|
New to Ham Radio?
My Profile
Community
Articles
Forums
News
Reviews
Friends Remembered
Strays
Survey Question
Operating
Contesting
DX Cluster Spots
Propagation
Resources
Calendar
Classifieds
Ham Exams
Ham Links
List Archives
News Articles
Product Reviews
QSL Managers
Site Info
eHam Help (FAQ)
Support the site
The eHam Team
Advertising Info
Vision Statement
About eHam.net
|
|
You can
write your own review of the Yaesu Quadra VL-1000.
|
KE6BQW
|
Rating: 4/5
|
Jan 15, 2012 08:21
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
GREAT Amp.
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
I bought this VL-1000 Quadra to run with my FT-950. Since its a Yaesu transceiver(exciter) so this amplifier is a plug and play with it. Works GREAT with it.
LIKES:
-NO tuning, warm ups, grid/plate to worry about. Follows Yaesu exciters everywhere. Will do on other brands too with little more programming /and comes with a cable ready for mod for other rigs.
-Superior protection againts hi SWR antennas and other internal mulfunctions. Does a self check of all its modules at start up.
-Setable Hi and Low output power.
-SWR Graph display is great! Shows both swr before and after the Tuner is in line.
Additionaly it has 4 other selectable displays.
DONT LIKES:
-Fans too noisy for the unit to be with the rest of my equipment in front of me. Positioned it under the desk to minimize noise. Im sure this noise level is the best compromise the engineers have settled for in efficiently cooling this $4k investment protected even in 24hr contest use.
-No thru antenna if powered off. So when you're tired on listening to the fans, you cant just turn it off and still operate. You have to move coax around to take it off line. Im sure they did this to protect this $4K investment from damage being in line.
-------
I do not have any problems with the mentioned hi 220V. My house voltage averages from 236VAC to 243VAC.
Im speculating that one of the major causes of other members units' transient resistors blowing is forgeting to make sure that the main power button is off before plugging the VP-1000, and that rush of power is probably too much for them.
73
N4GDX
|
|
AJ4RW
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Dec 9, 2011 20:35
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Great companion for the FT-2000
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
This amp continues to be a great performer. The reason I'm writing this review is to help everyone who wants to know what buck boost transformer I'm using and have been using for the past year without any problems. This is the buck boost transformer I purchased: SB12N.500N. It’s made by Federal Pacific. It’s the saving grace to the quadra for me. My incoming line voltage is 250 VAC + and the power company won’t do anything about it. Yaesu says that the voltage shouldn’t exceed 240 VAC or you chance blowing some protection resistors in the power supply. Here's the website for my buck boost transformer:
http://www.temcoindustrialpower.com/products/Transformers/FT2004.html
Hope this helps Randy AJ4RW
|
|
VK3ZAZ
|
Rating: 3/5
|
Nov 19, 2011 02:16
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Learning curve
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
Bought it second hand, set it up and turned it on. Got the dreaded 1005 error which I now know was because I had not turned the remote switch on. Second problem was the 1003 trip alarm. A torid 48 hours followed checking out the amp to see why the fet imbalance occured. The long and short, is that I did a full bias realignment for each matched pair. 210 mA and 400 mA easily done by lifting top cover and removing the four 48 VDC leads and placing an ammeter in series with each one in turn and setting the idle curent.
This seemed to fix the imbalance issue where 50 watts will trip the amp off if unbalanced. My VDD volts are right up on 49++volts and I intend to set VR102 down to 48.0 and also consider an isolation transformer to reduce the Aussie 245 volts to the suggested 220 volts to stop the power supply current limiters from blowing.
At this stage I am running the amp within our legal limit on the low power posiiton which puts 35 volts on the drains. So far so good, the PA's draw up to 35 amps and there is no tripping. I don't at this stage need to run on the high voltage tap. As to how to run and control a 950 and a 2000 unsure at this stage as you can't have both on band change data transfer. I'm thinking for HF to run the 950 with the VL1000 which as people say turns it into a high power transceiver. the FT2000D at 200 watts accounts for itself well on the bands. I am a 6M man and hate the idea of running the power supply to switch the 6M antenna through to the FT2000. I will remedy that. MORE LATER.
|
|
AJ4RW
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Sep 26, 2011 06:56
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Definitely a spoiler
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
I purchased the Quadra in February of 2010 from HRO in Atlanta. This amp will certainly spoil you, no more plate and load adjustments. All I have to do is turn on my FT-2000 and the Quadra is on and it’s ready to go. The tuner had to be repaired and was done under warranty even though UPS made some money off the deal in shipping charges. Down about 2 weeks. During remodeling in the summer of 2010, I was putting in the oven receptacle and tested the voltage coming in and got 252 VAC, not good. Contacted the electric company and to no avail I contacted Yaesu repair (Tim) and he suggested I purchase a buck-boost transformer which brought the voltage down to about 230 VAC. The Quadra has never missed a beat. The only improvement for Yaesu is to establish a repair facility in the eastern half of the US to deliver repairs for all their equipment!
