"Pete KE9OA" ) writes:
I don't think type acceptance applies to equipment applied for Amateur Radio
use.........think of all of the hams that have built thier own amplifiers.
Drive power also shouldn't be an issue..............if you have a QRP rig,
you should be allowed to design your own amplifier or use a commercial
amplifier that has low drive requirements. Using it on 11 Meters is a
different story, but the Amateur frequencies should be an exception. I don't
use the myself, instead, using a barefoot 100 watt rig on the HF bands, it
eliminates the "other box", but everybody has preferences.............

Pete

Decades ago, you'd open up the Lafayette catalog, and see amplifiers on
the CB page. They'd have relatively low output, but then they only required
5W drive. And they'd all say "Illegal for Class D citizen band use".

IN other words, they were being sold for such use, with the disclaimer
so Lafayette could at least say they warned people.

There were plenty of other examples.

So in the late seventies your FCC introduced a law to clamp down on
those amplifiers for illegal use. The issue wasn't to restrict amateurs,
the issue was that many an amplifier was using the guise of being
an amateur amplifier to cloke that it was intended for the CB market.

Michael VE2BVW

"Dennis" wrote in message
oups.com...
Thanks, Jon. There's a lot of confusing information on the web about
FCC rules regarding amps. My understanding is that in the U.S. you
can't have a linear amp with less than 50 watts drive power? I have a
10 meter mobile rig running off a power supply at home with 10 watts AM
and I believe 25 watts SSB. The palomar does not meet these drive
rules (5-25 watts), plus I seriously doubt it was issued an FCC type
acceptance, so it would be illegal to use it. I could be wrong here,
so please correct me if I am.

So it seems I can't put ANY type of amp on my 10 meter rig because of
it's low power. I may as well pack it away until the sun cycle
improves. It's pretty useless the way things are now, but damn can it
reach out when the sun activity is favorable! (RCI-2950)

Also, I heard these black market amps are really dirty as far as
interference goes. I definitely don't need to be upsetting the
neighbors. They wonder about enough as it is. :-) I woldn't blame
anyone for using this amp for QRP, but its dirty output could really
create problems not only with the neighbors but with the FCC.

I also heard this amp is a real current hog - at least 20 amps when set
on low (it's obviously not very efficient).

So, I agree with Jon that if I were to buy a linear amp, the extra
money for a good quality, reputable brand amateur radio amp is money
well spent. Clean, efficient operation really costs, though!

Glad I posted this, as I totally forgot about the minimum drive power
rule. Doing your homework can really pay off sometimes. :-) Thanks
to all for your help and advice.