you won't get any more power as the high voltage is 1600 volts in the 811 and 811 h and I think the 572 amp runs at 2200 volts.  by the way a set of 811's ( 3 of them) is $60 from ameritron, and 1 572 b is $60 from ameritron.  so 3 sets of 811 will cost the same as 1 set of 572's.

I have yet to wear out a tube befor I sold the amp. I still have a dozen or so 811's and the same  for 572's and even 6146's and 6lq6's that I bought for backup for different amps in the past, and never needed. they are in a box in the closet.

some folks say the 572's last longer, but I have never seen anything to prove it one way or another.  but save your money, run 811's and realize that a few watts for the last bit of smoke in your amp means nothing.

have a friend with an amp call you on the air and listen to his signal at 800 watts, then have him drop it to 700 watts, you can't hear the difference. if he drops it from 800 to maybe 350 or 400 watts you "might" notice the difference.


 The point is tune your amp for max output then drop the input a couple of watts and your tubes will last for ever.   going for every last bit of smoke all the time just makes the tubes run hot and splatter your signal all over the bands.and you can't hear the difference in a few watts.

also the folks at elecraft are comming out with  an 800 watt and a legal limit amp sometime in 2007, they are in FCC cert now. they will also be sold in kit form, so says the literature.around $5000 for the big guy

I always tune up in cw or fm.  On side band if you don't make a noise, there is no output. ( no carrier in SSB) so the best you can do is helllllllloooooooo or a whistle.

this will allow the meter to catch up with the signal being produced and give you a more accurate reading.

also most amps will dip the plate and peak the load at the max output of the amp.  In other words I tune for max output and then check the dip and tweek the plate to be sure I am ok.

 I also back the power down by a couple watts of input, and then the tubes last for ever.  When you have to pay $500 to $600 per tube, you get careful..any how, you need to tune up in a mode ( cw, fm or some rigs have a tune mode) that produces a carrier.

the truth is that if you buy a tentec radio, with their 30 day return policy and return the radio, the will not sell you a second radio.

reason for this is that you and I know folks that would buy an orion for this or that contest, then return it and then "buy" another rig, say a jupiter for an rtty contest and return it. etc.

so if you decide you want a ten tec, the talk to folks in sales and talk to friends and such and be sure you really want one.

Ten tec supports their rigs vewry well, and they answer their phones and will help you. give them a call and get it straight from the horses mouth.

I have no problem walking a non contester through the exchange. I think this may be how you get more folks into contesting too.  I only takes a minute for you to explain the exchange.. so yes, please call me if you hear me.  

two things,

alot of times I can hear a kh 7 on the back of the beam and a w1 talking to europe on the front and neither can hear either and I get both.

the other item is think of the fellow on Guam or south cook or even hawaii. every time they get on the air they are "DX" and get spotted and off they go. Some would love to move to 6 land because who ever needs yet Another 6 station in the log ( Except for CQP and WPX) so every time you get on to visit with a friend, you get a pile up.  It could get old after a few years.

yes, they are sending them now. got to their web site, and you will see the extensive update.

its all about the current.  11 amps on 220 is much easier on the power drop than the 22 amps on 110 volts.  the lights don't dim and the power in the amp is more solid.  I had an electrician run in 1 220 and 2 new 110 circuits into the shack along with the 2 existing 110's

and 22 amps on a 15 or 20 amp circuit can be a fire hazzard.  switch to 220, it will work easier

my first thought is to try it into a dummy load. see if it does it there.  I have a Ma5b up and you should realy put up a better antenna, look at the 3 or 4 element steppir, I compare them directly and the ma5b is usuall 2 or 3 sunits down from the steppir 3 ele I have up.  the ma5b is a good little antenna but with the pw 1 ( I have the 2-kl) and they are a pleasent to use amp.. but you are using a brime rig setup into a hamburger antenna. put up a small tower or a roof tower and get on the air.  I used my ma5b for a while and now with the steppir I only use it for my back up radios when I have a visitor on the second rig.  take a look at the antenna on the roof tower here..

