Note: Does NOT do CB or 11 meters. You would need to change a crystal for this to happen and I am not in the 11 meter business
as most of it is illegal operators. IF you want this for 11 meters YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN. I will not participate in any help converting this to 11 meters. People sitting on a porch in Georgia with a made up call sign number and yelling into a mic is not my idea of a good time.
June 5, 2024
I sold the receiver which was UNDER this HX-10 and we moved the HX-10 to the floor.
So that means time for some upgrades to the HX-10.
- Replaced the power cord with a modern 3 prong grounded power cord for safety.
- Drilled a 1/2" hole near the power cord incoming area and added a FUSE holder and a fuse.
- ADDED a PNP TIP 41C transistor to SINK the voltage from a receiver for RECEIVER MUTING function on Pin #4 accessory jack.
(This takes the wear OFF of the T/R relay contacts and extends the life of the T/R relay IF your receiver is like a National NC-303
or NC-300 requiring 35 volts to be grounded to receive) I wrote the schematic of this addition to the inside cover of the bottom
of the HC-10)
And so the HX-10 two person LIFT back on top of an National NC-300 receiver and STILL actively using this Heathkit Marauder HX-10 which is working FLAWLESSLY.
I use this transmitter on 7293 AM mostly now. Will miss it if it sells. But the wife has spoken.
June 2, 2024.
Time to move this Heathkit Marauder to a deserving ham buyer.
Priced to SELL. Fast.
I have FUN restoring it and it took many weeks.
i have had immense fun operating it mostly on AM.
But the wife has spoken.
I am losing money but...
You are gaining a very nice transmitter.
Plug and play. It needs NOTHING but a good microphone.
See my OTHER listing for the matching amplified D-104 with mating plug.
This D-104 paired with this rig gets excellent AM audio reviews in QSO's.
Needs NOTHING. Plug it in. Learn how to tune it up. Plug in a mic and an antenna. You are on the air.
Decent AM.
And SSB with LSB and USB is fine too.
I have NOT tested CW with it. But that is probably OK too.
May 20, 2024.
I am trying to break even selling this. I paid $449 for this Heathkit Marauder shipped to me. You can look this up in the past sales on eBay under ADVANCED search.
I put $65.91 into new 6146W finals.
6AW8 tube $15
6CB6 tubes $25
OB2 regulators $12
HV DIODES about $5
About $130 in tubes and maybe more.
So I have about $550 into this rig.
eBay will take about $70 in a seller's fee.
So even if I sold this at $620 I am JUST breaking even.
So $499 is a fair deal. As far as I am concerned and I lose $120 in the deal.
But I had the JOY of fixing it. And the thrill of operating it. And the pride of restoring it.
Wife wants it GONE.
May 23, 2024:
Outstanding fidelity on AM. Good SSB quality. I use the HX-10 every few days. NO issues at all.
I recently replaced the relay driver tube and serviced the relay - retensioned the contacts and detoxit on the contacts.
No issues at all.
Selling to keep peace in the house.
May 15th:
I got the report that the AM quality is clear and excellent with an amplified D-104 MIC.
I recently cleaned the relay and replaced the relay driver tube.
Absolutely no issues.
This transmitter is all refurbished.
Lowered the selling price. This is now a DEAL.
Update March 6th:
This Heathkit HX-10 Marauder has been a steady performer on 40 meters AM mode. Note the AM is low level and
only the lower carrier side of AM sideband is present. Still it does sound excellent.
SSB - LSB and USB are perfect.
No real drift after warms up for 1/2 hour.
Main dial works - a little funky when trying to fine tune it to get it exact but then settles down to where you tune it.
I wired the 6146 cooling fan to only come on when transmitting. This makes the shack quiet and enjoyable.
Purging shack to keep peace in the house and this is one piece I am purging.
I put DAYS of work into this transmitter.
Update Feb 28 2024. I just fixed the BIAS levels to the SSB IF tube which controls the drive levels.
A 64K resistor went to 83K. I found that a 47K makes the -9 volts cut off bias just perfect when the drive level
is full counter clockwise. Also wired the cooling fan to ONLY come on during transmit. No sense in all the noise
and wearing out the fan motor on receive. I also found there is a simple procedure for tuning 10m band correctly.
The Driver tune knob is started at 0 position completely counter clockwise ALWAYS with high drive and then look for the first peak.
