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| Reviews Summary for Yaesu Quadra VL-1000 |
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You can
write your own review of the Yaesu Quadra VL-1000.
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VA7OJ
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 4, 2008 23:27
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10th anniversary!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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My Quadra has just passed its 10th anniversary in my station, and is now on its 5th Icom exciter (an IC-7700). It is still serving me flawlessly.
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KE4EX
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 25, 2008 21:23
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Great Product
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I have used this amp on 160-80-40-20-17
I run it with 50 watts drive.
I have the Low set at 500 watts
and the high set at 1000 watts.
--Set up the amp into a dummy load.--
The tuner is fast, protection system is quick.
I am very pleased with this amp.
Follows my FT2K around like a puppy.
As for the company, evey time I call Tim has been johnny on the spot. Even follows up my call with a email (that a changeI can live with).
Well done Yaesu.
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WD9IDV
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 6, 2008 11:14
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Still Going Strong!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Still going strong with no problems after seven years of operation. I use it almost everyday at 1100 - 1250 watts output. When I operated RTTY and SSTV I always ran it at a kilowatt. When brand new I did have a bad MRF-150 transistor, but Yaesu did replace it and has never shown any problems since being repaired seven years ago.
I run two radios into the amplifier. The first being my "workhorse" the Yaesu FT-920. The second radio is a Kenwood TS-570DG. I use an Ameritron ALB-702 amplifier buffer interface with the Kenwood radio. I have no problems using two radios with the Quadra. Works great and as expected if you read your manual.
Closing Comments:
I love this amplifier. It is very well built. The insides are a work of art. Solid Japanese electronic build quality. The control cables that were included could have been better though.
As to the price, I think it is reasonable. For the level of sophistication, quality, and technical expertise built into this amplifier, it will be money well spent over the course of its life.
Robert WD9IDV
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NB2A
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Rating: 3/5
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Feb 8, 2008 17:15
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Ok but too pricy and not fully functional as advertised
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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First off it wont as stated by another reviewer easily do 2 radios at once as claimed. It comes up with error codes that are mentioned in the manual but do not always correspond with the current condition that is displayed. For example while doing the 10/12 meter mod on mine after finding 2 previous owners did not do it the amp kept giving me #1005 error code which relates to supply voltage. Supply voltage was 48 volts as called for so obviously this error code has other meaning. After calling Yaesu and actually getting a knowledgeable person they tell me to switch rear remote switch and magic it reset the secret error code!If you do try to run 2 radio alc lines on mine it locks up the display making it unable to even switch inputs on the amp! I did get my Quadra running now with some effort on my Icom 7800. It even follows the bands as well as power on/off with it.This is done with band data obviously just as it does with my Yaesu MKV. Is it worth the new price or even used price? I am still not fully decided it is after 2 months of use.Seems to have too many secret issues going on and with a service manual and tech notes around for it you are flying blind in my view.I have always owned Yaesu but now it seems time to integrate more Icom in my shack.The 7800 over the 9000d pushed me over it seems. Now this Quadra seems to make me realize my decision was correct to switch my thinking!One more point even though you can split the supply from the amp the amp weighs about the same as the supply quite heavy!The supply control cables are also flimsy at best where they make connections to each other too.Overall amp is in need of redesign!
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AB4D
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 23, 2008 17:51
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Great Amp, Perfect Match for your Yaesu HF.
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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Purchased this amp used to go along with my FT-1000mp Mk.V. The amp works great and requires very little drive to reach 1KW+. The amplifier fans are a little noisy, which increase in speed upon transmit. However, I am getting used to them. The information display is a very nice feature with a screen that will report your peak and average power, SWR: bargraph and numerically, and amperage drawn from the 50 volt power supply, or you can switch from the SWR bargraph over to view the power supply voltage. You can also change the entire display to show just peak/avg power and SWR numerically, or peak power and SWR nemerically. There also is a screen which is a SWR Spam Monitor, that provides a 100khz chart of your antenna bandwidth with and without using the built in tuner. If you are a fan of Yaesu gear, you will love this amp. Using it is like having a 1kw transceiver.
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K3ICH
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 21, 2008 20:49
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Five Years, working fine
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Admittedly, I don't use the amp for every QSO, but when needed, it has been the ultimate in simplicity. Normally it is paired with a "Field, but I just ran it last weekend in the January VHF contest with a PRO III exciter (50 MHz) on input #2. Most contacts were at "low" power (500 watts) and whenever a repeat was requested, the extra 3db was instantly there to make the difference. I didn't bother to hook up the bandswitching/keying cable so I'd just push the F-SET button and manually key the PRO on six. Got many unsolicited "great audio" reports, so I'm sure there's no RFI problems with this set-up.
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W8DMC
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 20, 2008 18:42
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New, Used, Repaired or needing work
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Buy one. The only concern one will have is the associate equipment that surrounds this quality amp! A start is the FT-1000MP MARK V. Together you shall find versatility, quality, adaptation, performance, time trusted workmanship, taste, and great audio that keeps on giving day after day, month after month, year, after year. Life is short, much too short to fiddle, turn, tune, set define, balance and work to simply communicate with another. Save your money, buy one amplifier; install a 220 Line a fire off round after round quality audio strength. MD-200, Heli, Sure, they all must slide along a wave of strength. Looks, design, and aesthetics counts in life also.
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VA7OJ
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 18, 2007 12:52
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Update to my March 2006 review
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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My Quadra has just passed its 9th anniversary in my shack, and is still chugging along - with an IC-756Pro3 exciter.
73,
Adam VA7OJ/AB4OJ
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K9ZTV
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Rating: 5/5
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Jul 28, 2007 13:45
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Quadra & FT-1000D
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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This is a great amp and mates beautifully to the FT-1000D and later iterations.
Like most literary efforts from Yaesu, the manual contains its share of ambiguities, most notably with respect to the BAND DATA 2 cable which you should connect to the PTT jack on the FT-1000D.
Contrary to what the FT-1000D manual indicates, switch S1002 in the transceiver should NOT be enabled when mated with the Quadra. Its function is already taken care of through the BAND DATA 1 cable.
Also poorly explained is the F-SET button. Unlike the TUNE button which initiates a full-tuning cycle, the F-SET button recalls from memory the appropriate matching calculations for the nearest frequency at which a full-tuning cycle was previously calculated by the TUNE button. By establishing such memory points at various frequencies throughout a given band, one push of the F-SET button instanteously configures the amp for the correct match for that proximal frequency. This avoids the several-seconds delay of a full-tuning cycle as the tuner seeks the best match.
The unique feature of automatically cycling the power supply relays periodically to keep them clean (even when the amp is turned off but still pluged into the wall) can cause some initial head-scratching until you realize what's going on.
New, out of the box, the amp was showing 1250 watts output, but the power supply was also groaning its displeasure at this level. To preserve component life, be sure to follow the directions in the manual for adjustment of the ALC for 1000 watts output in the HIGH mode, and 500 watts output in the LOW mode.
The appropriate 220v plug was easily found at Lowe's Hardware and is identical to the thirty-year-old plug on my SB-220, although inscribed with the ubiquitous "made in Mexico" phrase.
Finally, after all the acolades about how well built it is, and its bullet-proof performance, the most outstanding thing to me is its appearance ... there has been nothing in my nearly fifty years in amateur radio that is as unique in styling as this amplifier. It "classes up" any desk on which it sits, and any transceiver set next to it.
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