Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: Knight T-150

Category: Transmitters: Amateur radio

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : Knight T-150
Reviews: 13MSRP: 119.95
Description:
Late 60's transmitter kit from Knight. Operated under crystal control or with internal VFO. Used 2 - 6146 B in final for about 150 watts.
Product is not in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00131.8
W9AC Rating: 2021-10-20
It's beauty is skin deep... Time Owned: more than 12 months.
So bad, my OM threw it away in 1970. And so bad, that he didn't want me to use it as a new novice with crystals, nor give its problems to someone else.

I recall him swearing at the VFO, even after adding a service bulletin to minimize drift. The 6146A parasitic suppressors were always burning up, meaning that a strong, spurious VHF component was responsible. I can't ever imagine owning its companion receiver.

Likely, many folks were drawn in to its good looks (and it was). Truly a poster child for the phase: "beauty is only skin deep."

N6AIR Rating: 2017-11-16
low end but fun Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This rig was my transmitter when I was a 14 year old novice and later a general.

It worked fine on CW when I was a novice restricted to crystal control. In later years, when using the VFO, the reports I got about chirp made it virtually unusable.

In the 60's I worked AM phone and it was fine. The only problem I had was that SSB was taking over and AM was on its way out. I don't remember the drift to the VFO being much of a problem.

I regret I sold it for $75. I would be fun to have to play around with.

KE6K Rating: 2015-05-22
Me Again Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The VFO drifted. But that should have been a surprise to anyone. The published spec was a drift of 200cps after a 30 minute warm up (see http://www.mequonsteve.com/knight-kit/ )
I have to keep in mind that I am looking at it through memories of many happy winter nights in the garage shack basking in the glow of the 6146's.
N4LQ Rating: 2014-09-06
Run Away!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is the only transmitter that I ever owned which earned me a "Pink Ticket" for out of band operation due to spurs or harmonics. Looks cool but aint'. Get something else. (That was in 1965).
WB9GKZ Rating: 2013-04-14
Keep Your Expectations Low Time Owned: more than 12 months.
OK, first off...it's a Knight Kit. We cannot expect too much here. Keep your expectations low and you will always come out feeling good about this transmitter.

I owned two T-150's over the past four decades. I bought one in the mid 1970's and actually tried to use it on AM Phone back then. I was laughed off the bands by all the sidebanders. It was sold at the nearest hamfest for a loss.

The second T-150 came my way about 15 years ago when AM became "cool" again. The somewhat pathetic screen AM modulation could be heard by the AM True Believers and got decent reports. The rig makes decent power with a pair of 6146's in the final. The modulator is OK and when driven by a punchy, crystal microphone like a vintage D-104, sounds all right and peppy. Don't expect too much from stability with the VFO on CW. I had best results in using crystals but the VFO is good enough when used on 80 or 40 Meter Phone.

Please do not pay too much for your T-150 and do not expect its performance on par with, say, a Heath DX-100 or Johnson Valiant. This rig is just a step (and not much of a step) above the entry level Knight T-60. It has a lightweight power supply and a fragile screen modulator. When carefully adjusted, it does fine. Under trying band conditions, a plate-modulated rig will always outperform it.

Bottom line: The T-150 is a fun rig to use and as long as you keep your expectations low...your enjoyment will be high.

K5RCR Rating: 2013-04-11
Needs a power supply fix Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
The 4 score is only after I fixed the gawdawful chirping which seems to be a problem with this rig. The main problem is that the power supply cannot possibly provide enough input power without significant "sagging" when keyed. After getting disgusted with the chirp, I did some meaurements and found that the plate voltage of the multiplier - driver tube [7189] dropped from 390 volts to 280 when keyed! No wonder it chirps...the plates and screens of the oscillator and VFO are regulated, but only the screen of the 7189 is. So, I added two OA2's in series [300volts] along with a 5k, 5W series resistor and hooked these regulators [300 volts] in parallel with the plate of the 7189. The horrible chirp is gone! There is ample drive and power output is still about 120 watts, but without the chirp. The frequency stability is no worse than any other tube VFO of that vintage.

There is plenty of room for this modification on the chassis - it took just a couple hours and maybe 15$ worth of parts.

Now the T-150 is an honorable addition to the boatanchor station.
K8IO Rating: 2011-04-27
Be careful Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Screen modulated transmitter it puts out 100 watts CW on the original non warc bands 80 through 10, 6 is a lot less. However it looks really ugly on a spectrum analyzer. Tuning mine up on 3870 into a dummy load it makes nice power with spurs down only 25 DB at 1935 and at 5805.
Doing the Math it appears these are the fundamental and the 3rd harmonic of the fundamental in the VFO unit. The thing doubles to make output on 75 meters. Using an external oscillator or crystal cleans it right up! I would NEVER put that original VFO on the air and put my call on it. Its am modulation looks fairly clean and it has a pleasent enough tone. It makes 20 watts or so of carrier and peaks to about 100 watts. And it has provision for a high level Plate modulator. But I doubt the internal power supply would have the umph to make it modulate properly.
W9LBB Rating: 2010-07-22
Not even a good source of parts... Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Back in high school I owned two of these bow wows.

The first was a gawdawful disaster that blew up it's power supply, followed by a general meltdown. Good riddence!

The second, I have to admit, was pretty decent; it got me a lot of CW operating time, and even some DX, but this one was FAR from a stock transmitter.

A local, K9ANM (now K9RP) had worked the rig over. The first thing he did was scrap that horrible VFO, and replaced it with a Collins PTO meant for an R-390A receiver!

Essentially, his modified T-150 served as an amplifier for a Collins VFO... and it worked out pretty well!

AM operation... the less said about that, the better.

A few years ago, I encountered a T-150A as part of a gear swap, and played with it a little bit.

Don't let the "A" fool you... the folks at Knight Kit didn't atone for their sins and clean up the design.

All they did was TRY to add 6 meter band coverage and that was a FAIL; trying it into a dummy load on 6, that test was the ONL:Y time I've ever seen a spectrum analyzer start LAUGHING... and I kept puttin' in smaller and smaller Bird wattmeter slugs, trying to find the output!

IMHO the ONLY halfway decent transmitter that Knight Kit ever produced was their first one, the T-50.

The T-150 design isn't worth the cost of the powder required to blow it to hell.



Mr. T. W9LBB
K0KNL Rating: 2010-01-06
The worst Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Traded in my brand new Challenger kit for this garbage when I got my General in 1961. Built it in 2 days and on the air. Got at least 6 OO reports of FM on my AM signal in less than 2 weeks!!
Mailed back to Allied under warranty but my Challenger sadly was already gone.
W2MV Rating: 2009-04-06
Design Needed Work - Had Lot's of Fun! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
My dad purchased this as a first xmtr for me at the Harrison Radio Washington's birthday sale in NYC, right after I got my ham ticket. The VFO drifted badly and the chirp on CW was even worse! A local ham came over (I had no clue at the time) and reconfigured the VFO to run continuously when the t/r switch was thrown. That helped the chirp. I built a Heath GR-64 as my first RX...another winner!
Hey, I was 15 yrs old and having fun.
Too bad I cannibalized the T-150; I would love to still have it as a momento. I must honestly give it a "1" technical rating, but emotionally it's a "5"!