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Reviews For: Ameco AC 1

Category: Transmitters: Amateur radio

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Review Summary For : Ameco AC 1
Reviews: 18MSRP: around $25-30
Description:
15 watt 80/40 meter transmitter using 6v6 oscillator on "shoebox" style chassis. Xtal control.
Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.n4mw.com/ac1.htm
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00184.2
KE3IJ Rating: 2007-02-25
Sorry I left it in a shed when I moved to another state! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
In 1972, when I was 16 years old, I passed my Novice test after taking the Code portion in my Elmer's den, from a punched-paper-tape machine activating a piezo buzzer. I was WN2FUB back then, when Novice tickets were good for 2 years.

When I had received my license in the mail after an agonizing 3-month wait, my Grandmother set herself back $24.95 to fund my first Novice transmitter, an Ameco AC-1, which I vaguely remember buying at the old Lafayette Electronics store in Syosset, Long Island.

I wound my plug-in coil for 80 Meters, my Elmer (Van Field, W2OQI) gave me a 3.731 MHz crystal (If I remember correctly), and also lent me an ARC-5 Navy surplus receiver that tuned Longwave (190-450 KHz). I built a 1-tube crystal converter that shifted the 80M band down to the longwave freq's for the ARC-5. That was a neat receiver.

The Ameco was nowhere near the quality of the Heath DX-60B that my school chum across town had just built, but he was the dentist's son and they could afford such things. I was happy with my Ameco kit and put it together in a few hours. The manual was clear and easy to follow, even for a 16-year old.

I didn't have any coax, nor did I understand much about antennas & resonance, but I knew that the Tuning and Loading caps in the Ameco AC-1 were supposed to compensate for whatever you could string up as an antenna, so I ran somewhere between 80 and 90 feet of insulated wire directly from the XMTR's antenna terminal, through the frame of the basement window, up the wall a little, and out to a pine tree in the backyard. Can't even remember whether I had a ground connection or not... I may have connected a wire to the electric power company's ground stake outside the basement window. I used a knife switch to switch the antenna between receiver and transmitter.

The Ameco manual recommended tuning up into a 15 watt light bulb as a dummy load, then tweaking the settings on the actual antenna later. I found out that I could connect a flashlight bulb to wire leads, then connect the leads about 3 feet apart along the outgoing antenna wire; that would tap off enough RF to power the bulb and I would tune for peak brilliance. I was blissfully unaware of SWR and the Ameco didn't have a milliammeter to allow me to tune for a "dip" in plate current; I simply tuned for maximum flashlight bulb brilliance.

My DX-60B friend told me that my signal sounded a little chirpy, but if so, it's probably because of my crude antenna setup and tuning methods, since everyone else seems to say that there was no chirp on the Ameco's signal.

The Ameco advertised a 15W INPUT power to the plate of the 6V6 tube... which probably means I was putting out 8 watts or so. My situation pretty much matched that of reviewer N1MG, who said,

"This was my novice rig. Imagine running 15 watts crystal control to a lousy longwire about 10 feet off the ground. Pure Joy. Hours calling CQ. How can you forget those simple pleasures of life."

I got a chuckle out of that, because that was ME.

Most of my contacts (from eastern Long Island) with the Ameco were in the New England and New Jersey areas. Nothing more than a few states away. But as a present-day occasional-QRPer, I know that 8 watts can get you some real DX if your antenna system is better than mine and N1MG's were.

During my early adult years I got married, had a child, and stored the Ameco and the ARC-5 in an outside shed on the property where I rented. In 1989, I relocated to Pennsylvania, forgetting about my old radio equipment, where they must have sat for several years, rusting away. What a shame! I understand that the Ameco now sells for $100 or more as a collector's item; mine worked perfectly, although I was pretty hard on that poor 6V6, which would glow purple and make a faint tinkling noise whenever I mistuned the rig from resonance! I do miss that little kit, and seeing its current popularity brings back many memories.

These days I run another classic, the Kenwood TS-520S, which I will not let go again (I had one back in 1993 when I returned to Ham radio as an Advanced Class licensee, callsign KE3IJ, but got desperate for money and sold it for $300 so I could pay the tax man. Very fortunately, I inherited another one just like it, with silver-lollipop D104 mike, from the defunct Ham radio club at an ITT Technical Institute at which I taught in 1998.).

I've also built variants on the Pixie QRP rig, and had 80M QSOs with Connecticut and Pittsburgh, PA on 1 Watt or less (I live near Harrisburg), with a horizontal loop; but I often wish I still had that good old Ameco AC-1 as a "big guns" QRP rig. I'll bet it would have worked great with the loop antenna.

The Ameco AC-1 was a great little rig for the Novices of my generation, despite its limitations and simplicity. I'm glad there are so many people who remember it with such fondness.

--de KE3IJ
K7RAN Rating: 2006-03-01
The Cult of AC-1 Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
The nostalgic Ameco AC-1 novice transmitter has developed a devoted cult following, with online auction examples selling for $250 to $550 (!) depending upon age and condition. An mint unbuilt kit recently sold for more than $850 (February 2006). Here's a link to an active user group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/amecoac1/
W1GFH Rating: 2004-10-23
A Classic! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This rig considered was the bottom of the barrel in the 50's and 60's. Now, you'd have a hard time getting one for less than $300 on eBay. Many people are building AC-1 "clones". Here is a page of nostalgia, mods, plans, and pictures -- all about the AC-1.

The OFFICIAL Ameco AC-1 Site
http://www.qsl.net/wb1gfh/ameco.html
KT4XF Rating: 2004-01-09
1.812 CW Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I got the rig at the 1970 Dayton hamfest, used it on & off till I decided to get on 160, converted it to SS rectfiers, the xfmr burned up, tried a 450v supply that put 22w input! Now it uses a 150v B+...abt 2w out to a 100' wire & Radio Shaft DX 150B rx.. .. .. Anyone interesed in starting a net or club?
W5ACM Rating: 2004-01-09
Still Have It - Love It! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I ordered my Ameco AC-1 in early 1969 from Allied Electronics. After some instruction on how to trim wires to proper lengths, I got it all together, put it on the air, and started making contacts. This was my first ham transmitter, and was my only one until I found a used Heathkit DX-60A and discovered 15 Meters. I still have the AC-1, and it still looks good and still works. It is now part of a "portable" unit that includes a WW2 receiver and power inverter for 12 VDC ops! I have bought and sold a lot of gear over the years, but the AC-1 stays...
W6EIJ Rating: 2003-08-26
Great Rig! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This was my first project, 1969. When I plugged it in, it was as if I were testing a mega-watt rig. Had lots of fun with it. I still have the instruction booklet,tubes and coil, but I cannot find the rig itself. My log shows that I continued to use it through 1978.
AL7B Rating: 2003-08-26
Great Xmtr Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
This was my novice rig in 1966. All I could afford at 15 years. Worked well after repairing the shorted shield on my coax at the antenna. Only took me a month of calling CQ without a reply to figure it out. Then worked LA and AK on 40 meters from W6 land. I only regret tossing this gem in the trash after upgrading to the SB-101 as a young adult.

Dick AL7B
Anchorage
(WN6TUA)
N1MG Rating: 2002-03-13
Oh the simple joy Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This was my novice rig. Imagine running 15 watts crystal control to a lousy longwire about 10 feet off the ground. Pure Joy. Hours calling CQ. How can you forget those simple pleasures of life.