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Reviews For: swan 140

Category: Transceivers: HF Amateur HF+6M+VHF+UHF models - non QRP <5W

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Review Summary For : swan 140
Reviews: 6MSRP: 0ut of date
Description:
0ld SSB transiever
Product is not in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0065
W4WFB Rating: 2009-08-19
Great Old Radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I recently bought a SW-175 in remarkably good condition. The crystals in the filter were installed incorrectly. After repositioning the crystals the radio works fine now. I get good audio reports. For a 47 year old radio it is amazing how well it works. This is a "bare bones" radio without any bells and whistles, but it is a fun radio and brings back the nostalgia of the early SSB days.
KA1VF Rating: 2008-10-28
SW-120 Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought my SW-120 (serial# 9) for $ 100.00
at a Hamfest in 1980. It had three bad tubes
and needed an alignment, but was mint looking.
It had the matching power supply, Shure desk
mike, and SWAN factory documentation. After I
got it fixed, it was my only SSB rig for two
years until I traded up to a Kenwood TS-520S.
I worked lots of DX with it using a half wave
Dipole installed as a Sloper.
K7WDA Rating: 2002-12-01
Great Fun! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I had a Swan 140 stuffed in my 1971 Pinto back in the early 70's. With a Hustler mobile antenna on the back of the car, it looked like a mouse! Had a great time with the radio, it was loud and reliable, and late night mobiling was a blast with regular friends on 40... Used a Heath HP 13 to power it. I can still hear the whine of the switching power supply!
W0DC Rating: 2002-06-22
and Swan 175 Time Owned: more than 12 months.
My first SSB rig was also a Swan 140. I was very happy with it, but sold it in order to upgrade to a SB-101 with many more bands. I had a chance to pick up a Swan 175 a couple of years ago and, even when compared to modern radios, they still have very nice audio and good frequency stability. The previous reviewer is right. If you see one that's in decent shape at a hamfest, buy it!

73
WB6MYL Rating: 2002-06-22
AND Swan 120 Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I am including the old SW-120 in with this category as its the same rig as the 140 except it was a 20M monobander. The original reviewer took me down memory lane, especially with the picture as I have not seen a Swan monobander in twenty years. The 120 was my first exposure to SSB as I bought one used from a high school friend back in '67 (just couldn't quite afford the tribander, the SW-240); it didn't matter, the 120 was all I really needed back then; 20M was wide open and you could work the world most anytime of the day on the 100 watts(+); the receiver was stable and the rig was easy to tune with that large meter; very well built; monoband rigs are almost an anachronism but if you find one it is a nice find for a back-up "back-up" or for the car. Thank you for reading. Phillip W. Harris, PhD.P.C.
K0JPJ Rating: 2002-06-21
A classic that opened the door to SSB mobile work! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Noticed that there is blank spot for this grand old icebreaker. The picture is of the earlier model...even though I had the first one in Missouri it had the attractive plastic front meter. (Being a dealer helped get it quick.)

Working through a blinding rain at night I and friend K0IVK installed it in my 1960 Impala Convertible. As we neared completion we rushed things a bit and tore the upholstery as we put the rear seat back in.

Turning the rig on and listening to the DX on 40 SSB at 5:00am was quite enlightning! An early production Webster Bandspanner was the antenna.

Having just put a KWM-2 back in stock I expected to be disappointed in the Swan but that was not to be. The sensitivity was great, stability far more than I expected except when the heater or air which blew directly on it sent it wandering.
The tuneup while cruising along with the top down at speed was very simple and far safer than many other rigs before and sense.

The stations worked were amazed at the transmitted audio quality. A cheap Shure mike
was used since it was equipped with the right plug.

The only weak link...and this carried over to other models of Swans....was the very touchy DC power supply. Even years later when I was doing warrenty work on Swans in another city I was finding the same blown components. Fortunately at least two rival firms came out with much better supplies and most owners of the single banders, 240s, etc prudently purchased them.

That first demo sold a lot of units but the day I had to remove it for a later rig was quite nostalgic. I still remember the thrill of sitting in a drive-in burger mill talking to a fellow on Midway Island....with a cute carhop hanging on every word. Life doesn't get much better than that!

The single banders were very well constructed...no matter how much hard use on rough roads I never had one come back with a cold solder joint or loose screw shorting out a critical area. I won't be too hard on Heath's competing single banders but I sold a few and two came back with the big motherboard split from a vehicle hitting a pothole or curb.

Several cars later and many demo rigs later I slapped a new 350 in a car and took a four week
tour of the western states....worked flawlessly.
The crackle of sweep tubes heating up when tuning it was a bit nerve wracking but never lost a tube.

Still have some Swans I am slowly rebuilding. In the later years it seems the electric drills came out and people added switches for everything their little minds could think of.

Hats off to Swan for proving it didn't cost an arm and leg to get SSB under the dash!!!!