I am thinking of buying the Ameritron 600 watt solid state amp and was
wondering what opinions you all may have of it. Thanks

"Dave" wrote in message
news:W3%Qe.291004$x96.260755@attbi_s72...
I am thinking of buying the Ameritron 600 watt solid state amp and was
wondering what opinions you all may have of it. Thanks

You can read the reviews on eHam.

http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/603

You don't need a linear unless you're on 80 meters - then you really need a
biggie.

Why do you need one on 80? The reality is if you can hear the other guy, he
can hear you. Now if your ego requires that you have to be the first one in
the pile to break through, then I guess you need a big amplifier.

My pet peeve is hearing a DX station calling CQ DX and some high powered
asshole starts out "Good evening again Carlos, your almost as strong as you
were last night when we talked........" while some guy with a 100 watts
gets to set on their thumbs until Got Rocks is through bloviating.

Many are trying to get a new country while Mr. Got Rocks plays "watch this
you lowly peons". Yes! you asshole in New England, I am refering to you. You
splatter the entire DX window and have no regard for your fellow hams... Not
one time have I heard him say, "Carlos listen for KB2***, he is trying to
call you".

Boy, I am glad I got that out of my system. :)

"Hal Rosser" wrote in message
...

You don't need a linear unless you're on 80 meters - then you really need
a
biggie.

Dave wrote:
I am thinking of buying the Ameritron 600 watt solid state amp and was
wondering what opinions you all may have of it. Thanks

Make sure your antenna can handle 600 watts, and presents a near 50
ohm resistive match. The 4 MRF150 fets do not like mismatches on their
output. They are $125 each, and can fail, even tho they have VSWR
protection in the Amp. If you don't abuse the Amp it will do well.
I have never owned one, but homebrewed an Amp that was identical.
Since this is an antenna group, let us know what you intend to use.
Gary N4AST

On Tue, 30 Aug 2005 15:38:30 GMT, "Dave" wrote:

I am thinking of buying the Ameritron 600 watt solid state amp and was
wondering what opinions you all may have of it. Thanks

I've heard they make a nice little driver for a Henry 8K.

Yeah, is a pizzzer..
But I get a good laugh when I get through a pile up with 100 watts 10m all
the way off to Mongolia.
Went to sleep with a big grin knowing some of those KW big bucks bozo's
missed it just because
the were to busy blasting away instead of listening.
Sometimes it isn't just the money and power that gets the prize.
Enjoy your victories knowing it didn't cost thousands of bucks and dim your
lights.
Good Luck. K4TWO


"Fred W4JLE" wrote in message
...
Why do you need one on 80? The reality is if you can hear the other guy,
he
can hear you. Now if your ego requires that you have to be the first one
in
the pile to break through, then I guess you need a big amplifier.

My pet peeve is hearing a DX station calling CQ DX and some high powered
asshole starts out "Good evening again Carlos, your almost as strong as
you
were last night when we talked........" while some guy with a 100 watts
gets to set on their thumbs until Got Rocks is through bloviating.

Many are trying to get a new country while Mr. Got Rocks plays "watch this
you lowly peons". Yes! you asshole in New England, I am refering to you.
You
splatter the entire DX window and have no regard for your fellow hams...
Not
one time have I heard him say, "Carlos listen for KB2***, he is trying to
call you".

Boy, I am glad I got that out of my system. :)

"Hal Rosser" wrote in message
...

You don't need a linear unless you're on 80 meters - then you really need
a
biggie.

I've had mine for about 5 years and love it.

I highly recommend getting an LDG AT-1000 auto antenna tuner for it. Makes a
really slick combination and pretty much assures a flat load for the amp to
see. (Assuming you don't need 160m as the LDG doesn't do 160).

I tried some real torture tests on the LDG and it has been amazing...like
feeding a 40m inverted V on 80m....terrible idea and a rotten antenna...but
the LDG matched it right up. Very few auto-tuners can pass that particular
test.

The ALS-600 has excellent protection circuits. I have tested them on several
occasions when not paying attention. The load fault circuitry works very
well.

I have no reservation about recommending the ALS-600. I use it on both SSB
and CW, even RTTY at reduced power. I have used a TS-870s, FT-847 and
TS-2000 to drive it and had no problems. IMD measurements on PSK31
indicate -30 dB with the ALS-600 running 200w output, driven by the TS-2000.

Have fun. 73
....hasan, N0AN
"Dave" wrote in message
news:W3%Qe.291004$x96.260755@attbi_s72...
I am thinking of buying the Ameritron 600 watt solid state amp and was
wondering what opinions you all may have of it. Thanks

"Fred W4JLE" wrote in message
...
Why do you need one on 80? The reality is if you can hear the other guy,
he
can hear you. Now if your ego requires that you have to be the first one
in
the pile to break through, then I guess you need a big amplifier.

Depends. I have had 30 - 45 minute QSOs with EU stations while running
barefoot on 75. On the other hand, when I check into a local net, I run the
amp at 1/2 power, about 600W. There is one person on the net who does not
run an amp. Some weeks I only copy him 10 - 50 %. Others have the same
experience. These people are all within about 50 miles from me.

QST tested the Ameritron SS amp, and liked it. They also like the switching
power supply, which costs extra. I believe the linear supply is choke input,
unregulated. These are 48V supplies.

Tam/WB2TT

Most folks use 100 watts or less so you can talk to most people with the
same power level or less.
Antennas have the ability of amplifying the receiving station's signal to
you as well as your signal to them. (gain)
building and designing Antennas is a way to learn and and enjoy the hobby.
contrary to what some may say, you don't have to be an engineer to enjoy the
hobby.
If you need the amplifier (like on 80 meters at 9 pm when everyone is trying
to claim a freq for an impromptu net) - then its usually less stressful to
just switch it off until the band is less busy.