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Reviews For: Ameritron AL-1200

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

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Review Summary For : Ameritron AL-1200
Reviews: 58MSRP: 3310
Description:
Tube Type Linear Amplifier
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.ameritron.com/products.php?prodid=AL-1200
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00584.9
W7AV Rating: 2004-10-24
Performs Well Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have had the AL-1200 for 3 weeks now and it performs very well. The fan is loud but I make contacts, thats what counts. Workmanship is good, appears to meet specs as advertised. Very easy to tune. What else can I say--so far it's worth the money and I saved at least 1200.00 to 1500.00 over the QRO and Alpha. Time will be the ultimate judge. So far very pleased.
K0XD Rating: 2004-09-09
8 YRS AND COUNTING Time Owned: more than 12 months.
8 YEARS OF USE AND COUNTING. STILL GOING STRONG. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
W3WW Rating: 2004-03-17
IMPRESSIVE AMPLIFIER Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
After owning several Alpha and other assorted Amplifiers, including a New 99, 89 and a few 76s, I was amazed at my new AL-1200. No problems out of the box. Went together well, was packed fairly nicely. The main unit could have been better supported, but it was not damaged. All 36 screws were accounted for. After assembly and a quick review of the manual, we were ready to put the amplifier through the paces.

This amplifier will pump 1500 Watts (a lot more, if you care) into anything attached to the "RF OUT" connector. Talk about forgiving, this amplifier is as stable as they come, no matter what the loading circumstances. I do not use a tuner...so my SWRs are a bit high on the Band edges. No problem here, 2.5:1 and the AL-1200 tunes the same as 1:1, perfect. Easy and very effortless tuning. No snaps, arcs or instability at all. The Load and Plate tuning are as smooth as I have ever used. Instant on with 1500 watts out in seconds. Granted, most of the above is due to the 3CX1200A7 tube, but everything seems to work well together. The grid and plate currents are as specified in the manual. The voltage is 3700 on idle and only drops to 3600 under full load.

Now the downside. Really not much, but just my observations. The components are a bit light weight as compared to the Alpha. (you get what you pay for). As reported by others, the fan is Louder that one would like, the 36 or so screws are a pain but you got to have something to complain about. I still have the fan on medium speed, thus the noise.

Looks wise, I certainly like the appearance of this AL-1200. I'll post another review after a few months of use.
K6HAM Rating: 2004-03-04
Great Amp For The Money Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Have had my AL-1200 for about 7 years but in all honesty it doesn't get a lot of use. I prefer to use my AL 811H instead. When I first received it, there was a slight scratch on the front panel (that's not acceptable in my book for any equipment). Sent the whole thing back to Ameritron and they replaced the panel no questions asked. Outstanding! When I got it back I had to replace the front LED (big deal) and it has worked FB since. However, I have to state that I only work 20M and the highest power I run is 750w. I never run any equipment at full output and things last longer. Ameritron service was excellent and the quality was very good. Comparing it to an Alpha is ridiculous and with the difference in price I suggest putting a down payment on a real radio station or better yet buy Clear Channel stock. Additionally, my experience has taught me that really expensive equipment can also fail. Thanks for reading. Bill
W8OB Rating: 2004-02-04
excellant amp Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is one great amp. Some other posters mentioned that its not an alpha, well I didn't feel like forking over another $3k for a amp I use for 160 and 40 dxing. I have owned several ameritron amps through out the years and the quality of construction of the al-1200 is keeping right up there. Very smooth tuning, runs very cool. I am able to run the legal limit out on all the bands except 10 m with 100 watts of drive. This one is going to hang around here for quite awhile.
DK7BY Rating: 2003-06-11
No Prob´s since 4 1/2 years. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Since early 1999 i own one AL1200. I drive fan on max. speed since all time. No problems at all time, except one:

As WV4R wrote: "Four little 'wheat bulbs' finally blew after three years. I replaced them with 4 super-brite 12vdc LED bulbs so now the meters are a sexy RED."

I tried blue, looks cool BLUE, but less contrast.
KF4NI Rating: 2002-12-20
Most bang for Buck Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought mine used and the price sold me! They are very affordable on the used market. I used a Henry 2K,and Drake L4B before it but this one is more "forgiving" than the 3-500Z tube amps. I have a Yaesu 1000D and put 200 watts into it several times and "it still keeps on ticking" as they say. Also, the fan in mine is quiet and yes it is working! This is a great amp. and I highly recommend it to anyone.
K4NR Rating: 2002-12-20
Great Value within Class Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I own a recent model AL-1200. This model has the new T/R switchboard that replaces the old open-frame relay. The new T/R relay board is substantially quieter than the old open-frame relays Ameritron used in the past. I prefer the relays to the pin diodes that are easily damaged. The new board has an 8 millisecond switch time and mates well to my IC-746 that has about a 9 millisecond delay from key-down to RF output. It is not up to full QSK. If you need QSK you need to add either the internal or external QSK boards.

