Heathkit · HF transceiver · 1977–1982
Heath went solid state with the SB-104 in 1974, a 100 W kit transceiver for 80 to 10 m with no tubes to warm up and a built-in electronic frequency display. It was ambitious for a kit. Heath ran a circuit-board repair service for it, gave the power amplifier board its own one-year warranty, and later sold a modification kit to improve the receiver's sensitivity. The SB-104A followed in 1977 and stayed in the catalog until 1982, per rigpix. It still needs a separate supply: 20 A at around 13.8 V on transmit, from Heath's HP-1144 or a modern equivalent. Collectors look for the HP-1144, the CW filter, the noise blanker and the matching SB-604 speaker. Like every Heathkit, it's only as good as the person who built it.
Bench check
Should come with it
Check the listing photos against this list, and ask the seller about anything you can’t see. A missing piece should come off the price.
The transistor finals are the weak spot: the SB-104 manual warns they don't forgive overload or misadjustment the way tubes do, and Heath sold them only as a matched set of four. A dark display points first at low voltage to the display board. It's kit-built, so look hard at the solder work in the photos.
New to used rigs? How to check a used ham radio covers power out, receive, the finals and the display, and what power supply a used rig needs explains the 13.8 V supply most rigs need.
We haven’t been through this model’s listings yet. Search eBay and run every listing through the checklist above. Ask for a wattmeter reading into a dummy load on a few bands (powering on proves nothing about the transmitter), whether it hears signals on every band, and what filters and options are installed. Pass on any seller who won’t answer.
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