| KC2HZW |
Rating:      |
2005-07-05 | |
| Great Amp |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
This is my second amp, my first transistorized amp. Set up out of the box was easy. I am using the VL-1000 with a Mark V Field and the FTV-1000 6 Meter Transverter. Installed the cables per the diagram, modified the tuning cable per instructions, adjusted the ALC and everything works as it should. 10 /12 meter mod is easily accomplished. Puts out a solid KW on HF and 6. As long as you have good SWRs on your antennas (or you use the tuner) the amp is very happy. If you run with high SWRs, the amp will tell you by making a screetching noise. IMHO you shouldn't be running high power into an antenna with > 3:1 SWR anyway.
Power Supply fans are one the noisey side, but they only run for about 10 seconds and then shut down, so it isn't a problem. The fans on the amp are a bit louder than the fan on my computer; however, the noise is also a function of location with the fan noise reflecting from the wall behind the amp.
My power line measures out at 251 VAC, a bit higher than the recommended 240. I called Yaesu, and they told me that the amp has been run as high as 264 VAC without any trouble.
Build quality is first rate, everything is shielded with thermal sensors in all the critical areas. No trouble with the manual, it is reasonably clear. (I know, we hate to read them, but with this amp, it's a must!)
They only negatives (as noted by other reviewers) are the generic tuning cable and possibly the fan noise. It would be nice if the tuner tracked frequency changes in the same band, but in reality, this doesn't seem to be a big problem. (How often do you jump from working SSB to CW or vice versa?)
Getting great reports on the audio and signal. Good job Yaesu! |
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| W7IS |
Rating:      |
2005-06-03 | |
| Automation Perfection |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I recently had a chance to review a 2005 Quadra amp. I had always been interested in how this solid state amp would perform. The Quadra uses a total of 5 cooling fans. The 2 power supply fans only come on after keying the amp for several minutes and they cycle on and off as needed. The bottom mounted tuner fan comes on immediately when you key the rig. The 2 large fans on the amp rear panel are on all the time and suck the air out of the enclosure (as exhaust fans), while the small fan on the tuner bottom blows air into the tuner area (but only when amp is being keyed on). More on all these fans later in the review.
Yaesu provided a generic control cable for the keying line back to the transceiver (for use with the auto tuner). If you’re using the Mark V, the generic cord won’t allow fully automatic tuner control. It took two hours rounding up a mini tip sleeve plug, cut the RCA connector off the generic cord, then open up the 15 pin connector so it could be rewired to be compatible with the Mark V. What Yaesu should have done was to provide both a generic cable and a Yaesu compatible cable since a large % of these expensive amps would probably be used with the Mark V type of radios.
The 10M option required removing the top and bottom cover, remove two screws that hold the front panel on, tilt the front panel down and install a clip lead between two test points on the control board. Then turning it on using the prescribed switch sequence and finishing with a full software reset. While I had the amp opened up, I noticed a tie wrap so tight that it was pinching the thin wires. So I replaced one tie wrap. They also ran thin wires over sharp metal edges at several places. So I did my best to add insulating tape on the sharp edges where there was enough room.
The large liquid crystal display is outstanding in my opinion. I could see the operating condition of the amp from 6 ft away -- very plainly. It has 5 different screens that you can select. The auto tuner provides for a perfect 1 to 1 match. But it won’t tune if you’re outside the 3 to 1 SWR range. There is no fudge factor. If your ant is outside the 3 to 1 SWR range, it wont tune it, PERIOD. So it’s only useful as a touch up for a resonate ant that isn’t perfect SWR across the band it’s designed for. If your not using the auto tuner, the amp will shut down on an SWR over 2 to 1. So any ant that has an SWR from 1.5 to 3 requires the tuner be engaged. The auto tuner requires 70W drive power for the tuner to commence a tune up or it will give you an error msg. Another tuner anomaly is the requirement for the 70W drive power to come on at the same instant you start the auto tune function or it will also generate an error msg. I had left the transceiver on 50W output since that’s the typical power needed to drive the amp to a Kilowatt. I kept noticing the auto tuner wouldn’t commence a tune up till I finally caught on that the transceiver needs to be left on 70W output power level all the time. Letting the amps ALC voltage keep the power output at the Kilowatt level. So there are several reasons the ALC voltage has to be hooked up and fully functional. Part of the protection circuitry relies on shutting down the transceiver via the ALC voltage. The ALC voltage is controlled via software. We had to set the ALC voltage for both High and Low power settings as well as with the tuner off and tuner on. So the ALC requires four different set ups. Once the ALC voltage is in software memory, you shouldn’t have to adjust it again for that transceiver. The Low power switch setting on the front panel can be set to any power level you desire, since it adjusts the output power level by using ALC voltage to the transceiver.
