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Reviews For: Johnson Viking II

Category: Transmitters: Amateur radio

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Review Summary For : Johnson Viking II
Reviews: 13MSRP: 279.95
Description:
160 - 10 Meter Plate Modulated CW/AM Transmitter
Product is not in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00134.8
W4PTO Rating: 2005-04-20
My 2nd one! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I had another one 10 years ago that was given to me FREE but foolishly let go for the same amount. After it left my hands, I figured why I wanted one in the first place: WARC band coverage. My Ranger didn't have 10 Mcs CW capability and I started looking for another and soon, I struck a deal with a ham in Texas and got a fairly clean one in a trade.

First off, I love the multi knob layout. It seems the more knobs on the rig to twiddle, the better but in this case, everything is straight forward and has function to the operation. CW is a blast and I've heard reports on other Vik 2's on AM. If you have one that came without PTT, it's a good idea to modify one (very easy to do and change back). Mine already came with a PTT relay and it keys the plate light too on AM.


If you have one that you intend to keep, think about shelling out some $$$ for a front panel from Dee Almquist if you haven't done so already (and your panel looks mediocre/scratched up).

In my view, this is one rig that's capable of WARC AM and CW and should not be let go if you step across one.
AD5QP Rating: 2004-09-03
Great AM Transmitter Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Have had the transmitter for a couple of months. A week ago I got it on the air. Painted the black cabinet but the front panel is as I got it. The previous owner said he had done the electrical, and it looks like he did, as it fired up the first time. Took a little doing to get it tuned right, but now is pretty straight forward. Doesn't seem to care about SWR as long as antenna is within 20-600 ohms. I'm using an amplified D-104 "Night Eagle" microphone and have gotten good audio reports. Need to look at the output on a scope but everything is within ratings and it is working great. I would buy another.....
K6NXI Rating: 2003-07-08
Rock solid reliable transmitter. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This rig is built like a tank. It's also very simple to work on and understand. It takes a bit of practice at first to tune up but as with all multi stage tube rigs a notebook with established settings will prove helpful. There is no need to modify this for better audio as it already does a great job as stock. The final tuning is the same unit as in the viking desk kilowatt only on a smaller scale. It consists of a large variable inductor ganged to a loading capacitor which simplifies output tuning. I can't stress enough how direct and easy to understand this transmitter is. It also benefits from not having a complicated mode switch. A large filaments toggle switch turns on the tubes and a Plate switch ignites the high voltage and forces the rig to transmit. The only drawbacks are about 30 screws that hold the floor plate on and around 80 pounds of weight.