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Reviews For: Ameritron AL-1500

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

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Review Summary For : Ameritron AL-1500
Reviews: 75MSRP: 2845
Description:
3CX1500/8877 Tube Type Linear Amplifier
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.ameritron.com/products.php?prodid=AL-1500
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
25754.8
KT4WN Rating: 2005-05-31
Gets the job done Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
This amp easily gets the job done. It will crank out legal limit for extended periods of time without breaking a sweat. The blower is a little too loud which is my only complaint. I am considering performing a mod on the blower;and, if I do I'll post the results later. With all things considered, this amp is a keeper and well worth the cost.
KB7TRP Rating: 2005-05-27
Great amp!! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Loafs at 50 to 60 watts drive. No glitches, what so ever.
I have heard some bad things about the AL-1500. But, after owning one, it makes me wonder what people do to these things!
If you know how to properly tune an amplifier into a good antenna system, this amp will treat you right.
It is by no means, over engineered. But, a legal limit amplifier for under 3 grand, is not going to be. If you are capable of accidently or intentionaly abusing an amplifier, then go by an Alpha, or a QRO. They are built for the idiots! (I'm sure, not the designer's original intentions!)
The AL-1500 is a great legal limit amp for the budget minded ham! (Like me!)
W3OZ Rating: 2005-03-05
Great bang for the buck Time Owned: more than 12 months.
My first amp was a home brew with (3) 4-400 for finals. Always felt that if you could not build an amp yourself you should not be allowed to have one. But after the years I mellowed and actually bought a commercial built amp. I think it was the LK-500, I traded that off and got a Kenwood TL-922. It was a work horse for me and I used it for many years. Always felt the power supplies on most of the commercial amps were kind of limp so to speak. I got an Ameritron AL-1500 about a year ago. It has performed flawlessly for me and will run 1500 watts all day long. I usually run it with about 30 watts drive and get about 1 KW that way. It runs cool and even though the fan is a little noisy, no more so than the TL-922, I really like the black beast. The single 8877 is a good choice as they are used heavily in the medical field and I understand that there are no plans to discontinue production on them. Even though the tube is quite expensive they are still readily available. That can not be said for some other tubes being put in other amps these days. I think for a no frills amp, the AL-1500 is the best bang for the buck these days.
WV4I Rating: 2004-12-05
Serious Amp & No Frills Time Owned: more than 12 months.
To paraphrase some other reviewers and ad posters, this is indeed a serious, no frills amp, that will make you one of the big boys indeed, antenna notwithstanding. This amp will do 1500 watts cw all day, with 65 watts or less power applied. I bought mine used, and it needed a little work, due most probably to either abuse, long periods of non-use, or both, all of which seller (great guy) was up front about. Thanks in part to Willie (another great guy and really sharp) at Ameritron service, found spare tube had grid short, and one of bleeder resistors was causing a filter cap to discharge intermittently, and with a very loud pop when it happened. Replaced all the filter caps with a new style, as different one was also leaking, and the one bad bleeder resistor. This amp has been flawless since then. While amp has a 3 minute warmup delay, before plate voltage is applied via relay, I note RF Parts site also recommends up to 10 hours standby prior to tune up, filament voltage only applied. Amp also has built in inrush current limiting resistor which is a must. This amplifier is very simple to operate, and, if the instructions are followed, will likely give long term service to the serious QRO op. The only even minor issue might be that the cover screws are easy to strip (I just leave a couple screws in cover as I regularly swap spare tube in/out for exercise), and amp needs the chassis u nuts replaced with something a little more substantial, say finer thread stainless screw and nut/back plate combos (8-32?). One other cosnsideration is that a serious dummy load is a must! The paint can with xfmr oil from Ameritron/MFJ is marginal if you're not quick, and it WILL overheat. You will wreak QRM havoc if you tune this amp on the air, especially during contests/busy times. Being on the used market priced in the low to mid teens, these amps are an excellent value, at about $1/watt on CW. If I was going to set up a serious contest multi station, I'd want one at every position.
NI1N Rating: 2004-01-03
nice amp Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I've had my AL-1500 for 3 months and I'm quite happy with it. It made it through both CQ WW contests without a glitch. I was a bit hesitant to buy anything associated with MFJ and was real close to buying an Alpha. But, I figured I would save a few dollars and put them towards the antenna instead. So far, I'm happy I made that decision; lots of power for the money. The Alpha's auto-tune would be nice, but for the $4000 difference in price I can remember where a couple of dials go when I change bands :)

I bought it without QSK but later ordered the QSK board. I decided not to put it in, as from what I gather from the instructions once you install it you cannot have regular relay switching. I would want to have a choice, as I don't always use QSK and I would be afraid of destroying the diodes in the places of the low bands where my SWR goes up a bit (2:1).

