The original Swan 1011 "plain" above and the later relabeled Siltronix 1011B versions (not yet shown) are really a rig to work the Upper HF bands, starting at about 27MHz. A 10 meter Amateur Tranceiver with 11 meter CB RECEIVE-ONLY capacity as-built. The Siltronix 1011 plain, the Siltronix 1011B version and the plain Swan 1011 are the same basic unit with different cosmetics. The story goes that Hams and the ARRL made a hugh protest to Swan and when the first "Swan 1011" ad (shown in the Home Page Advertisement) was first seen in 73 Magazine. The rig was seen by Hams as nothing but a Swan CB tranceiver, when in fact it did contain the 10 Meter Amateur Band. Damage control kicked in back at Swan and the seperate Siltronix Company was formed to market the renamed rig.
The sales advertisements then depicted the 1011 rig renamed as Siltronix (circa early-mid 70's). The political heat died down and the Siltronix Brand tranceivers were brought out to the public, keeping a more practical safe distance from the original Swan Amateur Radio reputation. For decades, the early Siltronx radios were a bit of legend and myth... many having not seen one in person. One friend had an illusive 1011B which he sold before I saw or knew about it. I thought the first radio was the 1011B, never seeing anything before that for decades. Well, through the magic of the Internet and Ebay, we have seen the rare Swan 1011 a few times. Never an original Siltronix 1011 "plain" was ever seen or known about. Well, time and Ebay roots out all good things and the first original Siltronix 1011 plain that we have seen was offered up for auction in February of 2003.

Above is nice picture of a very complete Swan 1011 Station. The same rig as shown in the first Swan 1011 closeup above. Notice the very rare external 508 VFO (usable with Siltronix 1011B) and the VX-2 Vox unit (small black box on the side of the tranceiver). Complete with the manual, this is one of the few clean Swan 1011's known to exist today. We hope the lucky Ebay found owner keeps this one original and clean.

And now... we can move on to it's younger brother the almost exact (relabeled) Siltronix 1011 "plain" and Siltronix 1011B while viewing the latest picture above. The final output tube of the 1011B (and probably the plain 1011) version is a single 6LF6. There were five band switch positions for the early "plain" and relabeled 1011B rigs (which were later reduced down to two bands in the Siltronix C and D versions). One position is for the CB Band "Receive-Only mode" and four to cover the 10 Meter Amateur Band with tranceive capacity (from the factory). The Siltronix 1011 & 1011B radios were probably produced up through the early-mid 70's era when the "CB boom" really took off. I believe the plain & B versions also had the Octal type jack to use the ever quirky Swan Vox Unit, should you find one. The vox unit jack was not included in later model B&C Siltronix versions. The Swan 1011 and Siltronix 1011 (plain) labels were seen on very few units, consider them hens teeth to find. The Siltronix 1011B is also a rather rare rig, but the later built Siltronix 1011C&D models were thankfully built by the thousands.

Last Update: 02/19/03