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Reviews For: Central Electronics 200V

Category: Transmitters: Amateur radio

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Review Summary For : Central Electronics 200V
Reviews: 2MSRP: 795
Description:
80 - 10 Meter All Mode Broad-Banded Transmitter
Product is not in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0024.5
K7NG Rating: 2021-07-28
75 Lbs of 1960's best technology! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I told myself years ago that if I ran across a C-E 200V I'd get it if the price was right and it was nominally working. I'm not really a boatanchor radio guy but, hey, ya do what ya gotta do.
So now I have one.
I "grew up" in ham radio with separate transmitters and receivers, so I know how to calibrate VFO scales and spot my transmitter. Was like old times. I also went to electronics school when tubes and transistors got equal treatment, so going through the 200-V schematic was a true experience in nostalgia. There's diodes in there, but none of those silly 3-wire transitter things.
Now: how's it work?? I am only partway through restoration, but I try to leave the 200-V in operating condition when I finish the work-du-jour. Carbon resistors change value, and this particular piece of equipment really wants to have the 'right' resistor values, so there's a laborious effort to ascertain which resistors might need to be swapped out. Capacitors not so much, but there are quite a few electrolytics in odd places, and it's better to change them out wholesale than decide later on that you should have changed C-whatever when you had the radio open. As it is now, I can't gripe about performance in general. The way you operate this transmitter is quite different than others, so you better read the manual. Even as it is now, the radio is stable, SSB sounds good on the air, does a fair job on full break-in CW, and my spectrum analyzer says the rig is pretty clean.
There aren't that many 200-V's around, and getting hold of one that is in decent shape and suitable to restore, is a great opportunity. It can be the experience of the decade to get one on the air.
WA7VGN Rating: 2012-10-02
Good old SSB transmitter Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Hi OM's
first off I really dont believe I am qualified to give a detailed report on this radio, why because some of the technology of this radio I dont understand fully.
But will say it is a great radio and technically ahead of its time in the late 50's to 60's when it was built. By the way the guys that designed it ran out of money to continue and Zenith radio corporation took over the manufacturing of this radio.(QST Jan 59 page 111)
Things That this radio has going for it, making it easy to operate.
1. no final tuning, has broadband final output.
2. easy zero beating with received station.
3. holds its setting's like a rock like the SSB balance, set it once and its good till you do something to the radio like change tubes.
4. SSB balance very easy to set and is correct when set.
5.Scope tube can also be used as a general SWR meter, if the trapezoid is real tall you have some sort of problem with the antenna, keep an eye on the eyeball and if it looks right your good to go.
6. keeps shack warm in winter.
7. just for the record there are almost no paper caps in this transmitter (mostly all disk ceramic) so no recapping really except the filters.

Problems
1. This transmitter is sensitive to marginally good tubes, meaning make sure the tubes are like new, cant use any just tests good tubes.
2. Driver and finals (6BQ5 and 6550) are expensive audio type tubes, so if your thinking on getting one of these see what you can do about an extra set of finals at least.

Final Final,
This radio is fun to operate, as follows
1. calibrate your receiver so you know your on the right frequency. (I use an R-388)
2. zero beat the CE 100 or 200V to it.
3. Call your station
as simple as that.

For a SSB transmitter built in 1960 I will give it a 10 out of 10 because the other ones offered on the market were not as easy to use.
Owned a Johnson Pacemaker that used the same system and it worked good but there was a whole lot more fiddling of knobs to do the same job the CE would do. am sure the Collins rigs of the time were also good but also the finals had to be tuned.

For those thinking on buying one of these.
1. make sure it works on all bands, go through them.
This is a very complicated radio and if there is something wrong it may be very hard to repair like the band switch, looked at mine and put the cover back on phew what a pile of wire and parts.
Very nicely done though, doesn't look like a monkey wired it like some.

Bottom line Make sure it works.

Watch me operate it at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYMKcIN5ttY&feature=g-upl

Hope this was of some help
Rich