The test is easy it took me only 10 days of study to pass the test.
Try Ham test on line.

Why do you say the amp is not FCC Certified? The FCC had to approve the amp before it could be offered for sale back in the 1970’s, so they had to meet specific standards

What makes you think that the old amplifiers are illegal?  When they were made they had to be approved by the FCC. You just could not use them for CB.  But they were legal for use on the business band frequencies.
So the amplifier itself is not illegal. What makes it a problem is what frequency you use the amp on. But we all know where most of the amps will be used, CB.

I live in a rural area too. The only VHF/UHF SSB activity was from Dallas, 200+ miles to the South West or some other larger city in a 200 to 250 mile circle from me in Oklahoma. So unless there was a band opening you could forget 2M or 70CM SSB work.  One thing that I noticed, was that an amplifier was required to work SSB. Nothing less than 100 watts and a good antenna. I ran about 425 watts with a Cushcraft 32-19 B 19 element antenna for 2 meters.

If you have the room why can't you make a full wave dipole, and wouldn't it be better than a quarter wave.?

I am a CB'er from the 1970's I had a Johnson Viking Vallant and a good ham receiver. The local CB'ers talked me out of getting my ham license. They fed me a line of BS. Dammed CB'ers.
I would have had my license 8 to 10 years earler. and I already had the equipment. Dammed CB'ers.

I am using a DB-224 mast to hold my antennas.  Do you think it is strong enough to hold ? I cut the second part of the DB-224 mast and have a 4ft extension I could use to add a little more space between my Mosley CL-33 and the Cushcraft A3WS. I am getting a lot of interaction  Only on 10M. All of the other bands are just fine, on the two antennas.

You can see the antennas with the mast without the extinction at my web page.  ka5row.com

Quote from W4KVW

  Made in USA = TEN-TEC = "UGLY RADIOS"!

CLAYTON
W4KVW
"ICOM RULES"



You are wrong UGLY = "Kenwood TS-2000"!

Is seem that nothing is made in the USA. Go to any store and look where every thing comes from.
CHINA. So much so if things soured between us and China the store shelves would be empty. And we no longer have the manufacturing base to replace it with. Sad Sad Sad

About the only kits I think that would be sellable would be Tube RF amplifiers. Something like the Heathkit SB 200 or the SB 220. Modern transceivers are far to complicated. And most people do not have the test equipment or expertise to even conceder such a task.
 
But you could buy the rights to produce exact replicas from Heathkit/Drake and offer a one time run of a past transceiver as a novelty, but be prepared for sticker shock. That exact replica of the Heathkit SB 101 or Drake 4 series could set you back $2500 or more. I am sure you could sell a few 1000 of them, just because it would be cool to have a 2009 model of a 30 to 40 year old radio. But once that select group of hams buy that initial run of equipment, sales will drop to almost nothing.  As a average ham I would spend what money I have on modern technology, and leave the novelty to those who can afford it.  

It it is a cool thought that most of us have had. It would be nice to go back in time and get one, just to have it.

Any thing can be 100% replicated. It just depends on how much you are willing to spend.

TenTec:  I have a TenTec 238 A and it has never arched, not even on 160 meters. All others that I have had worked fine, with the exception on 160 meters with the amp on, they would all arch at about 300 watts. I have maxed out my TL-922 A at 1300 watts on 160 and it does just fine. The other tuners I have owned were all full legal limit capable tuners.

First of all your filament transformer isn't designed for 4 tubes it may work for a wile but it will eventually fail. You will be drawing too much current. The same goes for the plate transformer.  This is just my opinion without looking at the specs of the amp.

 I did this with a CB amp in the early 1980's the hole was in the chassis so I just put in a second sweep tube, socket and the necessary parts and it worked fine, for about a month. Then total failure of the transformer. I knew it would happen, but did it anyway. $60 down the drain. I would thank twice about doing that on a $800 amp. That is a far cry from $60.

Yea they are, Real Ham Radios

Is a digital camera a real camera?  No Film

Is a HDTV a real television?  No tubes and not B&W

Is a gas or electric stove a real stove? No Wood or Coal

Is your gas powered lawnmower a real lawnmower?  Or a real push mower

Is a gas BBQ grill a real grill or is a charcoal one the real thing.

The list goes on and on.

25 years ago something made of plastic was considered cheep, now every thing is plastic.

Did you check to see if the safety lock is in place. There is a spring loaded flap that keeps the Hazer from coming down the tower. You should have a  steel cable attached to it and must pull down on it to get it past each frame work support. When I move my Hazer up and down I put a 3 ft long peace of 4x4 wood block through the tower about 2 ft above head height. Just in case something happens and the Hazer and all the antenna hardware should suddenly come down real fast. Just a safety thing you should consider when standing under it when working on it.

See my Hazer at KA5ROW.COM

The green  nylon string came from Atwoods farm type store they are all over the South. I am sure other places have several colors of the string.

I have done that on 144.2 and on 432.1. SSB, but not on HF