73 Randy AJ4RW
|
|
N7KJ
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Jul 6, 2011 09:54
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Update
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
I've never had a problem with any of the Quadras I have owned in the past, and I never had a problem with the one I currently have. I just got a little worried about the power supply failures reported in this forum. All failures were apparently caused by high line voltage, usually higher than 240V. My line voltage is 248V to 250V, so I could possibly fall in the same category in the future.
I decided to order a few of the buffer resistor for the power supply from Yaesu (just in case..), and to help preventing any possible future damage to the power supply I also bought a "Buck" Transformer. I installed the "Buck" Transformer in front of the outlet feeding the Quadra. The voltage going to the amplifier is now between 220V and 225V, depending on the input voltage.
The Quadra has been reported in some reviews as having a slight occasional "ringing" at times when the amp is used at full power. I had noticed this too from time to time. After I had installed the "Buck" Transformer, the "ringing" has disappeared. I had not noticed this earlier, since this slight "ringing" is heard only sporadically and only after some time of use at full power. I did use the Quadra for several hours at full power last weekend, and the "ringing" is completely gone. I account this to the correct lower line voltage the amp is now used on.
I paid $189 for the transformer including shipping. Any repair performed by Yaesu on the VP-1000 will my much more expensive, and the shipping charge to get the unit to Yaesu and back home is not cheap either (let alone the risks involved shipping the unit).
The transformer was quick and easily installed, and I sleep much better now. I can only recommend to any Quadra owner to do the same. 73, Scott N7KJ
|
|
VA7OJ
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Mar 13, 2011 23:44
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Still hale & hearty after 12+ years
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
|
It is now nearly 12 1/2 years since I purchased my Quadra, and it is still going strong. It has never skipped a beat. It even operates correctly with an exciter connected to either input (1 or 2).
|
|
K2CAN
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Feb 16, 2011 05:29
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Excellent Amp
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
As Scott N7KJ mentioned in his review, I too added a Buck transformer on the AC line. The amp has provided excellent signal and audio reports from most every station I have had a QSO with when running it. I don't find the fan noise objectionable at all. Mine is very quiet. I have two 10 inch table top fans running in the room and the amp/power supply fans are much quieter than those. Even with the room fans off, I can hardly hear the amp/power supply ones.
It been a great help on 6m, especially when band conditions are poor. Although it is pricey, I highly recommend it as a great amp for 160-6m. It's almost plug and play when used with my FT-2000.
73, Mark K2CAN
|
|
N8NN
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Sep 21, 2010 11:34
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Quadra Repair
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
I have had my Quadra for nine years, and I like it very much. It works as advertized. QSK is good up to about 40 WPM with a modern transceiver that has a QSK delay adjustment. I use QSK all the time. The antenna tuner is good for SWR up to 2:1. I use all coax fed and matched antennas, so the antenna tuner is not a problem for me. I estimate I have several thousand hours of operating time on the amp.
It has failed three times, all for the same reason. Resistors R2A, R2B or R2C fail in the power supply due to the surge when turning the amp on. The symptom is "everything dead". An external surge protector will not prevent this failure.
The first two failures were repaired by Yaesu. Shipping is expensive. I repaired the amp myself after the third failure. It takes about 4 hours to replace the resistors. The most difficult part is figuring out how to disassemble the power supply to reach the circuit board.
I will email you the step-by-step instructions if you want to make this repair yourself. The resistors are 5.6 ohm 5 W ceramic, Yaesu part number J31379004. My email is N8NN@arrl.net.
Yes, I would recommend this amp even with the failures.
|
|
W4PIG
|
Rating: 1/5
|
May 27, 2010 17:29
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
POOR
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
|
traded for a quadra amp used it one night put my alpha back in line. the quadra power supply has to be on before you can receive or transmit thru it. the fans sound like a heard of horses when you key it up. the disply is awuful at a angle hard to see. it puts out good power but it is far from being a $4000.00 amp.
|
|
G3XPO
|
Rating: 3/5
|
May 21, 2010 12:41
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Less disppointed - for now
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
I have had the amp fixed by Yaesu.
To Yaesu's credit they collected the amp and fixed it FOC and it was back within one week - I am very grateful for such fine service from Yaesu.
This was arranged by Martin Lynch - who always provides incomparable service.
The fault with my amp was again a limiting resistor which had blown. There are three of these resistors that limit the surge into the bank of large capacitors each time the PSU is switched on using the circuit breaker on the back.
My amp had three resistors although some amps only have two, with a wire link. I assume these are even more prone to blowing.
EU with thei 230V or less, do not have this problem, nor apparently does the US with their 220V.
However the UK can have mains voltage up to 250V and some UK Quadras I believe do blow their limiting resistors.
So let's see how long it lasts this time.
These limiting resistors appear to be the Quadra's Achilles heel in the UK at least. This is such a shame because in my case it takes the edge off what is otherwise an outstanding amplifier.
|
|
If you have any questions, problems, or suggestions about Reviews,
please email your Reviews Manager.
|
|
|
|
|