After the amp was correctly set up, it became a fully automatic kilowatt when using the Mark V. And that can be pretty amazing watching as it selects the band, selects the correct ant from four ant, and tunes up. All done instantly. If the remote switch is turned ON at the rear of the amp, the AC power is controlled by the Mark V. When the ant needs to be re-tuned, all it took was the push of the Tune button when using the Mark V in CW mode. Generic rigs would require using the Fset feature.
I have to confess that after 30 minutes of use on the ham bands, I was worn out from listening to all the fan noise. Since this amp looks like a HI FI set anyway, we put it inside a standard HI FI cabinet with a glass door on the front. Also, if you use it full break in CW, you will notice the noise of the changeover relay on each CW character. The relay isn’t as loud as the relay in some amps, but it can be very annoying on full break-in CW if you don’t place the amp to the side of the operating position in an enclosure like we did. Maybe if someone had spent their younger years in a Mosh Pit, all that noise wouldn’t bother them :-) .
The instruction manual was something else again. As you have to spend a lot of time reading and experimenting to figure it out. The manual appears to be a preliminary copy that was never finished or updated. But once you get it all sorted out, the Quadra becomes a conservatively rated product that turns on in 20 seconds (after the software boots up). It would be great if there was an optional remote control head that could be placed at the operating position. As you will be needing access to the 13 control switches from time to time.
So the bottom line is: If you can work around the fan noise (like we did) and can afford it, I’d say go for it and you will really enjoy full station automation at KW power output level for SSB and CW.
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| K8RA |
Rating:      |
2005-05-28 | |
| Really nice product |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| Operates flawlessly. Very pleased with the product. |
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| VA7VR |
Rating:      |
2005-01-29 | |
| Guess I'M Lucky Too! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Just read some of the posted reviews and thought I'd put in my 2 bits worth. I've had my Quadra for over 4 years and haven't had a single problem. The only time it's been off is during power outages.
Those who say the fans were noisy must either have exceptional hearing, nothing else in the shack or bad fans. The fan in my FT847 is louder. So is the fan in the computer tower. My Quadra and power supply sit on the operating desk along with the FT 847, computer tower and the FT1000D the amp is connected to. I have to turn off the computer and FT847 to hear the VL1000 and VP1000 fans.
For those who are running non-Yaesu rigs or non compatible Yaesu rigs, what did you expect? The Quadra was designed to mate with specific Yaesu rigs in order for it's features to be fully functional. Nowhere in the specs or the brochures did it say that it would work with other products. Those who are capable of interfacing it with other radios are also capable of understanding that not all features will be functional. If you failed to do your homework before you bought the amp, don't blame the amp.
I've been running mine at 1K+ for over 4 years first with the FT847 and now with the FT1000D and have always received excellent audio and signal reports and have never been told that my signal is wide or splattering.
Just set up remote operation with the use of TRX-Manager software and I love the way the amp slaves to the FT1000D. The 4 antenna outputs means no additional antenna switching in remote. TH11 stack for 10-20m in first jack, 3 element 40m stack in second jack, 4 square for 80m in third and 1/4 wave vertical for 160m in the last jack. Only had to pretune the amp initially on each of the bands and haven't touched the tuning since. The Quadra is virtually invisible to the station operation when connected to the FT1000D. (Kind of like having a 1KW tranceiver.)
I do agree that the display could have been a bit better but on the other hand, I hardly ever look at it as there is no adjustment required in day to day operation. (How many times has someone tuned up over top of your qso? Take note it's not a Quadra owner.)
I've had no problems with the tuner but then, I prefer to run 50 ohm resonant antennas. Try to tune up on 80m with a CB vertical and it won't like it. During the odd senior moment where I forgot to reconnect an antenna, it let me know in no uncertain terms that there was a problem. Like anything else, if you use it as it was intended to be used, it will most likely work great.
For those of you who are extremely disappointed with your Quadra, I'm looking for a second one. (That's if the price is right.)
Getting an email back from Yaesu is like flogging a dead horse. In reality, it's like that with most large corporations. Thanks to spam, email has become a joke. I hate to think of the number of junk messages these companies get for every valid one from us.
