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Reviews For: Swan MK II

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

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Review Summary For : Swan MK II
Reviews: 12MSRP: 1,695
Description:
80-10m amp 2000w pep amp pair of 3-500z tubes
Product is not in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00125
N8ULP Rating: 2015-04-22
Wonderful Amp! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Picked this up off of a friend of mine. This is a great amp built like a tank! 1000 to 1200 out on SSB all day long with good tubes. I have 3-500z tubes and it works great. if you can find one BUY IT! mine is not for sale. This amp is very wide banded and works well on all bands including WARC. They don't make them like this anymore boys so if you can get one buy one. Love mine! 73 N8ULP
KI6IUJ Rating: 2010-06-10
Lot of bang for the buck Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Engineered to last. A quick look inside is all it takes to realize that quality, not profit margin was foremost when designing this amp. Hi quality American components including a mercury vacuum relay help insure a long trouble free life. Large diameter low RPM fans keep the RF deck, power supply and station operator happy with plenty of air flow and very low noise. Generous component spacing with large oversized Air-Variable Caps & Tank circuitry provide arc free tuning and legal limit + operation. The only improvement I would suggest is the addition of a standby switch. This is easily done by placing an illuminated switch in place of the transmit light on the front panel. With this mod, you now have a standby switch that will illuminate during xmit. A Big 2 Thumbs Up to Herb Johnson and the built with American Pride folks at the Swan factory. I was fortunate to have visited the Oceanside, CA plant in 1980 just before they closed thier doors. 73 - Gregg KI6IUJ
K9FON Rating: 2008-09-08
Great!!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
All i can say is this thing is built like a tank! Most of the newer high dollar amps can't claim this! 1500 +++++ watts out (you have to be careful with this amp NOT to go past the legal limit!) on all bands with a pair of the best tubes made, the venerable Eimac 3-500z's.
W1WAT Rating: 2008-07-22
Outstanding Amplifier Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
This is a great amp. I lucked out and bought mine for $450.00. It is in excellent condition. I use my old faithful Yeasu FT-101EE to drive it. I have mine set up with a foot pedal switch to key the relay. I can call a DX station bare foot. If I have trouble breaking the pile up I just step on the pedal and bam I'm in! I have also driven it with a Kenwood TS-570D. I use the automatic AT in the 570D to "see" the MKII. I also have an old Dentron 1000W tuner in line. The Kenwood with all it's protective circuitry will only drive the amp. at about 500 watts even with an almost a perfect match.
Anyway The Swan MKII amp. is very forgiving. Easy to tune. Will put out about legal limit if driven with a 100 watts and powered with 220 volts. If I run it on tune/CW mode it will loaf along at about 400 watts all day and the 2 3/500Z tubes hardly get warm!

If you ever get a chance to buy a good one DO NOT HESITATE!
YY1MFF Rating: 2007-10-18
The Best One Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I got my by second-hand, from a colleague Amateur Radio who unfortunately died
The valves used (3-500z) are even originals since 1967. It is a wonderfull device very easy to use, and with 100 watts and a few adjustments,it gives more than 1000 watts in the air.
If you look for one do not be hesitate to buy it.
Good Luck

YY1MFF
NI5L Rating: 2006-09-09
Hard to beat Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is my first "big" amp and it has impressed me with it's ease of operation and huge power. Mine sees almost daily use and will do 1500 watts DC out with 125 watts drive from my Swan Twins...and the tubes are original. This amp is built like a tank. An excellent engineering job in my opinion. The remote RF deck makes efficient use of desktop space and the fans keep the P/S and tubes cool. WARC bands are no problem at all and tuning is not finicky anywhere. A definite keeper.

73 de NI5L
K3JVB Rating: 2006-05-06
Like a tank ! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Tunes easy. Can be driven with 250 watts, and it will exceed the legal limit ! ( I use a 500cx)

Mine is one of the early versions with 3-400z's. Would you believe that the are dated 4-17-1965...and still tune the legal limit on 40 and 80 meters. Lacks a standby switch. But that can be handled easy enough. Makes a BIG signal !And I have "fried" a few plastic antenna insulators !

Very well built , both the power supply and the amp. I will buy another, if I am lucky enough to find one !
73
k3jvb
WA3IRJ Rating: 2005-10-17
Great amp.. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Purchased it ...to finish a Swan station.
I drive it with a Swan 500cx. If I do not watch it will take it to, and past the legal limit. It is a rather rare version, as it has 3-400z tubes, like the mk-1. The later , and more prevelant models of The MK-2 have the 3-500z. I do not think it limits power muc..as this amp has more than enough to go well past the limits of legality.

I control the output with the mike gain on the 500cx. Rather than detune the transciever. As I am told by the Swan guru's this is a no-no.

I use it mainly on 40 and 75 meters. Great amp. big signal !
JohnB
Kb3lxy
AB5QW Rating: 2005-06-29
GREAT AMP! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is a GREAT AMP!
You can perform some simple mods:
Install a Standby switch on the front cover.

The 3-500Z Tubes are truely the best tubes EVER!
They sound warm, natural and deserve a huge transformer to make them hum.
Yes, call me old fashion or aficionado, but TUBES
still sound better than Ceramic's.

If you can locate a Swan Mark II, BUY IT!

73's

AB5QW
AB5GU Rating: 2005-02-05
Heavy Duty Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have 2 of the Swan Mark II amplifiers. When you get to looking inside the power supply you realize why the Swans have so much more output than the Heathkit and other brands of 2 3-500z. Swan built their amps extra tough to withstand matching them up to the high output 500cx and 750cw radios (300 watts plus output) in their line (that equals legal limit +++ output). They just loaf along when driven by a modern 100 watt radio. I only wish Swan was still in business so I could buy another!