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Reviews For: Yaesu Quadra VL-1000

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

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Review Summary For : Yaesu Quadra VL-1000
Reviews: 87MSRP: 4000
Description:
Solid-state, automated 1 kW HF/6m linear amplifier
Product is not in production
More Info: https://www.yaesu.com/indexVS.cfm?cmd=DisplayProducts&ProdCatID=102&encProdID=261A83CAF673084AAC58C6801013F76F&DivisionID=65&isArchived=1
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
25874.3
W4RK Rating: 2002-06-13
Great AMP! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is an update of my prior review. After getting steered in the right direction by Andy at YAESU-USA about the tuner operation, I'm totally satisfied with the QUADRA. There was a Menu item (Tuner Drive) in the FT1000MP MK V Field Setup which was defaulted at 25W and needed to be at 100W. After making the change, the Tuner works as advertised. There is very little not to like about the Quadra / MK V Combo. The integration is really nice and very convenient. The ability of the QUADRA to switch between 2 different transceivers and 4 different antennas is a real plus. I can highly recommend the QUADRA.

Bill
W4RK
Nashville, TN
USA
K4IQ Rating: 2002-05-31
Guess I'm Lucky! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Works like a champ with the MP. I've noticed sometimes I have to hit the F set button when changing bands, even if I just left a band-segment that was tuned, but this is a small price to pay for an amp that does all this one does. Unlike others, I've been very impressed with the tuner's range. It even lets me run 1000 W at the top of 160 where the SWR is 4:1. I've been using this amp virtually continuously for around 18 months. The Alpha rarely gets turned on.

VR2SA Rating: 2002-05-14
Convenitent for Yaesu Radio Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Have hooked with FT-1000D, all working fine with the Band Selction, ALC etc. Only minor problem for the connection with FT-650. It can not read the band and it requires the F Set switch for the band sensing. Once OK, it will remember and can change to 6m band automatically for next connection to FT-650.

Fan noise is one of the minor problem. Thinking to replace the Magnetic Flow type Fan in the future. If wearing the headphone, the fan noise is acceptable.

Have not tried to connect to other brand of Kenwood or Icom and it is working perfect for Yaesu Radio.

Have tried to work SSB continuously for more than 5 hours £á£ì£ì¡¡£÷£ï£ò£ë£é£î£ç¡¡£æ£é£î£å¡¡£¡£¡¡¡

N3JXB Rating: 2002-04-16
It works, but could be much nicer Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've owned my Quadra for two months now. The unit replaced an Ameritron ALS-600 because my new rig, an Icom 746, includes 6 meters and the Ameritron would not work there. I seriously considered the Icom PW-1 but chose the Quadra because two different Icom engineers told me their amp will not work on AM and the Quadra will. I work AM when possible on 10 and 160 so the Icom wouldn't do.

When I first got the Quadra I only had 110-volt lines in the shack so I was limited to the recommended 500 watts. It did work but I noticed a wining noise from the power supply when I was working it hard. Plan on getting a 220-volt line ASAP because this thing works much better on 220. I had a 220 line inside of a week.

The first thing I notice is what a pain switching bands is with a non Yaesu rig. The process involves switching to a dummy load, placing the rig into AM/FM/RTTY mode, pressing FSET on the Quadra and then keying the Icom. Make sure the exciter is driving at least 50 watts or the FSET will not work. Maybe there are models out there that switch by automatically sensing signal but mine NEVER does this. Seems like Yaesu could make some money by making some type of external keypad that would plug into the amp and allow easier band selection.

Next is the built-in antenna tuner. What a laugh this is. If you have anything like a long wire, dipole that isn't resonant on all bands, vertical that tends to get high VSWR at the ends, the tuner WILL NOT work. Plan on keeping that external tuner connected. But worse is the tuner settings/memories. Even in the situations where the tuner will work I've gotten varying results. Sometimes I switch to a band where the tuner worked and find my VSWR with the tuner switched in is 3.0 or higher. I go through the process of letting it retune and find that it will get a match anywhere from 1.0 to 1.6. Repeating the process sometimes yields different results, sometimes not. If you tune different points within a band don't expect the tuner to automatically chose the right settings for where you are operating. You need to go through the FSET process (see above) to let the amp determine where you are operating so it can select the different tuner settings. I just leave the tuner off and use my external MFJ tuner. I found the internal tuner to be too unreliable and time consuming to depend on it.

The display is adequate and offers several different options. You can watch the current draw and voltage of the power supply, the band selection, real-time VSWR, and peak and average output power. There is also a contrast knob and a bright/dim button so you can set the display the way you like. There is a display dedicated to before/after VSWR settings. Since the tuner is so finicky (see above), this part of the display is useless for me.

Power output is at least the full 1 KW claimed. The display reads higher than 1200 watts and I've seen the unit hit 1240 watts. I set the ALC for 1100 max and 550 on low. On AM it easily operates at 250 watts as claimed and getting 500 on FM is easy. On FM you need to watch the output because going over about 600 watts causes the power supply to make this funny wining noise even on a 220-volt line. I also noticed a bit of noise from the power supply on SSB when the processor is on and I'm trying to bust a pileup.

The cooling fans in the power supply only operate when the internal heat builds up, and then only long enough to cool down before they switch off again. Those fans are off otherwise. The amplifier fans run at low speed the entire time the amplifier cabinet is switched on. At low these fans are fairly quiet. When the amp is switched to Operate and the transmitter switches on, the fans switch to high and stay on until you stop transmitting. Anyone that says these fans aren't noisy is either wearing headphones or has a pronounced hearing deficit. Those things are loud!

