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Reviews For: TE Systems 1412G

Category: Amplifiers: RF Power - 6M/VHF/UHF+

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Review Summary For : TE Systems 1412G
Reviews: 13MSRP: $286
Description:
2 meter power amplifier, 25w in/160w out, with integrated GaAsFET receiving preamplifier and RF sensed T/R switching
Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00134.8
AD4BG Rating: 2003-01-23
Excellent Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I purchased this amplifier 3 years ago, Had a bad storm in my area that had taken the preamp out, Returned to Te System for repairs they recevied the Amplifier on Jan 9 and on Jan 10 it was back in the mail to me, I have had no other problems with this Amplifier, If you are going to buy a Amplifier Go with TE Systems
KD5LDW Rating: 2002-07-29
Love IT ! Time Owned: N.A.
I purchased on used off of Eham , I have owned it for about 2 months so far it has performed Flawlessly 35 watts in gives me 190 out ! The amp has a adjustment for the sideband relays which has proved to be very useful. I use mine on sideband only & heat has not been an Issue for me the heat sink runs the length of the case & seems to work well
I have owned a RF-Concepts they compare very close to each other for me the Switches(power & pre amp) are easier to use for a person with large hands. It is a Keeper!! If you are buying on it deserves a close Look.
WB2WIK Rating: 2002-04-11
Seems good Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've only had this amplifier a few days but have used it for several hours and have some general observations:

-Value: Very good
-Workmanship: Good, and better than similar Mirage products, compared side-by-side
-Design: Satisfactory. I don't like the little 4-pin "Jones" power connector, as it makes using heavy gauge (e.g., #8 or #10) power cable difficult. The 7-pin accessory socket, while functional, was a poor choice. The heatsink area is sufficient for low duty-cycle SSB/CW work and insufficient for high duty-cycle FM work. The GaAsFET preamplifier, which adds cost, complexity and the requirement for another relay and considerable protection circuitry, does nothing for me. As usual, it is proclaimed to dramatically improve receiver sensitivity, etc, but as usual, I find it improves nothing but the S-meter reading. (Same applies to the preamps in Mirage and other amplifiers.) It's all marketing hype. No modern 2m receiver needs an outboard preamp, unless that preamp can be located at the antenna.
-Manual: Fair. It's long on pages and short on content, and apparently was written many years ago based on the type used (looks like it's from a dot matrix printer, which have gone the way of the Dodo).
-Meets the spec? Yes, it does. With 25W drive and 13.8Vdc provided to the rear panel power port, it produces exactly 160W RF output at 144 MHz into a 50 Ohm load, as stipulated.
-Interesting feature: The RF sensing circuit time delay for drop-out (SSB use) has a rear-panel, very handy adjustment.
-What I'd do differently: Use a larger heatsink, or better still, add a pair of 92mm 12Vdc cooling fans to the heatsink assembly, dramatically increasing duty cycle capability while increasing bill of material cost by only $7.00 (these fans, even good ball-bearing ones, cost about $3.50 each in volume). That would probably result in a selling price that's about $14 higher, and I think anyone would pay that to have the integrated fans.

WB2WIK/6