Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: Ameritron ALS-606

Category: Amplifiers: RF Power - HF & HF+6M

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : Ameritron ALS-606
Reviews: 13MSRP: 1,995-2,399
Description:
HF/6M 600 watt FET No Tune Amplifier
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.ameritron.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00133.1
N1JDH Rating: 2021-12-30
Very Satisfied Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I purchased this unit in January 2021 from HRO. Unfortunately, I had to return it to MFJ for a repair to a DOA power supply (only negative so far). It was repaired in a timely manner and returned to me. I use it with a Flex 6000 and am very pleased. I have it configured to band follow the Flex, which it does flawlessly. It has worked well on all bands from 160-10 meters. I use four separate antennas, 2 of which can handle the full 600 watts (a hex beam and 50 foot vertical) and two limited to 300 watts (160M inverted L and 80M loop). All but the Hex use remote antenna tuners and always provide an SWR below 2:1, as does the hex. For RF safety reasons I cannot run above 800 watts, so this was a logical choice for me. The ability to quickly change bands is great. When I first started using the amp, I accidently ran 600 watts into the loop and the remote tuner went into safe mode that caused the amp to see a high swr, it went into protect mode. Great feature that the amp protects itself itself from some idiot (Me!) that violates the swr requirement. As far as I can tell if you read the manual and use it as intended it is a great little amp!

30 Dec 2021 Update: Have been running this amp since April on a regular basis. Great performer. I've upgraded the remote tuner on the 160M inverted to handle 600 watts and now can run the amp at full output on that antenna as well. My lessons learned with this amp is keep digital modes to 250 watts or less, and make sure your antennas have a real swr of 2:1 or less. Measure the swr at the feedpoint of the antenna; and at where the coax connects to the amp. Make sure both have an swr of 2:1 or lower! The length of the coax can react with frequency to alter swr. Also, if you are using something like 8x coax it can heat up when pushing 500-600 watts through at some frequencies (> 10 Mhz, depending on the operating mode). Hot coax can cause high SWR under certain conditions. (Learned that lesson several years ago when I was helping an older ham in his 80's troubleshoot a problem with a tube amp he had, he was trying to push 1.k kw thru 8x and could not understand why after a few minutes his amp started to fold back. That is why I use only RG-213 or equivalent coax for outputs of 200 watts or higher.
WK2M Rating: 2021-07-28
Good amp, horrible customer support and quality control Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Update 7/19/2021 Amp is back at it again. It stopped working, I am livid. Stay away from this amp. Most who are giving it glaring review are in the honeymoon period. Never again will I buy a a Amertiron solid state amp. Buyer beware.

Update 4/22/2021 Amp was send back after 5 weeks. Although I am happy it did not take the 8-12 weeks I feel they could of communicate better. End result bad power supply board due to quality control.

Update 3/8/2021 Amp was sent back to Ameritron for the same issues as others have stated. I was working the SSB contest this weekend and it started failing. 1.1-1.3 swr running about 400w. The amp shut down 10 times. Checked it into a dummy load. Same results.

I think there is a learning curve with this amp. The typical ham is used to getting away with higher SWR's on traditional tube amps. I had the same shut down issues and power issues that most have been complaining about in this forum. I spent over a month trying to figure out why the amp would just shut down. I was ready to send it back. After trimming my antennas and really dialing in my tuner I have not had it power down even after long contesting. Just to make sure,I had a hour long QSO with a friends at 600w on multiple occasions.

Ameritron's customer service is non existent. I reported the problem and they didn't even try to trouble shoot it. I got the "send it back reply".

Pros:
Good amp for the money. I am surprised it performs as well as it does for its compact size.
Cons:
Do not even attempt to use this amp with anything less then a 1:3 SWR. IT WILL GO INTO PROTECTION MODE AND SHUT DOWN. I wish Ameritron would have a true tech line.

