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Reviews For: Ultralife A-320

Category: Amplifiers: RF Power - 6M/VHF/UHF+

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Review Summary For : Ultralife A-320
Reviews: 2MSRP: $$$$$$$ new
Description:
30-500 MHz, 20W amplifier for HT's
Product is in production
More Info:
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0024.5
KM6AB Rating: 2022-07-24
Impressive amplifier if you can find one for a good price. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have three of these amps and they are very handy for hand held and low power radios. They also work on 10m FM and are one of the few amps that work with DMR. The power cables are difficult to find but two of my amps came with power cables and I had to dish out $190 to the factory for one new power cable. The power connector alone can cost nearly that much in single qty.

These amps are an amazing piece of engineering where it measures the input frequency then applies an output filter to keep harmonics way down. There are redundant microprocessors to run and monitor the amps parameters.

I've done some testing with a few military hand held radios running at 5 watts where they could not reach a distant repeater, then I used the amplifier and essentially the same antenna from the radio on the amp and accessed the repeaters nearly full quieting. Its only around a 6 to 7dB increase in power for most radios but its enough to make or break a communications link.
K7NG Rating: 2020-05-13
Quite a unique and rare find. Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
The Ultralife A-320 can boost 2-5W from a HT up to as much as 20W. It operates from 30 to at least 500 MHz - instantaneously. It's designed to be carried on a belt or on web gear by dismounted soldiers, to give a little more oomph to the low-power squad radios. Weighs about 1 1/2 lbs. Small enough to put in a jacket pocket.

Its usefulness to Ham Radio is that a single amp - portable - can accommodate any ham band in the listed range without any finagling. Because it's designed to work with military secure radio communications, it works with the TDMA frequency-hopping waveforms they use - or with a DMR HT! Not many portable amps will work with DMR...

I've used one on DMR, on APRS, D-Star, P25, and on analog FM voice (on 6M, 2M, 222, and 440 MHz) without any issues.

Now here are the negatives:

- Works on 24V. I use a couple of 12V fire-alarm lead acid batteries in series when I operate mobile, or using a BB-2590-type Li-Ion battery when portable, but to use one, you have to have 24v, somehow.

- You find one, it better have the power cable included. You won't find the little power connector that fits the amp anywhere (at least I haven't).

- Has a TNC connector for output. (And BNC for input)

-It won't work with SSB. But any constant-level carrier mode works fine.

(This may not be a negative, depending on your point of view): DON'T run this amp at full power into a HT antenna. HT antennas aren't made to handle 20W. How do I know this, you ask?.... A 90-500 MHz antenna designed to handle 20W and more comes with this amp in a kit, and you might be able to find one where you find the amp - or of course, when mobile you can use your mobile VHF/UHF antenna.

I doubt if many Hams would want to buy one of these new, but they may occasionally be found at surplus auctions, or at your favorite online bidding site.