On Thu, 10 Jul 2008, Scott Dorsey wrote:

wrote:
I have a Heathkit SB-401 transmitter that I=92m using as a =93slave=94 to a=
n
SB-301 receiver. I=92d like to operate the transmitter independently,
but need a set of crystals to do so.

QUESTION: Does anyone know of a source for Heathkit SB series crystal
sets aside from E-Bay?

Sure, call ICM. Tell them you have an SB-401 and what frequencies you
want, and they'll cut them for you. Probably about twenty bucks each.

Otherwise you can get junk crystals at a hamfest and recut them for
whatever frequencies you want, but it's a pain.

Except they aren't in a holder that can be opened by unscrewing them.
Few are likely to tackle sealed crystals, too much trouble to open (and
then close afterwards) and of course the crystal blank is not held in
place with pressure, so that's even more work.

ANd of course, you never could grind a crystal to just any frequency,
at least not at home. You could open up crystal holders held together
with screws and grind the blank a tad (or add a bit of lead from a pencil
to lower the frequency) but you had to start with a crystal on a frequency
quite close to what you needed, and this only allowed an incremental
change. Move it too much, and the person at home couldn't do it evenly
enough.

Michael VE2BVW