All in all I will be monitoring it. I am happy with the purchase.
KE0OHO Rating: 2020-11-19
To be fair.... Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I owned the 606 and PS when they were a fairly new product. Dummy me, I ran it without any tuner. Into a OCF dipole. I never had a problem with it and sold it for other reasons. It would not work 80 meters? Going into safe mode. Duuuuh,.... with a tuner it would probabaly have been fine. To be fair.
NI4D Rating: 2020-03-11
Junk Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
It's back in the shop for the third time. No SWR issues, never overdriven, just blows out the finals after a few hours. Going to donate to a QRP op when it gets back this time. Way overprices for the poorly deigned garbage that it is.
AE0MO Rating: 2020-02-27
Total Junk!!!! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I have had this amp for a little over a year. And it has spent 1/3 of its time not working and being repaired. I have sent it back 3 times in that time period. Finals each time. Never seeing over 1.3 SWR and not overdriving it. One time I got it back would only do 400 watts And would last maybe a hour each time I got it back I told them I would like my money back. They wouldn't but this last time they sent me a new amp. at my request! In the mean time I bought a Palstar and have had no issues in the last 6 mo. Ive had other issues with MFJ products also and no longer buying anything from any of there company's.
I recently saw online a letter from DX Engineering sales manager saying that they know there is a problem with MFJ Quality control and they are taking stuff out of stock that have a history of being returned do to quality
Buyer Beware.
K6VOX Rating: 2019-07-22
Its Junk Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Actual owner, HRO purchased May-28-2019. Was working ok, was not outputting full 600 watts 575 was best. Antenna typically was 1.3:1 or better. Was on a 20 m long QSO, only 400w out after and after about a 1/2 hour ( phone) the amp just shut off. No blocked vents, amp sits on top of shelves with total free open access to air SWR was 1.3:1 the whole time, nor was the amp hot barely warm. Sent back for warranty repair June-18 and to this date July 22-2019 they still haven't touched the amp for repair. Also does not follow 100% ICOM newer radios (7610) if you use the acc-remote cable, known issue. Never again!
AD9P Rating: 2019-06-13
ALC too LOW? Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have been using the ALS606s since December and it has preformed ok. I never use ALC, and manually control the exciter output. I connected the ALC from the exciter to the ALS606s, and to my surprise it does not have and effect of any kind.
So I called Ameritron Service Department and explained my issue. I am using a Yaesu FTDX3000, and was told that the ALS606s does not generate the voltage necessary to effect ALC control, of the Amplifier. So I assume that the ALC Set, and the ALC connection is for show. Their response is laughable. I have been a ham for 40 years and this is a first.
My last Ameritron Product. Poor service, and design.

Thanks for looking
Al
AD9P





KK6YO Rating: 2019-05-21
UPDATE Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Problem solved thanks to John a Ameritron See below:
If you are using the DB interface cable, you will not need to use an RCA cable to connect the radio to the amplifier for keying. This causes a conflict which when you key up, it locks everything into transmit.

Also, if the bands that are being skipped over are 30M, 17M, and 12M, then this is normal. The amplifier and the radio both have low-pass output filters. Both units have 30M and 20M sharing a filter. The same with 17M and 15M, and also 12M and 10M. because of this, ICOM only sends out band data for 20M, 15M, and 10M. Even though these are the lights that are lit, it will still operate on 30M when it is switched into 20M, 17M when it is switched into 15M, and 12M when it is switched into 10M.

73
Jerry
K6BSR Rating: 2019-04-17
First impression is great! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just got this amp a week ago and I'm really having a blast! I use a Yaesu FT-991A to drive it and it requires very little input beyond changing the bandswitch in my case.I've had several tube type amplifiers in the past and this is my first solid state version. So far I'm quite happy with it and despite being antenna restrictedI'm back to happily chasing DX!
K9RE Rating: 2018-06-25
Superb Unit! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought this amplifier particularly for the 6M capabilities. The first one died within a few minutes during testing and the good folks at Ameritron kindly replaced it with a brand new unit. The second one has been given a thorough workout and has performed flawlessly. I got the switching power supply because I wanted a lightweight combination for transporting to my summer cottage. It really makes a big difference on 6 meters. Most of the time I get through on the first try. I am using an MFJ Moxon antenna, which is essentially a 2 element close spaced beam about the size of a small TV antenna, and it is only 24 feet up. The amplifier runs cool and quiet and so does the power supply. I really love this combination. I want to give credit to Mike at Ameritron service for taking care of me and getting me the replacement amp promptly at no charge. This is an awesome company and I am proud to be an Ameritron owner!