One of things I take joy in is finding old tech that is still useful. This impulse isn’t limited to radio gear either. I have a collection of restored forestry tools, mostly axes, I accrued after looking for a decent axe at the local hardware stores and came away wanting.
So, in any event, I recently came across a Startek 2500 frequency counter for sale on eBay. I recall ads for these from around the time I became a ham in the late nineties. At some point the company disappeared. I believe Startek and Optoelectronics may have been the same company as they were both based in Ft. Lauderdale, FL and their designs were rather similar.
For $56, I decided to take a chance and bought the old Startek. I have no idea what these go for but I’ve looked at older frequency counters from other companies that still go for several hundred dollars used. For my purposes, mostly experimentation and field radio, this handheld unit is probably superior to a benchtop model anyhow.
A quick ops check after receiving the Startek proved the unit still worked. I had to power it from an external 12VDC source though as the internal batteries didn’t seem to take a charge. Those old batteries can be a source of grief so after the initial ops check I decided to do a teardown and inspect the internals.
Sure enough, the old nickel cadmium internal batteries were leaking corrosive material and needed to be removed. Removal wasn’t difficult. Probably a 10 minute job. I haven’t decided if I’ll replace them or not. For now, I’m content to run it off one of the many LiFePO4 batteries I have for powering portable equipment.
Was it worth the trouble? I think so. The Startek works as well as it ever did and is a solid piece of American made tech. As the photo above shows, it’s remarkably accurate considering this is probably about 20 years old. It might be off a bit on HF frequencies but I need to do more testing to validate one way or another.
Happen to have a manual for this unit? I’d love to get a copy of the documentation for this gadget so if you have a copy please leave a note in the comments.
Padre
The Orderwire 
Hi Padre, Thanks for posting this. My father had one of those and I inherited it. It works great. I used the same frequency you did and it was spot on. I am thinking the batteries are probably bad but I will take those out as well. I am new to the radios but now have nice equipment to play with. My ID is kk4bce
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Hi Padre,
Thanks for posting this! My father had one and I inherited it. I had to find an adapter that would work and used the same frequency and it works great! It was spot on. I think the batteries are probably bad and will take them out. My call sign is kk4bce. I am new to the radios but have some nice ones now to play with.
David
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Those old NiCads will leak just like alkalines will. If they leak too much, they’ll eventually damage the electronics. Best to replace that old pack when you get the chance. Thanks for the comment!
73,
Padre
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