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write your own review of the Ameritron ALS-1300.
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KJ6LOZ
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Rating: 2/5
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Jan 25, 2012 19:31
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Worked great! For two days.
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Worked great out of the box! I thought I got a good one and that all the reviews were wrong, after all my ALS-600 worked perfectly, and how different could this amp be? Quite a bit different. The standby / operate switch failed after one day, and on the second day it would go into RF overload without reason.
It was putting out 1250 watts when it worked, it just did not want to work more than two days. Returned it to HRO in Oakland and their great team, and exchanged it for an AL-82. Made the right move.
Still love the old ALS-600 and wish I had it as a backup.
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KE7S
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 23, 2011 14:56
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Flawless Operation for 2 years
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I bought my ALS-1300 in October 2009.
It has operated flawlessly since I have had it.
It is interfaced to my K3 through an ARI-500 interface. With all the DX in the past year I leave it off until I am ready for a QSO. Flip it on and it is ready to go in a couple of seconds.
It sits in the off position most of the time and is used in almost all of my DX QSOs.
When there is a pileup I always get quick responses.
All of my antennae are resonant in the frequency ranges I use and all are auto band switched using 2 cascaded RCS-12 switches.(I have 11 antennae at this time)
The fans are a bit louder than I like, but other than that I have no complaints. I love being able to just turn it on and go. I know roughly what output power levels I need from my k3 on each band so it is pretty straightforward. I have often forgot to turn down the output on my K3 but the ALS-1300 just cuts the power back on its own.
The remote power supply allows me to leave the supply out of the way on the floor.
The only potnetially negative issue other than the fan noise is the profile...the unit is very deep and can be difficult to position on some bench set-ups.
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WX7Y
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Rating: 3/5
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Dec 5, 2011 20:41
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third trip back so far
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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Purchased this Amp this past April 2011 from HRO and it ran for about 2 hours. lost some of the MOSFETS, 10 meters would not work, Shipped to Amertron.
2nd time back in my shack, it ran like crap and the MOSFETS were not balanced right and knocked out the MOSFETS again, ran about 1 hour, looked inside and the 10 meter modual coils were all streched out.
3rd time back to my shack and AMP ran very well for a couple weeks then the Power supply died.
4th time back to my shack they replaced the whole AMP and installed the new re-designed Power Supply regulator Moduals in MY power supply and so far it has ran for 2 1/2 months with no issues and AMP runs very well, love it just to bad it took them so many tries to hopefully get it right, Time will tell I guess.
73's
WX7Y
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K7KB
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Rating: 0/5
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Oct 6, 2011 17:45
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Stay Away From This Product
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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My ALS-1300 has failed three times now since I purchased it a year ago. Twice the +12V section of the Power Supply failed with no apparent reason other than poor QC. And on this third failure it appears that one of the PA sections has died requiring another trip back to the Ameritron repair shop. This has been one of the most disappointing purchases I've made and if I could trade this amp for a good tube amplifier, I would so so in a heartbeat. Although I'm not blaming DX Engineering for selling me this amp, distributors need to be aware of it's problems and refuse to carry it until Ameritron does something about it's reliability.
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KM5GJ
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Rating: 5/5
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Jun 7, 2011 19:53
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Great amplifier
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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After reading all the negative reviews here I called Ameritron several times. I finally took the big step and purchased mine new from HRO. They had the best price and the shipping charges were very favorable. They also assured me that they would stand behind the amplifier. The amplifier was shipped promptly and arrived in the original factory sealed shipping boxes. I save my boxes!
I unpacked and set up the amplifier. Before I turned it on I just had to look inside. All solder joints looked very professional, better than I could have done. The amp operated without out any problems. Full output on 160 - 80 - 40 - 20 meters.
I almost fainted when I turned it on for the first time. Flipped the switch and nothing happened. I forgot about the step start circuit!
I have had only one long QSO SSB on 80 meters lasting well over 1/2 hour and the fans did not even speed up. I am very proud of my purchase, it was my first brand new amplifier.
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WB7BV
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Rating: 1/5
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May 6, 2011 00:48
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ALS1300 The 48 hour amp
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Sold my ALS600S origonal version, works grate. then ordered the ALS1300:
After waiting 6 weeks for the amp which was promised in 2 weeks, it lasted two days and a total of three contacts.
