This is a cool home brew bench supply I got from a friend. It was built 50ish years ago, and was pretty cool in its time. Regulation and output current is in bad condition, but I think it has potential, especially since it was built by my friend. This is the 1st part of the restoration.
WB4IUY's Random Blog
I've been in Amateur Radio since 1974, and still find new and interesting things to do. I like to build, restore, and operate on the air. This blog has been running for many years, so be sure to check out "Jump to Posts on Specific Topics" in the RH column to drill down and find lots of stuff. Visit www.WB4IUY.net for the lowdown at WB4IUY. Email me at wb4iuy@gmail.com if you have any questions.
Tuesday, February 10, 2026
Sansui 4000
This is a beautiful Sansui 4000 I got from a friend. It was built in 1969, sports a Walnut cabinet, and pumps out a very conservative 65 watts per channel into 4 ohms. It is labeled as the Solid State 4000, considering that there were still many high end sets of that era with vacuum tubes.
This one is very clean and works well. I've cleaned and serviced the controls and switches, and will be recapping this later. Here's a few pics and video...
Thursday, January 8, 2026
Heathkit HR-10
This is a Heathkit HR-10 I got from a friend. It was his original receiver, and was paired with a Heathkit DX-40. I have a DX-40 (see it in my blog listing on the rh side of this page), so this it the perfect lashup for my novice nostalgia station :-) .
This was in pretty good shape. I buffed out the original paint on the cabinet, replaced a few caps and resistors, serviced the switches and controls, tested the tubes and cleaned their pins and sockets, replaced a lamp, and gave it an alignment. Wow, its a pretty good receiver for it's era. Here's a few setup videos and pics...
Tuesday, January 6, 2026
Yaesu FL2100B Repairs
This is a Yaesu FL-2100B I repaired for a friend. He was using this on 29.600 FM with high carrier, around 600W out. He noticed power beginning to sag, then an arc under the hood, and the magic smoke was released.
I found the plate choke burned from a hot-spot, the plate choke bypass cap on the dc hot side blown, grid resistors blown, and a shorted tube.
I replaced the shorted tube, replaced the blown grid resistors, replaced the bypass doorknob, and coated the rf choke in the hot area. I used the grid dip meter and found a resonance around 29.700...very close to where he operates on 10m fm simplex. That's probably what burned the plate choke. I added a 2.5 mH choke between the main rf choke and the plate caps, and that pushed the resonance past 30mhz. After I tested the amp, I added an additional fan to aid in cooling when operating on 10m FM at 600w carrier.
The completed repairs...100w in yields abt 700 out. 70 watts in yields about 550, a safe level for short transmissions on 10 FM.
The tuned input was optimized for 29.600.
Monday, January 5, 2026
Tempo CL-220
I picked up this Tempo CL-220 in a batch of items, and had never seen one before. After a bit of research, I uncovered an interesting story on this radio. Watch the video below to hear more about that. This is a crystal controlled radio. It has no crystals for frequencies in my area, and considering the high cost of custom crystals, I opted to not restore it. It's an interesting rig, here's a video and a few pics...






































