HOM rev. new!

Heathkit of the Month #49 - SB-220 2KW HF Linear Amplifier

Heathkit of the Month #49:
by Bob Eckweiler, AF6C

Heathkit SB-220 (and SB-221)

2KW HF RF Linear Amplifier

Introduction:
Back in September of 2011 (Heathkit of the Fig. 1 SB-220 2KW Amplifier. The SB-221
Month #33) the SB-200 (1,200 watt linear am- looks identical except for the 10 meter
plifier) was discussed. This month we will take band switch markings.
a look at its bigger brother the SB-220. Like the
SB-200, the SB-220 required updating when conservatively rated. The power supply is built
the FCC outlawed commercial linear RF ampli- into the amplifier which fits easily on a desk-
fiers from covering the 10-meter band due to top. Figure 3 shows an inside view of the ampli-
their widespread illegal use on the nearby 11- fier tube section.
meter CB band. These later amplifiers were
given new model numbers: SB-201 and SB-221 The SB-220 covers 80 through 10 meters. Us-
replaced the SB-200 and SB-220, respectively. ing the SB-220 on the newer 12 and 17 meter
WARC bands is spotty without modifications. A
The SB-220 RF Amplifier: lot can be found on the subject by Googling
The SB-220 (Figure 1) was released in late Heath SB-220 WARC.
1969, about six years after the SB-200. Both
remained on the market until 1978 when 10- The SB-220 front panel meters and controls are
meter capability was eliminated. They both uncluttered and laid-out in three rows. The front
continued in production in their modified state panel layout and nomenclature are listed in Ta-
until 1983. The SB-220 originally sold for a fac- ble II. The mode switch sets the nominal plate
tory catalog price of $349.95. (Figure 2 is an ad voltage. In the CW/TUNE position it is 2.5 KV
from the inside rear cover of the December DC and in the SSB position it is 3.0 KV DC. The
1969 QST). The retail store price was slightly CW/TUNE position can be used for lower power
higher at $369.95. By the 1982 spring/summer SSB operation.
catalog the SB-221 price had increased to $649.95.
Like the front panel, the rear panel is simple
On January 23, 1970 I visited the Heathkit re- and uncluttered with just eight items. They are
tail store on Ball Road in Anaheim; adding the listed in Table III. Instead of fuses, the ampli-
then 5% sales tax, I happily lumbered out fier uses two circuit breakers in the AC line, re-
$388.45 poorer, but carrying two heavy boxes. settable by pressing the button on the tripped
breaker. They are accessible on the rear panel.
Table I shows the specifications of the SB-220. Also on the rear panel is the inlet to the fan
It is a heavy duty amplifier, especially if you which forces air over the 3-500Z final tubes
run it off of 240 VAC. The final tubes are a pair and out the cabinet. The tubes are not in air-
of Eimac 3-500Z glass triodes specifically de- flow directing chimneys. The large fan is lo-
signed for improved grounded-grid linear op- cated so it also forces air over the tube sockets,
eration. With 500 watts of plate dissipation per cooling the critical filament pins that dissipate
tube and a large cooling fan, the amplifier is a significant amount of heat by themselves.