That part was a waste of money, as the QSK board is sitting in its original box in a drawer. But, the amp is nice. My only complaint is that the outer casing seems a bit cheap. Right out of the box, the chassis was bent a little (curved inward) where the ventalation holes were punched. Looking on the inside, the bandswitch looks rather cheap but so far no problems.
N4OGW Rating: 2003-10-27
works Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
So far, this amp works as advertised, and produces legal limit easily. A lot of watts for the $. I have used it in at least one weekend-long CW contest at 1500W, and it seems to hold up just fine. The blower is noisy, but the speed can be adjusted by internal jumper. For contesting you probably need the "high" setting, even noisier. Other complaints:

Chassis work is very low quality. Every time I have to take the cover off (something like 30 screws!), I strip out another of the cheap screw anchors. It takes a lot of work getting the holes to line up when putting the cover back on.

My amp has the internal QSK. This works great so far. However, it sure would be nice to be able to replace the "fuse" lamps in the QSK switch without having to remove the ~30 screws to get the cover off! Probably better to get the Ameritron external QSL switch if the price is comparable.
WD5DBV Rating: 2003-03-18
DON'T LIKE QSK Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I ORDERED THE AL-1500Q WITH THE INTERNAL QSK BOARD, BIG MISTAKE. THE FIRST PROBLEM WAS I COULD NOT KEY MY TEN-TEC OMNI UNLESS THE AMP WAS ON AND HIGH VOLTAGE APPLIED.SPOKE TO AMERITRON AND WAS TOLD TO BUILD A SWITCH BOX TO SHORT THE QSK PLUGS ON THE OMNI WHEN THE AMP WAS OFF. THE SECOND PROBLEM IS THE POWER OUT IS SEVERLY LIMITED WHEN RUNNING RTTY, LIMIT AS LOW AS 660 WATTS INTO A 2:1 SWR.QSK TIMING FROM THE TRANCEIVER IS ALSO CRITICAL, MY TIMING WAS NOT CORRECT SO WOULD REQUIRE A TRIP TO TEN-TEC AND MAYBE A FIX MAYBE NOT.
I RETURNED THE AMP AND HAD THE QSK BOARD ROMOVED AND THE AMP PLAYS LIKE A DREAM. FULL OUTPUT WITH 50-60 WATTS OF DRIVE AND I RUN THE FAN ON HIGH POSITION AS I RUN RTTY AND NOISE LEVEL IS NOT BAD.
KB4QLZ Rating: 2003-02-26
A+ Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Purchased used about 11 months ago. Amp in near mint condition. This amp produces A LOT of power with 60+ Watts of drive. Have seen in excess of 2KW out on 75 into a dummy load. I usually drive it around 30 watts for 1KW out.
W4YHD Rating: 2003-02-20
Very Nice and Rugged Amplifier Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I picked up a previously owned, 7 year old, AL-1500 seven months ago and have had great success with this very nice amplifier. First, I was a little concerned about the build quality and durability of the Ameritron product. However, after very extensive use of the AL-1500 I have come to appreciate what they have accomplished here. This is one very tough, well designed, no frills amplifier. The build quality may not be the absolute best out there, however it is more than adequate and not bad at all! This amplifier is a tremendous dollar-per-watt value. Second, the AL-1500 tunes up very smoothly and will output 1500 watts with ease on all bands, including the WARC bands. The EIMAC 3CX1500A7 (8877) tube is very tough and not at all fragile. Be advised that this tube requires a 3 minute filament warm-up time at power turn on, and that cooling fan air noise is noticable, though not very loud in my opinion. I get full 1500 Watt power output with 50-60 watts drive. A nice Peter Dahl HV transformer is used in the power supply. And third, I have contacted the Ameritron factory several times and found the response very polite and effective, no complaints.

I actually have no complaints about the AL-1500 amplifier. It works exactly as advertised, tunes very smoothly, is very rugged and fault tolerant, uses the very rugged and linear 8877 EIMAC tube, has good factory support, and is simply a great dollar-per-watt value. I do recommend this product as a good solid value purchase. You can always pay a lot more and get a higher build quality, however if you are on a budget and are looking for a very good value, this is your amp! I am keeping the AL-1500 for sure!
N2ERN Rating: 2003-01-07
Great, but... Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Great amp, but I also had the problem with the relay not fully closing in standby mode. I replaced the relay with a new one from Ameritron, but the same problem came up guickly. Like the spring isn't strong enough to close it completely. So I tweaked the relay manually by bending the brass leaves slightly and it's been fine ever since. So, while the amp is GREAT, the relay leaves a lot to be desired.