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Reviews For: Advanced Receiver Research (Ar2) P144VDG

Category: Receive Pre-amps

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Review Summary For : Advanced Receiver Research (Ar2) P144VDG
Reviews: 16MSRP: 79.95
Description:
144-148 MHz recieve only pre-amplifier for repeaters
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.advancedreceiver.com/index1.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00164.3
KB6LED Rating: 2014-08-27
Awesome performance Time Owned: N.A.
I have been playing with the Advance receiver research preamps for 15 plus years and never had a problem with any of them and a few of the original ones are still in service.
N1KI Rating: 2014-06-12
EME Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have used several models of preamps for 2 meters EME, and my all-time favorite is the P144VDG. It is true that they cannot handle any RF input, but I haven't seem a receive-only preamp that can. This preamp's small size allows it to be mounted directly on the T/R relay, so that's a little more cable loss eliminated.
AA2HA Rating: 2012-10-25
AWESOME Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I tried the P144VDG pre-amp for two meters and what a difference! I get around .12 uV with the amp and .33 uV without. I am able to copy signals previously unreadable, in the noise floor. I haven't tried it for repeater use yet, but will report back when I get the antenna on the tower and everything working. I'm going to inquire what the price difference is with N connectors, because BNC connectors would be a pain for repeater use.
BTW, the link listed here is incorrect, it should be:

http://www.advancedreceiver.com/page2.html
W4YJ Rating: 2012-02-05
Not so good Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had both the Mosfet and GasFet versions of the 144 mhz preamps. The gasfet will give GREAT sensitivity but they WILL NOT hold up. I sent the Gasfet back to ARR 4 times to be repaired and finally gave up. The Mosfet fared a bit better but after the second time sent back for repair I gave them up also. I have tried the Angle Linear and they work ok. Not the greatest gain but at least they dont blow out at the drop of a hat. Other repeater owners in the area have had the same problem with the ARR units. And yes, I have almost zero rf in the reciecver as I run a 6 cavity duplexer plus an extra bandpass cavity on the receive side PLUS I run split antennas. I just wish ARR would do something about the static or whatever the problem is in their preamps.
WA7ABU Rating: 2011-07-07
Great Product Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This preamp is capable of great things. I originally was misinformed about what the device could withstand and rated it low some years back, when it blew repeatedly.

To take care of intermod issues with other signals on site and to make it last longer than a week or so, I had to insert a DCI 2 meter filter inline before the preamp. My own 6 Meter repeater blew the preamp by going right through the BpBr cavities as it will on all such cavities to produce a greater voltage than what is handled by the MOSFET.

Even greater performance of the preamp can be had by reducing transmit noise on the same antenna, reducing site noise to the preamp. I am now well below the 0.1uv level mentioned on this forum.

I have now purchased many of these preamps and had no trouble replacing the bad MOSFETs I ruined. AR2 will provide them reasonable.
KX8XX Rating: 2008-04-10
Homebrew is about the only way to beat these. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Used 144 and 432 mHz versions of these for about 8 years now, no problem. Rated a 4 because good hb ones will beat 'em.
N1JMS Rating: 2007-11-30
A work horse Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've used these pre-amps since they were introduced yers ago. They have always been simple, effective & reliable. As with any pre-amp you must instally them wisely, especially in high RF enviorments where external filtering is required. High quality coax cables are a must too.
K8TV Rating: 2007-08-14
Good Product!! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have used the ARR pre amps on repeaters for over 20 years. Have several on two meters and UHF and one on six meters. With proper regulated voltage input and a cavity or helical resonator infront of them they will last a long time. I have never lost one and had antennas hit by lightning several times. They are a nice company to deal with - very nice to amateurs! Ken K8TV
W6IZT Rating: 2006-12-26
No problems here! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have a P432 in use on my 440 repeater now for almost 4 years without any problems. I share a site with 4-5 other commercial UHF repeaters and have not experienced any noticable problems with intermod. 12 dB SINAD is approximately .11-12 uV as others have stated.

A great value!
K4III Rating: 2006-11-09
Great Solution - when possible !!! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've put one of these on both my 2m and 440 repeaters. The 440 one works great and really pulls in the weak stations without any attenuation droping 12dB Sinad readings from .28 to .11uV! Also, it helps that there is only 1 other uhf system 300-750 Mhz within a 35+ mile radius of my repeater, a pager on 463 Mhz. It is also 8 miles away so intermod is Non-Existant on the UHF band!!!

The vhf ARR I use is the switchable type that will pass 25 watts. I chose this because there are 5 other VHF commercial and another 2m ham repeater on the same tower up about 40 feet. I figure that there will be a lot of RF entering my system on vhf and that using this type will be less prone to being damaged by strong RF signals. I am not attenuating any of the preamp and it brings down the .35uV to .12uV!!! (Yes, that's .12uV using all of the 24dB without attenuation). I tried swapping antennas one time recently with one closer to the top and the intermod was so high, the preamp was completely unusable for regular operation whenever another system keyed. Even with a 10dB attenuator inline, the preamp caused so many problems, I decided to go back to the lower antenna. (I was able to get further coverage at a lower height with a more sensitive receiver than a 50ft higher antenna with no preamp)

At sites with a lot of intermod or high-powered transmitters, don't expect to use one of these. Or at least you may need to remove some of the preamp's pull by adding attenuation inline. Ever wonder why Motorola/commercial base stations and repeaters only have preamps that offer 3-4dB gain???