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Heathkit of the Month #49 - SB-220 2KW HF Linear Amplifier! HOM rev.new
The SB-220 I bought was one of the early mod-
els. The plate transformer shipped in a separate Front Panel Top Row (L to R)
box, and Heathkit warned in their documenta- Model Emblem: HEATHKIT SB-220
tion that shipping of an assembled SB-220 (nomenclature): 2KW LINEAR AMPLIFIER
could result in damage to the unit due to the Meter (lighted): PLATE AMPERES – 0 to 1 A FS
heavy transformers. If you were returning the (0.1 A/ major div., 0.02 A/ minor div.)
SB-220 to the factory for repair, Heath recom-
Meter (lighted): Multipurpose
mended you order the SB-220 Service Packing
PLATE VOLTAGE – KV – 0 to 3.5 FS
kit, (Order # 171-3167 - $5 deposit) and pack
(500 V/ major div., 100 V/ minor div.)
the kit using the instructions included with the
GRID MA – 0 to 350 mA FS
kit. The deposit was refundable or creditable
(50 mA/ major div., 10 mA/ minor div.)
towards any repair bill.
REL. RWR - 0 to 350 arbitrary units
My SB-220 came with an early release manual (50 units/ major div., 10 units/ minor div.)
(11/29/69) and included a four page errata Middle Row (L to R)
sheet that has three pages of changes and a new Capacitor: Plate TUNE - white range areas
Pictorial 4-6. Heathkit spent a lot of time per- (Approx. settings for: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10)
fecting their manuals and it was interesting to Capacitor: Plate LOAD 0 to 10 units
see how they stayed on-top of keeping their (18°/ major div. – 180° total)
highly praised documentation up to date along Switch - 5 pos. Rotary: BAND
with their electronic technology. 80, 40, 20, 15, 10 meters
Assembling the SB-220: Potentiometer: Relative Power meter adjustment
Assembly began in the usual way for a kit. This SENSITIVITY
is an important step that some people gloss Switch - 3 pos. Rotary: Multimeter function
GRID, REL. PWR., HV
Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10 Meters Bottom Row (L to R)
Driving Power: 100 Watts Switch - Rocker Power
OFF, ON
Power Input -
Switch - Rocker Mode
SSB: 2,000 Watts PEP
CW/TUNE, SSB
CW / RTTY 1000 Watts
Duty Cycle - Table II: SB-220 Front Panel Controls, etc.
SSB: Continuous
CW: Continuous (Max. key-down 10 min.)
over. It involves inventorying and familiarizing
RTTY: 50% (Max. xmit time 10 min.)
yourself with the individual parts. Rarely have I
3rd. Order Distortion: better than -30 dB ever received a new Heathkit with any parts
Input Impedance: 52 Ω nominal, unbalanced missing, though I occasionally find extra pieces
Output Impedance: 50 to 75 Ω unbalanced of common small hardware.
SWR: 2.0 : 1 or less
Once the inventory is completed, a small circuit
Power Requirements -
board is stuffed; it holds the (14) high voltage
120 VAC: 20 A maximum, 50/60 Hz
silicon rectifier diodes, the meter scaling resis-
240 VAC: 10 A maximum, 50/60 Hz
tors and a 5.1V zener diode (ZD1) which sets
Cabinet Size: 14-7/8” W x 8-1/4” H x 14-1/2” D the tube bias. The diode was originally
Net Weight: 48 lbs (22 kg) mounted using two silver-plated strips that
acted as heat sinks. More on this diode later.
Table I: SB-220 Specifications Finally, connecting wires are soldered to the
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HOM rev. new! Heathkit of the Month #49 - SB-220 2KW HF Linear Amplifier

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Heathkit of the Month #49 - SB-220 2KW HF Linear Amplifier! HOM rev.new
board; their other ends will be connected when
the board is later installed. Rear Panel Items (L to R)
Power Cord: Heavy Duty 3-wire
Next, the RF input coil assembly is built. The
five input coils, one for each band, are installed Circuit Breakers (pair): (10 Ampere)
on a small sub-chassis along with a wafer sec- Phono Jack (input): ANT RELAY
tion of the band switch. The fixed capacitors (Ground to switch amplifier to transmit)
that broadly tune these coils are then soldered Phono Jack (output): ALC
in place, and the coils are wired to the band (Automatic Level Control)
switch wafer. The remainder of the band RF Connector (input): RF – INPUT
switch is assembled along with its shaft on the SO-239 UHF Connector
outside of the sub-chassis, which acts as a
Stud: Ground Post
shield. Shielded wires are added to carry the
#10-24 screw with washers and wing nut
RF. Their other ends will be connected when
the sub-chassis is installed. RF Connector (output): RF – OUTPUT
SO-239 UHF Connector
The front panel is assembled next. The meters,
nameplate, meter switch and sensitivity pot are Table III: SB-220 Rear Panel Connections, etc.
added, as is the meter lighting circuitry.
Plugging in a 2 KW amplifier for the first time
Assembly then moves to the basic chassis. Tube can be intimidating. However, to Heathkit’s
sockets, rocker switches, relays, terminals, rear credit, it came on without smoke, arcing or any
connectors and other hardware are installed. other problems. Testing went smoothly with
The ALC circuit components are added next on one minor exception, the fan motor was quite
a terminal strip mounted to the chassis. noisy. Heath quickly shipped a replacement fan
under their warranty.
Top chassis assembly is then conducted. Part of
the top RF shield is installed as is the HV inter- The SB-220 Circuit:
lock and some of the minor pi-network compo- Grounded-grid linear amplifier models using a
nents. At this time the input sub-chassis, built pair of 3-500Z tubes are generally quite similar
earlier, is installed, followed by the major parts in their basic design. The design Heath used
of the pi-network. The two large transformers for the SB-220 follows it, with a few exceptions.
and the previously wired front panel are at-
tached to the chassis, as is the fan and numer- The Power Supply:
ous other chassis shielding components. At this The SB-220 uses a standard voltage doubler
stage you will find the assembly has become circuit to achieve the high voltage. The HV
quite heavy! transformer has a Hypersil core. Hypersil is a
material originally patented by Westinghouse.
The previously wired circuit board is then at- This grain aligned core provides more power
tached to the outside of a large capacitor bracket, per pound of of core material, resulting in a
into which eight well insulated 200 µF 450V ca- smaller transformer that runs cooler. The
pacitors are installed, forming the power supply transformer in the SB-220 is no wimp as its
filter system. A series of high wattage bleeder re- duty cycle specification shows. The trans-
sistors are wired to the capacitors. former’s 120/240V dual winding primary is
Finally, the top and bottom wiring are com- tapped to provide 2,500 VDC or 3,000 VDC
pleted; the amplifier is set for the correct line out of the voltage doubler. Each doubler leg
voltage, the tubes are installed and the ampli- uses seven 600V PRV diodes in series and four
fier is ready for test. 200 µF 450 volt electrolytic capacitors also in

