Unimetrics Sea Hawk 40

[BroadsBen]

So the latest addition to my collection is an old AM, Unimetrics Sea Hawk 40.

I've had a Quasar MCB 400 & the Jesan KT-5005 for many years now so the Sea Hawk will be a nice addition (when I get it working )
viewtopic.php?f=29&t=14143

I haven't had a chance to test it out thoroughly yet, but it has no audio on RX and no TX (even though the TX LED lights on pressing the PPT) So I'm hoping it may just be a case of replacing the audio IC.

Comparing the Quasar and Unimetrics models, apart from one being UK FM and the other AM MID, the most obvious difference is the black knobs and green display of the Seahawk. The next noticeable difference is the Seahawk has a PA facility, where as the Quasar has high and low power on the first 3 position switch. Bottom position of the switch on both models switches the radio to marine/WX (US weather band) mode. Interestingly when the Quasar is in this mode the LED display goes off, whereas the Seahawk's stays on, like on the Jesan KT-5005 (which can be a tad confusing if you forget to switch back to CB mode after)
I'm not %100 sure on the RX frequencys on the WX band on the Seahawk, but from looking at the crystals it properly receives on around: 162.550mhz, 162.475mhz & 162.400mhz.

Also like the Jesan KT-5005, the Sea Hawk 40 doesn't have a separate VHF antenna input.

I would be interested to know if anyone else has or had the Sea Hawk, and or has anymore info on it?

[14CS06]

Hello

Uniden PC-43







@+
Claude

[BroadsBen]

That Uniden PC43 looks nice, Will have to keep an eye open for one of those.
Thanks for sharing that :-)

[The Collector]

That Quasar looks mighty familiar

I've still got the other one on ebay. I'm soooo tempted to do a respray and reletter job on it but the doc's have banned me from spraying (miserable gits lol).

I've been after a nice boxed white Jesan myself, but the last one that came up went for silly money when I hadn't got any

[BroadsBen]

That Quasar looks mighty familiar

I've still got the other one on ebay. I'm soooo tempted to do a respray and reletter job on it but the doc's have banned me from spraying (miserable gits lol).

I've been after a nice boxed white Jesan myself, but the last one that came up went for silly money when I hadn't got any

That Quasar, I've had since the 90s. You don't see too many KT-5005's on ebay that often, especially boxed.
I'v seen your other Quasar on ebay. Have you kept a nice boxed one then?

[The Collector]

Thought it was one I sold a couple of months back. It had a similar glued-on damaged piece to the side.

Yeah, I've got a mint, boxed ex-display one from a closed-down fishing shop, plus the one on ebay. Not bad little radios, apart from the fact they go yellow through UV rays.

[BroadsBen]

Thought it was one I sold a couple of months back. It had a similar glued-on damaged piece to the side.

Yeah, I've got a mint, boxed ex-display one from a closed-down fishing shop, plus the one on ebay. Not bad little radios, apart from the fact they go yellow through UV rays.

That's a coincidence, mine got damaged in a box during a house move several years ago unfortunately, but nothing a bit of super glue couldn't fix .

Oddly enough, my Quasar has not see much sunlight over the past 20+ years but its still dis-coloured.

You may have noticed that the Sea Hawk has been re-sprayed white at some point during its life.

[BroadsBen]

So I've managed to repair the Sea Hawk!

It was a bit of a ''trial & error'' fix.
Due to the faults being no sound, no RX, no TX and the PA not working, I wondered if it may be a faulty audio IC so I changed that first although that didn't cure the problem.
I then changed some of the electrolytic capacitors, as I've been told that they tend to go on the Uniden based rigs. That didn't fix the faults either so I then tried changing the TA7310P IC and in my heist to see if this worked I inadvertently (foolishly) ''tested'' the reverse-polarity protection diode by sticking the plug in the wrong way around.
After replacing the diode as well, I was pleased to find the rig was now working again!

I've also tested out the WX channels and as I had previously assumed it receives on the first three of the ten US marine weather channels:
WX1 162.550, WX2 162.400 & WX3 162.475

Something I have noticed is that the squelch can't be opened on the WX channels, unlike on the Quasar?

It was mentioned on a previous thread a few years ago about changing the crystals on these type of rigs for different VHF marine channels, so that's possibly something I may try doing.

Finally, the Sea Hawk didn't come with mic, but I spotted a original one on ebay the other day in a job lot of other bits & bobs, so fingers that should be arriving soon.

[superstar]

ah good ya got it going, i’ll give you a rig check next time i hear ya

[LeakyFeeder]

The Seahawk was one if my first AM rigs back in the day... still have it although its now faulty... also bought an 'as new' boxed Seahawk sometime back... much prefer the green ch display!

[BroadsBen]

ah good ya got it going, i’ll give you a rig check next time i hear ya

Thanks Superstar!

The Seahawk was one if my first AM rigs back in the day... still have it although its now faulty... also bought an 'as new' boxed Seahawk sometime back... much prefer the green ch display!

Yeah it's a nice little rig but if I'm honest, I still prefer the red display and the Quasar personally.
An 'as new' in the box is nice to have. I'd be having a go at fixing ya faulty one if it was me


The replacement mic arrived. I've cleaned it all up and I'm quite pleased with the result:

[The Collector]

Here's a pic' of my shiny and WHITE Quasar I've shrunk the file size right down so apologies if it looks pixellated.

I've readvertised the other yellowed and flaky-lacquered one on ebay but included a coffin mic' and tatty power lead now.

[rpcomms]

Marine cb operations were quite popular in the states Sonar being one mfr of marine grade cb radios
Australia is another place cb marine used.

I remember the UK version popular with local fishermen back in 80's using cb in boats on CB channel UK CH-11 in Burry Port Harbor near LLanelli and Tenby in wales.
It was fun chatting to the boats on a cb handheld seeing what they had caught and how far out to sea they had been,or just listening in
Nobody messed around on that channel either, seemed to be taken serious as the cb marine channel in that area.

27mhz FM,marine use was were the market of sales were for these types of cb radios,as vhf was quite expensive ,needed a exam etc and no chit chat on VHF back then.

Now cb a bit more quieter Im surprised boaters haven't gone back to cb radio for personal communication,as marine band not really suited for chit chat and range was pretty good on 27mhz at sea,maybe a new marine fm cb channel for boaters again?
I do know GME still do Marine 27mhz, Am mode

You can still get 27mhz marine grade(salt water proof) cb antenna's for your boat in UK still!

here https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sirio-M27-S2 ... 1377790046
here http://www.shakespeare-marine.uk.com/sh ... B-Antenna/

they not cheap but are protected against salt water corrosion etc for sea use.

great post,was great too see these sets again!

73 Rob

[14CS06]

Hello

Unimetrics Sea Hawk 40 on Ebay



https://www.ebay.fr/itm/Unimetrics-Sea- ... rk:41:pf:0

@+
Claude