For times when I decide to operate without the Quadra, I found I can turn on the power cabinet but leave the amplifier cabinet off. This seems to allow antenna pass-through from Input 1 to Output 1. But I found a problem with the ALC control in this situation. For some reason the Quadra throttles the Icom back. I found that disconnecting the ALC allows the Icom to operate normally. This is the way I keep things for local rag chews. Just remember to reconnect the ALC because the Quadra does use it to prevent overdrive or damage from operating into a high VSWR.

In the end, this is probably a much nicer piece to have if you have a Yaesu exciter. For non Yaesu operators, you may want to seriously consider going with the Icom PW-1 if you want solid state, or some other manufacturer. I see where a new solid state amp from Japan Radio will be available in late 2002 - you might consider waiting to see how that unit measures up. I would probably not buy this amplifier again.
K8TL Rating: 2002-02-02
Returned for refund Time Owned: N.A.
When My JRL-2000 quit after almost 10 years I assumed the VL-1000 would be the perfect replacement to compliment my FT-1000MP MK V and FT-847 on 6 Meters. Hooked it up as per the instructions. For the first 3 days I could only get the antenna tuner to work on input 1 or input 2 but never both. Then it started working on both however. To use the six meter antenna tuner the FT-1000 had to be turned on, I didn't have the on of to the linear slaved to the FT-1000, the linear could be turned on and off independant of the Transceiver. I did discover that if the band data cable was disconnected I could operate on input 2 with out the FT-1000 turned on. When I did switch to input 2 and made the short transmission to get it started it changed bands but not antennas. On that why no keying line for the rig on input 2?
The only way I could get automatic antenna change on input 1 was when the band data cable was connected. Using the FT-847 on input 1 I could only occasionaly get the tuner to operate. Never would it change antannas, tried several rigs at the input. E-mailed the dealer and Yaesu. Yaesu said they would set up a similar station and see if they could duplicate the situation. The dealer said I had 10 days to return it or it was mine. To me that meant that the shipping for warrenty work would be my problem. I waited 9 days for an answer from Yaesu. It still hasn't came.
Why all the operating buttons except the on off when even after setup you need to get to the input and F-Set button(I never did figure out what that realy does except change bands which the band data cable also did) need to be used frequently unless you stay on one band all the time.
Mean time JRC is sending me a board that should fix that linear, there is a 6 week wait for an alpha and I worked YA5T barefooted on CW to finally, when the card arrives, make the DXCC CW honor roll. Last 4 Yaesu rigs needed warrenty work, guess it is time to change favorites!!!!
K2SGO Rating: 2001-09-26
Flawless Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The Quadra is the perfect match to the Mark V. Once I figured out a few things (it helps to look carefully at the manual) I've had absolutely no problems. As for power, it easily goes past 1200 watts out and the Yaesu guys in Europe say there's no problem going to 1500 (but I haven't tried it).
KC0W Rating: 2001-07-22
Not for me! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought a Quadra System amp to hook up to my Yaesu 1000d. The first thing I did not like was that the fan noise was VERY LOUD....Anyone that tells you the fan is "quiet" is either wearing enclosed headphones ( I like the foam Walkman style NON-enclosed type) or DEAF! Fan is way too loud for me.

If you think the internal tuner in this amp will tune a G5RV dipole, you have a big suprise coming to you. Unless the antenna is cut close to the band you want to use, THIS AMP WILL NOT TUNE IT. The motor will whirl, spin & make noise but it will not find a match.

Customer Service from Yaesu in California was a joke.....It seems that only 1 of their tech people had any knowledge of this amp & he was either on the phone or "busy" whenever I called.

I returned the amp after 3 weeks of use & would have never of bought it if I knew then what I know now about it!
N2CY Rating: 2001-03-13
Perfect ! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
what can I say other then this amplifier is perfect. I have had it about 5 months. Up until last weekend I was running it from a 115V source so the output power was limited to just around 500 watts. This past weekend I finally got around to wiring a 240V line to the shack and wow ! Not only does this amp put out around 1200W on all bands but it does it so gracefully. It is super quiet. I operate CW a lot and I enjoy QSK operation of the amp. when I opened it up to configure the unit for 10 meters I took notice to the quality of construction, it is excellent. Very well built and very solid. I strongly recommend this amp to anyone looking for a unit that is stable, clean, and easy to use.
73 and good DX
Chuck N2CY
PA1ZX Rating: 2001-03-11
Great Amp. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I use the Amp now for more that 2 years and it's a super one.
Verry clean signal comming out of that machine.

N7OI Rating: 2001-03-11
Dont agree with G3YPV Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I noticed the report givin from G3YPV on the VL-1000 and would like to clarify some of his complaints. The amp will work with any radio that will put out rf. I have even used it with my Collins S-Line. If used correctly, the amp will sample the rf at the input and change bands correctly. The fan noise is less than my computer. As for 6M and TVI..... well anyone who a has operated any amp on 6m will say that you will get to know those who listen to chanel 2. I don't operate 6m unless I am mobile so I can't address that.

I have now owned the amp for a few months and have operated it in contest situations and just casual Dxing and have found the amp to get excelent reports.

I owned a Commander HF2500 and liked the amp very well but never got comments about my audio. I have had quite a few comments about the audio and I never asked for them!

I like the amp, the fan noise is very low, It just sits and works. I like the graphics on the readout. I can actually see a graph plot for my antenna's swr. I have loaded an inverted vee from the top of 80 to the bottom and it will match it.

It will chug along at 1000 + watts. As for that fact that it will not put out 1500.... well I have not seemed to have any problems with pileups and I am not splattering the band. The amp is very clean.

Hope this helps those who are interested in this amp.

73, Alan N7OI