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HOM rev. new! Heathkit of the Month #49 - SB-220 2KW HF Linear Amplifier
series. Each capacitor is shunted by a 30KΩ 7-
watt bleeder resistor.

A separate filament transformer provides 5

VAC voltage to the two 3-500Z finals. The
transformer is rated at 30 amperes. Each tube’s
filament draws 14.5 amperes. It is important
that the soldering in the filament circuit be
checked carefully. If the voltage drops below
4.75 volts the tube life may be negatively af-
fected. The filament transformer also powers
the two #47 meter lamps. A separate bias wind-
ing produces about 120 VDC after rectification
and filtering. This voltage is used to bias the 3-
500Z tubes, to operate the transfer relay and is Fig. 3 Inside view of the SB-220 showing
tapped down to provide the ALC threshold the two 3-500Z tubes. Note large cooling
voltage. These will be discussed more later. fan. Photo courtesy of Kees – PA2X.
Visit his site at: http://www.heathkit.nl
The Input Circuit:
A separate pi-network input circuit exists for wiring must be conservative. The band switch
each of the five bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, & 10M. contacts are probably the weakest part in this
The required network is selected by the band circuit.
switch. The Q of these circuits is low, a bit more
Switching Circuit:
than 1. This affords good bandwidth but poor
A single 3PDT relay controls the amplifier. The
isolation to the amplifier tubes which swing
relay is open when the amplifier is off or in re-
from a very high impedance to a low imped-
ceive. One set of contacts switches the input and
ance of less than 40Ω. This is no problem for
one the output. When the amplifier is in receive
tube type exciters like the SB-401 to drive;
(or off) these contacts route the input directly to
however, solid-state transmitters may encoun-
the antenna, bypassing the amplifier; on trans-
ter difficulties matching the amplifier input. RF
mit they connect the exciter to the amplifier in-
from the tuned network is AC coupled to the
put and the amplifier output to the antenna. The
filaments (cathodes) of the tubes. A bifilar
third set of contacts controls the bias. With the
filament choke isolates the RF from the fila-
amplifier on and the relay open, approximately
ment transformer.
+115 V DC is applied to the center tap of the
Amplifier Circuit: filament transformer raising the cathode voltage
The two 3-500Z tubes (see Fig. 4) are high mu and making the grid of each tube very negative,
power triodes, each capable of 1,110 watts PEP cutting the tube off. When the relay closes, this
input. The tube’s grids are effectively at AC voltage is fed to a zener diode lowering the cath-
ground and the input RF drives the filaments ode voltage to where the grid voltage is negative
(cathodes). RF power fed to the cathode is ef- by only about 5.1 volts below the cathode. The
fectively fed through to the output, adding to result is the tubes start conducting plate current
the power efficiency. The tube plates are con- at about 45 to 60 ma each – a good bias voltage
nected to a pi-network output circuit. The for class B operation. The relay is powered by
tubes run at a plate voltage of 3 KV in SSB the bias supply and is operated by an external
mode, and 2.5 KV in CW/TUNE mode. The pi- circuit connected to the ANT RELAY jack on the
network has to handle high voltages and cur- rear panel.
rents, both RF and DC; thus, components and

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Heathkit of the Month #49 - SB-220 2KW HF Linear Amplifier! HOM rev.new
the meter to reach full scale (200 µA when 1
amp flows through R1).

