Sailor SSB Radio

[bobichan]

I have recently bought a ketch that has a "Sailor" T1000 series SSB radio.
I think radio is about 30years old, but has had very little use, however vessel has had a new deck fitted along with rerigging. The radio has no aerial fitted , but has power, 24v , to first stage TX section. I have no idea how to confirm if the radio is in good working order without going to the expense of fitting aerial , with all the attendant costs, through steel deck fitting etc. etc. all way to wiring uip to aerial tuner (which is in board) Vessel is currently lying in Corfu, I return for fit-out April, but wish to learn if there is anyone out there who knows these radios and can advise me........would be great if you are in Greece/UK/NZ. I am currently in Bay of Islands < NZ, reurning Uk 4th March and heading to Corfu beginning April. All/any advice welcome, want to keep radio, but if costs of getting it operating too high , will consider buying another. Tks Rgds Bobichan

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by bobichan

I have recently bought a ketch that has a "Sailor" T1000 series SSB radio.
I think radio is about 30years old, but has had very little use, however vessel has had a new deck fitted along with rerigging. The radio has no aerial fitted , but has power, 24v , to first stage TX section. I have no idea how to confirm if the radio is in good working order without going to the expense of fitting aerial , with all the attendant costs, through steel deck fitting etc. etc. all way to wiring uip to aerial tuner (which is in board) Vessel is currently lying in Corfu, I return for fit-out April, but wish to learn if there is anyone out there who knows these radios and can advise me........would be great if you are in Greece/UK/NZ. I am currently in Bay of Islands < NZ, reurning Uk 4th March and heading to Corfu beginning April. All/any advice welcome, want to keep radio, but if costs of getting it operating too high , will consider buying another. Tks Rgds Bobichan

Welcome aboard Bobichan. While I am not familiar with that particular model radio, I can say that Sailor produces good equipment in general.

You could get yourself a 50 ohm RF dummy load and use this as a perfect load on the output of the transmitter. You would need a 100+ watt unit and they can be a bit pricey in some parts of the world. Like Oz . Maybe you can borrow one for a week or two!

As far as the receiver goes, just connect a long piece of wire to the antenna connector and see how well it receives.

I have seen enthusiastic HAM folk cobble up incandescent lamps to act as a suitable load for the antenna tuning unit but I don't know what combination of voltage / power / series / parallel arrangement that is most suitable.

Perhaps one of the many HAMS on CF will chime in soon.

Hope this helps a bit.

[ka4wja]

bobichan,
I'm not 100% sure, but if it is the unit that I'm thinking of, it is an old (late 1960's / early 1970's) crystal-controlled HF transmitter and receiver....
And, I believe the earlier models were vacuum tube (valve) transmitters, using a 24vdc to high-voltage power supply.....
(some older HF maritime transmitters used "dynamotors" run off 12vdc/24vdc to generator the hi-voltage for the transmitter tubes....by the early 70's many had solid-state hi-voltage supplies, but at that time solid-state high-power PA's were also making their debut.....so all bets are off, on exactly what your old Sailor transmitter uses....)
But whatever the case, unless someone has very recently updated/modified the unit, it is almost completely unusable as an HF marine (or ham) radio today.....different channel freqs and spacing, etc....

Although, if it is the unit I think, it IS actually valuable to radio collectors!!!
And, you may be able to sell the unit and make enough $$$$ (or Euros) to purchase a new Icom M-802 / M-801e....
(Not sure of the exact models, but I saw one on a BIG Swan in the mid 70's that was 600w to 1000w transmitter, so perhaps that beast is worth a LOT of $$$$ to the right guy / ham / radio collector....)

Fair winds and good luck...

John
s/v Annie Laurie



EDIT:
I did a quick Google search and found a couple old pictures....
If it looks like these units, then it is the one I've been referring to....

[JETTEST]

Google "PHF-480"

I own a company that delivers Large Jet (Boeing/Airbus) aircraft all over the world. A portable HF is required for most oceanic transits. I bought the PHF-480 from apg avionics for about 5 grand (including longwire antenna) and then spent a few hundred bucks designing a window blank (through fuselage fitting) for mount and attachment to the wing.

The unit has a built in amp and electronic antenna tuner and an icom SSB/USB/AM/FM transceiver all mounted in a hard pelican case. It weighs like 25 lbs and is about the size of case of beer..

Thing works like a dream and those guys at APG were seriously helpful.

It would be real easy to devise a longwire mount on a sailboat for it (I'm thinking about doing it myself). Probably require a balun between longwire to mast or shroud...

[JETTEST]

Originally Posted by JETTEST

Google "PHF-480"

I own a company that delivers Large Jet (Boeing/Airbus) aircraft all over the world. A portable HF is required for most oceanic transits. I bought the PHF-480 from apg avionics for about 5 grand (including longwire antenna) and then spent a few hundred bucks designing a window blank (through fuselage fitting) for mount and attachment to the wing.

The unit has a built in amp and electronic antenna tuner and an icom SSB/USB/AM/FM transceiver all mounted in a hard pelican case. It weighs like 25 lbs and is about the size of case of beer..

Thing works like a dream and those guys at APG were seriously helpful.

It would be real easy to devise a longwire mount on a sailboat for it (I'm thinking about doing it myself). Probably require a balun between longwire to mast or shroud...

And I know my response was kind of irrelevant to the thread, but I was searching SSB in here and it came up, so I thought I'd share this solution...

[hellosailor]

Bobi, usually if they are collectible there's some presence on the web, but this one seems to be invisible, indicating it is more likely roadkill.

Using a dummy load is easy, and safe for the radio, but it doesn't tell you everything about the radio. Given the vintage it might well require tuning or repair before it could put out a proper signal, assuming it works at all. I'd suggest your best bet is to take it ashore to any licensed radio shop and ask them to take a look at it. Hooking up power and test equipment should be no problem for them, and if they look it over and pronounce it to be obsolete, or an antique...You can always take it to the next port for another opinion.

[bobichan]

To all fellow "cruisers" who have kindly answered my query......many thanks for your advice/assistance and observations. I am slowly coming to the realisation that it will be far easier to buy and install new ssb and leave original as cabin "art", until I encounter someone who wants to buy/get it operating! Once again tks and regards Bobichan

[Lake-Effect]

If you're not a radio nut or electronics geek, an old SSB rig is probably not worth keeping. And the newer ones are just simpler to use. But as ka4wja has mentioned, and old rig in sharp condition like that one would probably be of interest to someone.