there. I've got a few things around my basement for sure that are projects "on hold" for now (I do have a working 8877 2m amp in a rack cabinet but I probably won't be firing it for a while, as well as a rack mounted 1296 amp).
I do have an SB-200 that I acquired that had the harbach boards but had taken a header off a washing machine and the person didn't want to fire it up. It was thought to be a basket case. Upon further inspection and going through the power supply (and, well, needing a set of tubes of course) it basically needed nothing. The chassis was a little tweaked but it did fire up and work. That was over 12 years ago. It still works today. It did eventually go to W1QJ to replace a band switch and he took care of a few other minor things its needed but has been a solid amp.
Anything I'd pick up at a hamfest - I'd assume is dead and will need some work. If it looks "original", figure an SB-200 will at least need caps and a few other components. They are good solid little amps for what they are. Someday I will replace mine for something that covers 160-6 (I really want the extra bands!) but for now it's there and ready to go as needed (I don't use it that much these days, but I still do from time to time).