Yes, the manual left a little to be desired. Like a lot of guys, I was to busy hooking the amp up and making it work to read the manual. That came later and by then I didn't care if the thing was lacking content.
As a final note, (for anyone who's bothered to read this far), please don't take offense by any of my comments. I'd just hate to see someone miss the oppertunity of owning and using a great piece of equipment due to some of the previous comments. Just remember. It's designed to do a specific job with a specific transciever connected to it. 73s |
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| NP2B |
Rating:      |
2005-01-29 | |
| nice amp |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
| Very nice unit. The guy who wrote the manual on it, however, probably had never used one! Mine will not work with my Mk V Field, the way the book says. In order to use the tuner, it is necessary to plug the band data 2 cable into the CW jack - not the remote like the book says, put the radio in CW and depress the "tune" key, not the "F-set" key like the book says. You have to make a change to the band 2 data cable before you can use it (simple soldering job, but you do have to break out the soldering iron to change a factory cable before you can take advantage of the auto tuner!) (probably the work of the guy who wrote the book) Easy to program for 12/10M operation. All in all, a very nice piece of equipment. |
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| PA1HR |
Rating:    |
2004-12-25 | |
| Looks good, but is noisy |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
Next to the Yaesu FT-920 of FT-1000MP this Quadra VL-1000 looks very good!
Its additional features in combination with these Yeasu rigs are very nice too.
QSK works fine.
The diplay is nice and easy to read out.
Output signal is very clean.
However there are two improvements on this amplifier:
- the noise of the ventilators, which is very annoying
- the VP-1000 starts 'screaming' when the output is more than 600 Watts
The noise of the ventilators - when the amplifier is 'standby' - is comparable to a desktop computer.
As soon as you start transmitting (PTT) the ventilators of the VL-1000 immediately rotate much higher and the noise of the ventilators gets annoying.
When you transmit with high output and during a longer period (e.g. one minute of more) the ventilators of the VP-1000 come up and the total noise of the Quadra is like the noise of a vacuum cleaner...
The 'screaming' of the VP-1000 when you use high output (>600 Watt) could be fixed, but is not simple to do. I heard more Quadra owners about this.
I sold the Quadra and bought the Acom2000A. This amplifier is EXTREMELY SILENT! It sounds like the amplifier is switched off. You have to listen very very carefully to hear some very little noise. This is the way to go...
When you like the look of the Yaesu combination or when you don't like High Voltage amplifiers the Quadra is a good choice. But be aware of the ventilators noise!
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| KB6FPR |
Rating:     |
2003-10-09 | |
| Prett Good Amplifier |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
I've owned my VL1000 for 3 months now. Its a very good amplifier. I use it in conjunction with my Yaesu FT1000MP. The automatic tuning is very nice. It is very easy to use, which is great because the manual is not very informative. I give this amp a (4) for several reasons.
1. Manual is poor.
2. The tuner does not like my new G5RV dipole and will not tune it. My tuner in the 1000MP tunes the same antenna just fine.
3. I've emailed Yaesu tech support twice to ask them questions about the VL1000. I have never received a response. Am I wrong to think that when you spend almost $4,000 for an amplifier that your email should get a response from the manufacturer?
Overall, I enjoy running this amplifier very much. Fan noise is not a problem as indicated on other reviews. I don't know if they have made any changes, but mine aren't loud. This amplifier puts out 1240 watts all day long if I want it to, and well under the ALC limits.
Its very good, but not great as it could be.
Paul/N6PSE
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| N2MD |
Rating:      |
2003-06-02 | |
| First Class |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Have Mk V hooked up with 3 dipoles and a mini beam. Never a problem tuning or switching. Design people were asleep when they came to the LCD display. I am looking forward to some future mod for this poor display. Oher than that very pleased.
N4BMT |
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| KG6JYK |
Rating:  |
2003-04-21 | |
| Junk! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| Arrived DOA Power supply producing high voltage. So far I have send 6 out of 8 Yaesu products back. All of them failed on arrival. |
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| 3W2EA |
Rating:      |
2002-11-20 | |
| HF Linear Amplifier |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
My Yaesu FT-1000MP MkV and my Yaesu Quadra Linear Amplifier operate seamlessly, in perfect harmony.
73 Peter
3W2EA@QSL.NET
G4IOV@ARRL.NET
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