http://hometown.aol.com/catfishtwo/N6AJR.html

I dont't climb ( disabled ) so this was all done by friends. but my first cal on the steppir ( barefoot) was to honduras, and my second call was to a ham in japan, toyoko, in his car, on a hamstick, mobile in down town toyoko... yea it works.

back to the problem, try the dummy load first and see if it is radio or coax /antenna.  then if that works try a new coax ( rg8 or better, I reccommend lmr400 for good results.) and I doubt if it is antenna. it sounds like a relay hanging up.  do you run an ALC line, if so try running with out that. and manually verify you dont't over drive it.

good luck

I never use rg58 unless it is called for in a coil for a dipole or something as a trap. I use rg8x for short runs in the shack ( jumpers) and use lmr400 for my runs. the loss on rg58 is not only on transmit, you have the same loss on recieve and a much smaller signal to work with.

use the best you can.. rg58 is nominally rates a max of 500 watts into low swr.  rg8x is like 800 or 900 watts into low swr, and rg8 is usually legal limit but lmr 400 is much higher.

I buy my coax in bulk I probably have 4 500 foot spools of 8x, 1 spool (500 feet) of 58, and 2300 feet of lmr400, less what I have used . I get the 8x on ebay  for 500 feet at $85 delivered and I got the 2300 feet of lmr 400 for $595 delivered. I even have a 500 spool of 59 here somewhere for matching stubs.

you can find it if you look and it  is nice to have some on hand when you need it.


No sense spending thousands on a radio, and an amp and then save $30 on a piece of coax. It don't make sense to me to use any thing but Good coax.

YMMV

if is a contest, it always a 59 or 599 ( 5nn) and some other tidbit like zone or serial number or one even uses year licensed or age..

so it might be 59 27 or some have longer, like 59 tom east bay section  number 305..the next would be 306 etc.

they are always 59 because you set up the software for that then its call, tab tab serial number and enter, ready for next call..

if you can't afford the best, then spend $679 for an ameritron 811 or 811 h. it will give you enough power to get out of the noise and with a decent antenna ( beam  on 20-10 and a good 160 -40 vert like the gap voyager) it will really help with being heard in pileups, it gets you out of the noise.

if you can afford it, go for the alpha 87a, right off the bat. it is a wonderful piece of gear. hook it up and let it take care of it self.  its a no brainer. it gives you 1500 watts on 160 to 10 with no thinking..

what is your pleasure.  I have had 15 or more amps in the last 5 years and the alpha 87 a is the keeper.

the alpha 87a is a true autotune, auto band switch, works flawlessly.

kind of like a ic2 kl and an at 500 all in 1 box ( PW!??) but works with any radio..automatically.

I have an alpha 87a and it is a beautiful thing.  virtually transparent in operation. turn it on, wait 3 minutes, go to operate, talk on radio, 160 to 10 m, no tune, no click, no noise, quiet fan, 1500 watts  and you don't do a thing.  I use it with vox on the orion and its like qsk on ssb.

I always tune for max power out on a dual needle swr /power meter. you find that max power out is also where the plate dips and the load maxes.

I usually start tuning with about 1/2 power from the rig ( say 30 watts) and get the linear close then bring up the transciever power to the normal operating output (around 55 or 60 watts,) I set it by the reccommended  grid current,( rule of thumb is 70 % of the grid scale, ie the scale is 0 to 100 I max at 70 mils)  Maximum.

then with power raised I touch up the tune and load,  verifying the dip etc, and check the grid current, then operate..

this is done in 3 or 4 second pulses, as a tube out of resonance gets hot fast, give it time to cool down. also don't try for every single possible watt from the amp. an amp run at 90 % max may live for years, but one used at 110% will smoke quickly.  

just my bad habits , YMMV