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Reviews For: Lafayette KT-200 Receiver Kit

Category: Receivers: Amateur Radio

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Review Summary For : Lafayette KT-200 Receiver Kit
Reviews: 3MSRP: 65; built, as HE-10, $80
Description:
Receiver, .5 to 30 MHz, AM, CW, maybe SSB. Features: S meter (AM only), IF gain control, RF amp stage and two IF amp stages. External speaker required. Auxillary socket on rear for accessories. Has some serious shortcomings with regards to BFO and HFO. Attractive radio but needs some simple mods to be an acceptable radio. I would be happy to share those mods with those interested.
Product is not in production
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# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0033.7
N8FVJ Rating: 2016-03-05
Good Simple Receiver Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The Lafayette KT-200 is a rare and decent shortwave receiver. It uses nine tubes with a RF and two IF sections. The RF & IF use 6BD6 tubes. I find a 6BA6 tube for the RF amp to perform better. Being such a simple receiver it is remarkable it has good sensitivity on 10 meters.

The variable gain is actually the IF section. The RF amp operates full-on at all times. The receiver is stable enough to pick up Single Sideband. but still may overload due to the lack of full RF gain control. However, I only use the radio on shortwave & at times 75 meter AM. Although the receiver has a wide bandwidth, the receiver is remarkably quiet. It is almost as good as my National NC-303. The NC-303 has bandwidth controls, but 90% of 75 meter AM is excellent on this Lafayette KT-200. A Heathkit Q multiplier can be installed on this receiver for better selectivity with the rear accessory socket.

The dial is large enough to find frequencies. Although like other receivers in its price class, the dial readout is close, but not right on the indicated frequency.

I plan to keep this radio as I suspect it is as good as a National NC-98, Hallicrafters S-85 and similar receivers.
K5TVC Rating: 2014-12-01
Nice little rcvr Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I added a 6 digit LED signal frequency counter cymometer 0.1 to 65 Mhz to my HE-10. About $10 from Hong Kong (ebay) Take signal from pin 2 of the local osc (V3). With this little counter you can program in the subtracted 455 kc IF to get the actual frequency readout.
K5WB Rating: 2010-03-31
Very attractive but needs some mods. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I built one of these back in 1960 but didn't use it enough to really realize how bad it was. The BFO injection is too light for any but the weakest CW or SSB stations and the HFO shifts with any manipulation of the IF Gain control. I have made some simple mods which I think make this radio comparable to the Hallicrafters S-40. I would be happy to share the mod info with anyone interested. It is an attractive design and useable as a throwback radio on CW if improved.