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Reviews For: Mirage B-1018-G

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

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Review Summary For : Mirage B-1018-G
Reviews: 4MSRP: 409
Description:
10W in and 160W out amplifier on 2 meters
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.mirageamp.com/mirageamp/products.php?prodid=B-1018-G
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0044
G4PWO Rating: 2017-11-13
Lots of gain Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have a 144Mhz transverter fitted to my Elecraft KX3, unfortunately this only produces 3W output, and the options are quite limited for an amplifier which will deliver a reasonable power output for such small amounts of drive.

The Mirage B-1018-G (with it's 2 stage amplifier) fits the bill though, giving around 100W of output when driven by the KX3. I have been using it mostly for portable operation outside, the amplifier barely warms up using SSB although it does get a bit warmer in continuous carrier modes such as FM. I have not yet found it getting too hot though.
ON1VHF Rating: 2011-08-18
Not so good Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Indeeds, it heats up a lot and will simply not work at full power without one or two PC fans colling down the amp, depending on your room temperature. I find this really unacceptable. In addition, why did Mirage not limit the power to a level that a traditional rig supply like the kenwood PS-60T can deliver ? For a few watts less, it would have been a nice little amp, heating less. Recently, the preamp started to work erratically too. Not really a bad amp, but it needs a serious redesign.
Nevertheless, (when it works) and I call CQ, I repeatidly get contacts from stations about 200 miles away and always get good signal reports, with my tonna 11 el. yagi.
KJ6AIW Rating: 2009-11-30
Decent amp. Over priced Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I like the amp, it works ok. Its thrown me a couple fault lights for no apparent reason, and even with required watts in i get some relay chatter with ssb mode on. All in all its not a bad amp but the price is why i gave it a 4 instead of a 5. It is a mirage who is owned by MFJ now. Everybody told me not to buy anything made out of Mighty Fine Junk, yet this not so little amp surprised them all. The fit and finish externally is very good. I havent had to open it up so i cant tell you about the internal quality. IT DOES HEAT UP so plan on wiring a cpu type fan to move air over the thing.
AD6WL Rating: 2006-09-21
Nice little amp. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Don't buy directly from Mirage. They are at least $60 higher than anywhere else. This a great little amp for the money. Here is the cheapest I have found this amp: http://www.randl.com/cgi-local/cart/cart.cgi?cart=Search&model=1018