Heathkit SG-8 Signal Generator

[vortalexfan]

Unfortunately I can't seem to find any frequency counters on ebay that are under $100 except for the cheap Chineseum kits, but they don't have a case and they require a 9V battery to operate and use a WiFi Antenna style input plug, and they don't seem to have any sort of adjustments on them like the factory built ones that are going for over $100 and as much as $25,000 for a Hewlett-Packard Agilent model from the 1970s...

[Notimetolooz]

Oh my. You need to sharpen your ebay skills.
Search on "frequency counter", select "pre-owned" and something like a max of $ 50. I saw at least half a dozen decent ones, even a HP or two. Out of those you have to look at the shipping costs and add that to find a total below $100. Some of the remaining have technical factors like a minimum of 20 MHz that disqualifies them. That might only bring it down to one or two or so. But if none look right you may have to try again in a couple of days.
You want to get one that covers the frequency range you will be working with, for broadcast AM maybe 10Hz to 2 MHz, Shortwave 10Hz to 25MHz, FM 10Hz to 120 MHz or TV 10Hz to 250 MHz. BNC input connector. You may have to do some research, you definitely want one with a crystal timebase oscillator, usually 10MHz. Hopefully you will have the time to run it past the forum for opinions.

[vortalexfan]

Originally Posted by Notimetolooz

Oh my. You need to sharpen your ebay skills.
Search on "frequency counter", select "pre-owned" and something like a max of $ 50. I saw at least half a dozen decent ones, even a HP or two. Out of those you have to look at the shipping costs and add that to find a total below $100. Some of the remaining have technical factors like a minimum of 20 MHz that disqualifies them. That might only bring it down to one or two or so. But if none look right you may have to try again in a couple of days.
You want to get one that covers the frequency range you will be working with, for broadcast AM maybe 10Hz to 2 MHz, Shortwave 10Hz to 25MHz, FM 10Hz to 120 MHz or TV 10Hz to 250 MHz. BNC input connector. You may have to do some research, you definitely want one with a crystal timebase oscillator, usually 10MHz. Hopefully you will have the time to run it past the forum for opinions.

Well I don't use eBay on a regular basis which is why I'm a little rusty with my eBay skills.

I'll search again using the tips you suggested and see what I come up with.

Thanks so much for your help.

[vortalexfan]

The units linked below are some units I have found that are in my price range that seem like decent units.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Heathkit-IM...temCondition=4

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Elenco-F-10...temCondition=4

What do you think?
I'm leaning heavily towards the Heathkit unit, as its cheaper and it does cover the basics as far as all the frequencies I would be using in radio and TV repair goes.

[Notimetolooz]

Those two are about equivalent. The Heathkit has a upper frequency limit of 30 MHz. I found a manual online.
The Elenco has all those switches so that might be a source of problems (cleaning etc.). I could not find a manual after a quick search.
So if 30 MHz is OK ( for AM Broadcast and SW radios I think it would be), then if I had to choose between the two I would go with the Heathkit. You wouldn't be able to check the frequency of a generator that is producing a signal for a FM radio (88-108MHz) for instance.

[vortalexfan]

Originally Posted by Notimetolooz

Those two are about equivalent. The Heathkit has a upper frequency limit of 30 MHz. I found a manual online.
The Elenco has all those switches so that might be a source of problems (cleaning etc.). I could not find a manual after a quick search.
So if 30 MHz is OK ( for AM Broadcast and SW radios I think it would be), then if I had to choose between the two I would go with the Heathkit. You wouldn't be able to check the frequency of a generator that is producing a signal for a FM radio (88-108MHz) for instance.

There were a couple of multifunction frequency counters that tested upto 250 Mhz or something like that that were Hewlett-Packard branded ones that were under $40 but they were listed as "as-is" untested condition.

[vortalexfan]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Victor-VC31...temCondition=4

https://www.ebay.com/itm/BK-Precisio...temCondition=4

https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-5382A-SI...temCondition=4

Here's 3 frequency counters I have found including a Hewlett-Packard 225 MHz unit that is only 29.99 but the shipping is $64, which is twice the price that the unit itself costs!