Tuning on later peaks picks up undesirable mixing components. None of this is mentioned in the Heathkit manual. ha.
=====
Collector grade.
Works perfectly.
9 out of 10. Showroom quality.
Been using this rig on AM, SSB.
Works like a champ.
Good signal and audio reports.
I have spent a solid month going over this Transmitter.
Heathkit HX-10. Circa 1959 or so.
Where do I begin to describe all the work?
I started off with the VFO. There was no VFO signal. I pulled the VFO and re-soldered every solder joint inside of the VFO.
Also rewired some critical junction connections.
Reinstalled the VFO.
Next was the tuning dial drive train. The tuning has to be smooth and accurate.
Pulled out the entire tuning rod and main tuning dial. Cleaned it all up.
Moved the shaft collar in the middle of the shaft to the end of the rear shaft
to provide a proper "thrust bearing" so that the tuning knob can not move in or out
less than a millimeter or so. The assembly manual from Heathkit has a mistake in it for this
assembly I am thinking.
Adjusted the VFO gear to perfect mesh with the worm gear on the shaft.
Noted the pulley on the vertical shaft was wound up by a circular spring.
Lubed this shaft at both ends and pulled out the pulley for the indicator string and
soldered the brass fitting onto the steel pulley as it was loose.
Redid the pulley and string to have the wound spring unwound at the MIDDLE of the band range
and it winds toward both ends.
This takes off the great stress on the pulley when you are at the top band end.
=====
Put in two 3KV diodes in series for 6KV PIV of rectification for the 800 Volts HV supply.
Put in a china replacement 5U4 solid state rectifier I had bought for another rig and that works like a champ.
So no rectifier tubes in this transmitter.
=====
Calibrated the VFO exactly to match frequency on the dial scale.
=====
Lubricated all the worm gears with synthetic grease.
Lubricated the grid drive variable air capacitor with synthetic car oil and synthetic grease as this variable capacitor was grinding when tuning the driver stage.
=====
Tubes replaced:
FINALS - two new 6146W tubes.
Output DRIVER - 6CL6 replaced.
3rd mixer - 6CB6 replaced.
SSB IF - 6CB6 replaced.
VFO -
6CB6 replaced. buffer and XTAL oscillator tube.
6AU6 replaced - main Colpitts oscillator tube.
Power regulation:
One OB2 verified working for the BIAS supply regulator. This OB2 is grounded on transmit and provides
regulated BIAS to the 6146 finals and to the -9 to 0 DRIVE control for adjustable output power via the IF tube pin #1 grid.
======
Alignment.
Complete Heatkit book alignment on SSB settings for balanced modulator.
Complete RF alignment for all bands.
Good power output on all bands. 10 meters a little lower.
======
Mechanical:
Band switches and rotary switches cleaned.
Light bulbs replaced with white LED's.
Band switch interface to case made tight.
Tuning adjusted for perfect smoothness. Flywheel positioned perfectly.
Mech between vertical shaft and worm gear set.
Tuning drive train lubricated with synthetic grease.
======
Function test:
CW - OK.
USB OK
LSB OK
AM OK.
FSK - not used.
======
Power output. CW Key DOWN:
80 meters 140 watts.
40 meters = 125 watts.
20 meters = 130 watts.
15 meters = 90 watts.
10 meters lower 90 watts.
10 meters middle ham lower bands 90 watts.
10 meters upper 29 Mhz or so - low output 80 watts.
For power output testing see this video:
There are also other videos.
Search you tube for:
moviestudioland HX-10
Buy it now. Goes out now.
Has a case too - of course.
Need to put it back in the case as all the work is done.
This is the cleanest Heathkit HX-10 I have ever seen.
And the attention to detail for the restoration of this HX-10 is
suitable for the collector to have and operate this Transmitter on AM
or SSB.
Note - this is NOT high level AM modulated like a Johnston viking or a Heathkit Apache or such.
Modulates a balanced modulator.
The AM is reasonable but not as punchy as a "real" AM transmitter with a plate modulation transformer. But the AM is
very nice to listen to I am told repeatedly.
The SSB is really good too.
This rig is a joy to look at.
And a joy to operate too.
Buy it now.
Goes out well packed now.
Unit is HEAVY. So shipping is accordingly.