Multimeter - The second meter acts as a

multimeter measuring grid current, relative
power and high voltage depending on the
position of the meter switch.

a. Grid Current - Grid current is returned

to ground through the cathode, ZD1 and a
0.82Ω resistor; it is isolated from the plate
current because the plate current meter cir-
cuit is returned to the negative end of the
power supply filter chain. When in the
GRID position the meter is switched across
this resistor which produces 0.28V when
350 mA of grid current is flowing.

b. Relative Power - In the REL PWR posi-

tion RF output voltage is sampled by a volt-
age divider consisting of R24 and R25, rec-
tified and filtered by D17 and C54, scaled by
the front panel SENSITIVITY control and
fed to the meter, giving indication of rela-
tive output power.

c. H. V. - In the HV meter position, the meter

reads 3.5 KV full scale. A voltage divider con-
sisting of 14.1 MΩ (three 4.7 MΩ resistors in
series) and 1.12 KΩ (5.6 KΩ resistor in parallel
with the 1.4 KΩ meter resistance) results in
0.28V across the meter with 3.5 KV applied.
Fig. 4: Eimac 3-500Z Triode Transmitting Tube.
ALC Circuit:
Meter Circuits:
Finally the ALC circuit provides a voltage back to
The two meters are each µA full-scale with an
the exciter when the amplifier is being overdriven
internal resistance of 1.4KΩ. Each meter will
into a non-linear state. The exciter uses the volt-
read full scale when 0.28 volts is applied across
age to reduce the RF output driving the amplifier.
it.
A DC voltage of about 60VDC is tapped off the
Plate Current Meter - This meter reads full
bias supply. This voltage reverse biases D18
scale when 1 ampere of plate current is
which is coupled to the RF driving the ampli-
flowing. All the plate current passes
fier. Should the peak negative driving voltage
through R1, a 1Ω 5W resistor in the negative
exceed the 60V threshold, D18 will conduct on
side of the HV power supply. At 1 ampere
the negative peak of each RF cycle. This nega-
this resistor will drop 1 volt. The meter is
tive voltage is filtered and fed to the ALC con-
placed in series with a 3.6K resistor which
nector on the back of the SB-220/221.
raises its effective resistance to 5KΩ causing

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HOM rev. new! Heathkit of the Month #49 - SB-220 2KW HF Linear Amplifier
The SB-221 Changes: the board. The two lower spacers should be
The major changes to prevent the SB-221 from replaced with #6-32 x 3/4” tapped phenolic
operating on 10/11 meters include removal of spacers. The upper spacers must remain metal
the 10 meter contacts on the band switch, and to provide a ground path for the board. This
the removal of the 10 meter input coil. Also in- modification was also incorporated directly
stalled in the input circuit is a sealed filter into later kits.
which is riveted to the input shield assembly
and acts as a low-pass filter with a cutoff fre- 240 V Failure Modification:
quency below the 10 meter band. A third modification involves SB-220 amplifi-
ers wired to operate on the 240V line. Should
Heathkit did allow licensed amateurs to pur- the mode switch partially fail or a primary
chase the needed parts to restore 10 meter op- winding open up in the HV transformer, exces-
eration on the SB-221. Doug DeMaw W1FB dis- sive current is drawn through the filament
cussed the procedure in the May 1980 issue of transformer primary causing it to fail. To pre-
QST on page 44. vent this the black-green and black yellow
wires from the filament transformer should be
Early Modifications: removed from the four-screw terminal strip
Numerous modifications have been suggested under the chassis and connected together with
for the SB-220 over the years. To discuss many a wire nut. Do this only for 220V operation and
of them is beyond the scope of this article. Per- restore to original configuration should the
haps a future article may cover some of the unit be returned to 120 V operation.
more important ones. So at this time we will
just touch on a few important ones. This modification is from Heathkit service bul-
letins SB-220-19, SB-220-27 and SB-221-14.
Zener Diode Replacement Modification:
(Kit SBM-220-1) Operation with Solid State Radios:
Early SB-220 amplifiers began experiencing a The SB-220 was designed to work with the SB
problem where the idling plate current would line of exciters and transceivers and other tube
suddenly increase to 300 mA instead of the ex- output transmitters of the late 60s and early
pected 90 to 120 mA. This occurred most fre- 70s. Special considerations must be taken be-
quently on amplifiers operating RTTY. The fore these radios are used with newer solid-
cause was the failure of ZD-1 the 5.1-volt bias state radios:
zener. Heathkit released a free modification kit
to owners designated the SBM-220-1. This kit a) Many solid-state transmitters have trouble
replaced the 1W zener with its attached heat matching to the input of the amplifier. An in-
sinks to a 10W stud-mounted 1N3996A (56-82) ternal or external antenna tuner may be re-
zener diode. The kit also included mounting quired.
hardware, wire, silicon heat sink grease and a
4-page instruction sheet. The diode mounts in b) To switch the Heathkit SB-200 and 220 se-
an existing hole on the capacitor mounting ries of amplifiers to transmit requires a switch
bracket. and is wired in place of the circuit capable of switching 150 VDC to ground. Many
board mounted zener. This modification was solid-state switching circuits use a transistor
incorporated into later SB-220 kits. that cannot handle this high voltage. Either an
external relay is required or a modification kit
Insulated Spacer Modification: needs to be installed in the amplifier. Harbach
A second modification answers a situation Electronics offers such a kit – the SK-220 Soft
where arcing occurs between the diodes on the Key kit (http://harbachelectronics.com).
circuit board and the metal spacers mounting