[Notimetolooz]

OK, something very important here. You want to get something that you can find service data on. Units like the Elenco that you can find nothing about (except if they have a manual with them that has the service data) are not a good choice. If something goes wrong with them, no one is going to be able to help. That was a good thing about the Heathkit.
The Heathkit counter would be a good companion piece to the SG-8. The SG-8 upper band (E) doesn't work well on my unit. The amplitude is very low if it works at all. The next lower band ends at 25 MHz which matches that counter. Unless you are sure you need more frequency range, that would do.
The HP is gone now. You don't have a lot of time with ebay to decide.

[vortalexfan]

Originally Posted by Notimetolooz

OK, something very important here. You want to get something that you can find service data on. Units like the Elenco that you can find nothing about (except if they have a manual with them that has the service data) are not a good choice. If something goes wrong with them, no one is going to be able to help. That was a good thing about the Heathkit.
The Heathkit counter would be a good companion piece to the SG-8. The SG-8 upper band (E) doesn't work well on my unit. The amplitude is very low if it works at all. The next lower band ends at 25 MHz which matches that counter. Unless you are sure you need more frequency range, that would do.
The HP is gone now. You don't have a lot of time with ebay to decide.

I got the Heathkit Signal Generator today and it looks like its not going to need a lot of work done to it, in fact it looks like it was hardly ever used, it does have modern film caps and modern electrolytics in it which makes me think that it may have been recapped already.

pictures below are of the inside of the unit.

You'll see how clean it is inside and you'll see what I mean by having modern components inside.

[kvflyer]

I think that someone did it already for you! Unless there was a wiring error, you should be good to go.

[vortalexfan]

Originally Posted by kvflyer

I think that someone did it already for you! Unless there was a wiring error, you should be good to go.

That's what I was thinking.

All I need to do is just change out the jacks for modern BNC jacks and get some probes for it and I'll be all set!

Does the name David Hamm sound familiar to you guys? He's the guy I got it from, he out in Marion, Iowa which I believe is Eastern Iowa.

He packed it really well it was packed in several layers of thick foam packing and then wrapped in a couple of plastic bags to protect it.
It arrived in one piece with the only thing that happened to it in shipping was that the front of the case popped out of the back cover but easily popped back into place without any damage.

[Notimetolooz]

You know I thought you already had the SG-8.
Great that it has been re-capped. I'm not sure the selenium rectifier was replaced correctly.
Are you going to get the Heathkit IM-4100 ?
The manual I was able to find on the counter seems to be missing some pages at the front, but the service data is all there. There are also some videos about the counter.
Just so you know, a couple of years ago it was easier to find good info on Heathkit units. A company bought the rights to the info, I believe, and now charges for the manuals. There are still some copies still left here and there on the internet.

[vortalexfan]

Originally Posted by Notimetolooz

You know I thought you already had the SG-8.
Great that it has been re-capped. I'm not sure the selenium rectifier was replaced correctly.
Are you going to get the Heathkit IM-4100 ?
The manual I was able to find on the counter seems to be missing some pages at the front, but the service data is all there. There are also some videos about the counter.
Just so you know, a couple of years ago it was easier to find good info on Heathkit units. A company bought the rights to the info, I believe, and now charges for the manuals. There are still some copies still left here and there on the internet.

No, I had just bought it on ebay at the time but it hadn't been delivered until today.

As for the frequency counter I do need one that can do the FM Bandspread because I do Work on AM/FM Stereo Receivers as well.
So I will need a frequency generator that can do at least up to 200 MHz.

What do you mean the selenium rectifier wasn't replaced correctly? I think its original to the unit, which I'm thinking of replacing it with a 1N4007 Diode.

[vortalexfan]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Victor-VC31...temCondition=4

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Heathkit-Mo...temCondition=4

https://www.ebay.com/itm/B-K-Model-1...temCondition=4

Here's 3 more I've found that look promising, neither of them have a power cord though, specifically the last two, which uses the old style computer plug.

what do you think? Which one would be the best out of these 3 units?

[Notimetolooz]

I don't know anything about the Victor brand.
The Heathkit is older because Nixie tubes were used before LED displays were used. Also the corrosion on the BNC is not a good sign,
My first counter was similar to that B&K. The display on mine became unreliable, I believe because of a connector issue. My model didn't go very high in frequency so I decided to trade up.
Note that both the Heathkit and the B&K used a power cord connector with
round pins, unlike the common power cords now which have flat blades.
I not wild about any of those three.