It loads up easily on all bands. I don’t care for the scale of the Plate control. It would be easier to make band changes if it was labeled with a 1 through 10 scale like the Tune control rather than the more traditional “band markings” from the Heathkit era. (Perhaps Ameritron will change the design as soon as they exhaust their supply. I note that other Ameritron amps already have a 1 through 10 scale) It easily does 1500 watts on all bands—including 12 and 17 meters. It has some headroom (more on 80 meters—less on the upper bands) and you don’t have to run it at the tubes maximum ratings all the time like you would with a pair of 3-500Zs. Efficiency decreases above 20 meters and more drive is needed to produce the legal limit on the upper bands. The amp does not have tuned inputs on 12 and 17 meters so I have to use the internal tuner on the IC-746 to prevent the rig from folding back. 12 and 17 meter positions would be nice but would add to the cost.

The construction looks good with a stainless steel chassis and a neat, uncluttered layout. The wiring is clean and is neatly wire-tied. This unit uses a genuine Peter Dahl Hypersil transformer. The Eimac 3CX1200A7 is an instant–on tube that requires about 10 seconds to warm up. The tube has a grid dissipation of 50 watts –25 times that of other ceramic tubes. The AL-1200 does not have any protection circuitry and probably does not need it with prudent operation. Setting the bandswitch to the wrong band just results in no output. I would imagine that you could burn up the tank coils if you did not catch the problem and just kept operating or just kept increasing the drive waiting for output. The manual is decent, but I would prefer full schematics as I work on my own equipment (for the appliance operator who sends everything back to the factory this may not be an issue).

I have had to talk to the technical support folks at Ameritron in the past (I had an AL-80B with the older AC step start and I wanted to convert it to the newer DC type circuit) and found that not all the technicians have the same level of competency. If the answer does not sound right or the person sounds unsure—ask for the manager.

The bottom line is that the AL-1200 does what it is designed to do at a reasonable price. It is not bulletproof and requires a prudent operator. The list price is about $2500 without QSK and about $2750 with QSK. Retail prices are less and I’ve seen the non-QSK version selling for around $2100. I picked up a month-old non-QSK unit for $1500.

While you really cannot compare this amp to an Alpha or QRO, it is a good value for a legal-limit class amplifier.
K9US Rating: 2002-12-13
its an MFJ Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Sold my Henry 3K so I could get 160m and a smaller package but I am playing the price.

Here are some of my problems after 1 year:
1. The day it arrived in the mail, I found two broken connections in the tank circuit.
2. After about 5 hours of operation the Xmt LED burned out which is in series with the antenna relay so the amp would not operate.
3. My first time on 80meter, the unit went up in smoke. The 500pf pad capacitor in the tank circuit shorted and burned up the small board it was mounted on. The parts list showed doorknob capacitors but the amp is using very small ceramic caps.
4. When I went to trouble shoot both the above problems the drawing and parts list did not match my amp. Both areas of the amp had been redesigned buy the documentation was not updated.

I did get good service from their tech support phone line and they have provided the repair parts at no cost. My concern is what will go next. In the past year I have operated the amp less than 10 hours due to lack of time. In 20years of operation with my Henry 3K, I did not have one problem.

Tim K9US
W7TJ Rating: 2002-09-18
Excellent Buy for the Dollar Time Owned: more than 12 months.
1st, there is an excellent review of this Amplifier in December 1985 of QST.
My criteria for a new Amp was:
1. Easy Tuning
2. Reserve Power ( 2KW output )
3. Rugged power supply & Transformer
4. Rugged Tube that will withstand a drive error
5. No long warm up times
6. Affordable ( basically a Dollar per watt )
7. Practical features, but no frills & overkill

The AL-1200 fills the bill perfectly ! The power is there when needed in a DX Pileup, and some contesting. ( One of the nice features is the ability to wire the blower for different speeds depending on type of operation.) The design is basic and straight forward. Using with a Yaesu FT-1000D I don't have be as concerned if I "forget" to turn the drive down ! This Amp is an excellent performer and buy ! - Randy W7TJ