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Heathkit of the Month #49 - SB-220 2KW HF Linear Amplifier! HOM rev.new
c) AVC voltages from the SB-220 may run high it a good dusting before putting it back in serv-
for some solid-state exciters. Often a resistor ice. Switching from daily use of the SB-401/SB-
divider or zener diode limiter can be incorpo- 301 to a Kenwood solid-state transceiver,
rated to solve this problem. Many transceivers knowing I’d have to rework the SB-220 to make
are not powerful enough to overdrive the am- it compatible with both radios, further delayed
plifier and the ALC can just be left uncon- the refurbishment. It has recently gotten higher
nected. Google your transceiver model and SB- on the priority list thanks to my operating the
220 to see how others have hooked up their recent WPX context.
transceiver. Heathkit service bulletin SB-220-
26 discusses using ALC with Kenwood trans- I was one of the SB-220 owners who encoun-
ceivers. tered the parasitic problem early in its use. A
loud hum and a puff of smoke told of the prob-
Parasitics Problems: lem. Switching off the amplifier immediately I
There has been a lot written about parasitic os- found a grid choke “cooked” and a solid grid to
cillations occurring in the SB-220. This oscilla- plate short on one of the 3-500Z tubes. Heath-
tion, usually around 110 MHz results in a large kit replaced the tube under warranty but I also
grid current pulse that creates a magnetic field, bought a spare at, what was then, Henry Radio
sometimes resulting in a grid to filament short on Euclid Ave. in Anaheim. ($34 ea. back then!)
in the tube. This parasitic oscillation also often
results in arcing of the tuning capacitor, or in Interestingly, I was handling phone patches
later units arcing at the delicate band switch with Bill Orr - W6SAI (then portable KH6) with
contacts, as well as failed RF grid chokes and his daughter who lived down the coast. Bill sent
more. me a lot of good information on the Eimac 3-
500Z in Amateur Service. After replacing the
Richard Measures - AG6K wrote a two part ar- tube, I never encountered the parasitic prob-
ticle starting at page 25 of the November 1990 lem again. Still, I will be ordering a parasitic kit
issue of QST discussing improvements to the for the SB-220 sold by AG6K to be on the safe
SB-220 including ways to reduce the possibility side. http://www.somis.org/Price-Info.html
of the damaging VHF parasitic oscillations. Be-
fore condemning the Heathkit engineers and Using the SB-220 in the early 1970s I worked
this amplifier, this problem is also found in close to 200 countries in a year and was spend-
other HF amplifiers, especially ones using ing less time in pileups than when running bare-
newer high µ tubes capable of operating at high foot. All while working 60+ hour workweeks.
gain above 15 MHz (the 3-500Z). Mr. Measures
traced a significant contribution of the problem Yes, the SB-220 is a still an excellent amplifier,
“to the high VHF Q copper conductors between if it is restored and some simple modifications
the tuning capacitor and the anode connec- added.
tions…” Part of his solution is the use of low Q 73, from AF6C
nichrome wire in place of the copper wire in
the anode leads. ARRL members can download
Mr. Measures’ articles from the periodical ar- Remember, if you are getting rid of any old
chives at the ARRL website. Heathkit Manuals or Catalogs, please pass
them along to me for my research.
Conclusion:
Thanks - AF6C
I’ve used my SB-220 amplifier for many years,
until I encountered a period of little hamming This article originally appeared in the month
due to the discovery of computers. The SB-220 year issue of RF, the newsletter of the Or-
sat so long that I wanted to clean it out and give ange County Amateur Radio Club - W6ZE.

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