1) The good: a.It is light.
b. It puts out 1300 watts according to my power master calibrated meter.
c. It is easy to assemble and takes up little space.
d. Runs cool. Also quiet.
e. Easy setup and install the 10/12 meter option. (See the bad item d.)
f. Self protection is calibrated per manual and does not trip unnecessarily. (See the ugly b & c.)
2) The Bad: a. It has two parallel power supplies and power amps. (Balance is required.)
b. Its power meter is rather inaccurate off by more than 100 watts high.
c. The craftsmanship is poor. Dirty pcb and sloppy soldering. (Soldering resin left on the boards.)
d. The 10/12 meter option board had a solder bridge. (Remember to check with a bright sight via transmitted light.)
e. Inside adjustments and settings are in poor locations.
f. Holes on the covers are poorly aligned and hard to reinstall the screws.
g. Paint job is second rate and coverage is not complete.
h. Amp cover metal work was poor. Serrated edges on
front edge of the cover. (Cover not cut straight and in one operation.)
i. The chassis was not straight. It needed several "shims" of business cards under the right rear foot to stabilize.
j. Meter escutcheons too high in the cases which made them unreadable at the higher scales. (One has to lower ones head to see the upper scale.)
3) Now the UGLY: a. On my third contact at 1000 watts out. The power started to self lower. No change noted on SWR.
b. SWR tripped unit when testing into a dummy load. (SWR = 1.02:1) On SSB with out modulation, just key-up.)
C. Unit tripped all lights off. (HV1 = 0VDC; HV2 = 48VDC.)
It was returned to the store (HRO) and exchanged for the ALS600S. Which is running OK for the last two weeks.
HRO was very professional and efficient in handling this transaction. ( Make sure you have a good dealer.) Their price was lower than the mail order in this area and the bottom line was the same with local sales tax.
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N7TVV
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Rating: 4/5
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May 2, 2011 21:09
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Working great ... so far
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Have previously operated with the ALS-600 (with the orig., unreg. supply) and have never had a problem with it - a solid medium power performer!
I received the ALS-1300 as a replacement 2 weeks ago, installed the 10M filter and have total of about 10 hrs. on all bands without incident. The unit seems solid and the internal workmanship typical for Ameritron. As reported by others, fwd. power meter errs on the high side by as much as 200W! Will report more later, after additional hours of use are realized.
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K2UE
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Rating: 2/5
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Apr 28, 2011 07:59
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Disappointing
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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One of the HV supplies shorted in the first 15 minutes of operation, while just checking power output band-by-band into a dummy load. Very low efficiency on 160m and 80m -- PA current much higher than on 40m and above. Built-in wattmeter is wildly optimistic -- lucky to get even 1000 Bird wattmeter watts on most bands. Got an Icom PW-1 instead (at somewhat higher cost), which does effortlessly what the ALS-1300 claims to do.
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N5AFY
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Rating: 2/5
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Apr 21, 2011 20:52
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Quit after 3 days
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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After a long wait Ameritron finally began shipping the ALS-1300. I ordered mine from DX-Engineering as they seemed to be the first to receive them. I received it via UPS late on 4/3/11. On the morning of 4/4/11 I added the 10/12 meter kit and tested the amp on all bands.
I used it on air for 3 days a total of about 3 hours. On the morning of 4/7/11 I turned it on in the standby mode and I heard a loud pop in the power supply and the amp went dead. I turned it back on checked the 50 volt on HV1 and HV2. HV2 was dead. I called Ameritron and they wanted me to pay the shipping one way to them. I was persistent and they finally agreed to pay the shipping. I figure my amp will continue to go to the end of the repair line until they run out. I will report back later as to how long I wait for being persistent.
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KB0BK
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 3, 2011 18:04
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Performs As Advertised
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I have been using the ALS-1300 for about a month. I have given it an "SSB" level workout on most of the bands 160M-15M and it has performed exactly as advertised. Moving up to the ALS-1300 was not a difficult decision after using its baby brother, the ALS-600S for several years. I have seen several reports of issues with the ALS-1300, but I never had a problem with the ALS-600S, an experience I expect to duplicate with the 1300. The support team at Ameritron has been great to work with whenever I've had a question, going the extra mile to make sure I remain a satisfied customer.
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