Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: Amp Supply LK-800C TNY

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

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : Amp Supply LK-800C TNY
Reviews: 8MSRP: used $2500-3000
Description:
An Omega Electronics updated LK800 with all the refinements such as soft start. Covers WARC bands, uses 3 3CX800 tubes and has a brute transformer and capable of 2500 watts key down for prolonged operation.
Product is not in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0085
N8WGM Rating: 2022-05-18
Best amplifier I've had so far Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I recently found this amplifier on E-bay and for 2 grand, could not pass it up. It is the TNY version and it was in excellent condition. Drove to Michigan to pick it up and it was worth the drive.
2500 watts at 100 watts of drive....so I use 65 watts to drive it. I have the TNY exterior transformer but never really use it. The onboard Dahl Transformer is a powerhouse and since 1500 watts is the limit, the external transformer sits. I do not do the digital modes so the TNY transformer is a huge door stop for now. Maybe an amplifier project in the future!
Getting excellent signal reports. Yeah, the 3cx800A7's are expensive now but the original tubes are still at full power and will probably outlive me. I did replace the factory fan (40 years old) with a new fan and the fan noise is now way way down.
I've owned a lot of amplifiers in the past....Heathkit 220, 2-Dentron Clipperton L's, 2-AL1500's, an Ameritron Al1200, an Alpha 76CA, a couple of Commander amplifiers and a few Solid state amplifiers. After using the Amp Supply LK800A TNY for a little while, the LK800 is my favorite. At 1500 watts, the needles on the meters hardly move and the 800 is built like a tank. THe amp itself fits nicely on my desk but it is heavy....like 80 lbs heavy.
The 3cx800A7's are getting expensive but they seem to last forever. Keep the power at legal levels and drive the amp with reduced power to do so will result in very long lasting tubes. Can't beat those American made Eimac's!!!! Used Eimac's are going for 700 and three of them would be the cost of what I paid for the amp. In reality, I got the amplifier for free for the cost of three 3cx800's!
I highly recommend this amplifier. It puts out plenty of power and for what I paid and what they are selling for due to the change over to Solid state amplifiers, you can get a really good deal on one of these if they become available. The problem is , most people hang on to them because they just last. You just cannot beat the sound of a tube amplifier. Solid state is nice but the tube amplifier is still a very useful piece of equipment.
NE8V Rating: 2021-10-30
Owned One of the First TNYs Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Chad Tate was a friend of mine on 3895 and I was present during the time he was working with Denny Had to design the TNY version of the LK-800C amplifier. After "Tiny" got his and gave it the stamp of approval I was one of the first to buy one, picking it up from Had in Raleigh, NC. I ran it for a number of years. It was the best amp I ever owned and on 75 meters it would consistently peak 5kw with about 110 watts driving it. I rarely ran it that hard but when I did I seldom had trouble breaking the pileups on 20 meters. I can't remember why but I did take it to Bill Edwards for some further mods. Doing so didn't increase the output but did stiffen the components. I don't recall what I paid and have no idea what they are worth in 2021. But if I were to get back on the air in a serious way, I wouldn't hesitate to buy another one. BTW, Bill became an SK in 2006.
VA3PWC Rating: 2014-06-21
3.5 KW out - 100W in Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Simply fantastic !!! 2.5KW key down and no time limit.
3.5 KW on SSB peaks.
On the bird43 wattmeter easily gets 2.5KW with 70W input.
3 tubes 3CX800A7 are very solid and now expensive too... but if you want some extra power...you must get this amplifier. Internally is very well-made and and solid. My opinion is Alpha is the best well-made tube amplifier ever made... and then Amp Supply does the job very well.
Mine is the C TNY version with QSK board and Warc bands and external power pack that runs 3KV on high voltage. 73 from Rick PY2EL
K0IZ Rating: 2010-04-22
Super Amp Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned this amplifier for about 3 years, and love it. Operates great. Lots of reserve in tube plate dissipation and huge power supply.

I have, however, made several updates: New HV chassis and cable connector. Original is only rated for 750V. Added 50 ohm resistor and timer relay for soft start high voltage. Added timer relay so that HV is not applied until 3 minute filament warmup is complete.
N4RJ Rating: 2009-04-19
One Tough customer! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This amp has run many many contests and even though the parts look cinchy it is almost bullet proof.
KC0W Rating: 2006-10-30
Not For Sissies Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.

I sent my Amp Supply LK800-C to Bill so he could work his magic on it & turn it into the "TNY" model. I'm very glad I did. Bill is a very knowledgeable person to have work on your amplifier & keeps you informed of his progress along every step of the way.

How do I like this newly modified amp? THIS THING SCREAMS!!! (in a good way) With 20 watts of drive from my Yaesu 1000D, the amplifiers output is exactly 1025 watts. You can imagine the power output if one drives the amp with 50 to 75 watts. A true contester or DXers dream machine when you need just that little something more to be heard over the pileups or to keep your run frequency.

I really can't speak of the amps attributes on SSB since I'm 100% CW here. Needless to say, the amp will really rock & roll on CW.

Talk about a quiet fan on the LK-800C TNY. It is much quieter than my Alpha 99 & about the same noise volume as my Acom 2000A. Anyway, with a pair of headphones on (or even without phones on) you will be hard pressed to hear this amp's fan at all.

What I REALLY enjoy about this amp is it's separate power supply. It sheds 60 pounds off the amp itself making any lifting/transporting of the amp a real breeze. Plus the RF deck is now reduced in size due to the large & heavy Peter Dahl transformer being "remotable" in it's own cabinet. Place the transformer unit under your desk or anywhere else you want to within the cable to RF deck distance of roughly 7 feet. This really is a slick feature of this amp. Why other manufactors do not construct remotable transformers like this is beyond me. Are you listening Acom, Alpha, Ameritron, Command Tech, QRO & others?

Tuning up "by the numbers" is a no brainer with the amp. It's not fickle as some of my other amp's have been when trying to duplicate the exact settings when changing bands. Set it once, mark your settings & forget it. Less than 8 seconds per band chance is what it takes if one wants during the stress of contesting. There is a dedacated 12 meter band setting on the amp but not a 17 meter one. In my experamentation with 17 meters & this amp, the LK800-TNY will not operate on 17 meters very well, if at all.

Bill from Omega reworks the amp's separate transformer supply box so that it has two user selectable voltage settings. The "stock" LK800-TNY will have 2500 volts on the RF deck. When switched to the "high" mode, it will have 3000 volts. Call it a turbo boost for the amp. A a small toggle switch is installed on the RF decks face in order to be able to select between the two voltage settings.

With a trio of pulse rated 3cPx800A7 tubes and the voltage setting in the high mode, well.......... Lets just say that other stations will seldom need a fill or repeat of your contest exchange info.

I would never run more than 1500 watts. These power out figures were conducted by myself using a large dummy load. I do not advocate the use of running excessive power.

Bills service does not come cheap retrofitting this amp into the TNY version. In fact one could purchase an Ameritron starter amplifier & have money left over. If you are a passionate amateur radio enthusiast you can't go wrong with Bill's mod. I plan on having this amp (along with it's small footprint) sitting on my radio desk for quite some time into the future.



Any questions? Email me,



Tom kcØw






KA1CDE Rating: 2004-11-12
This amp delivers 30 times the drive. It was updated at Omega Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I purchased this Amp used as a Lk 800 and sent it to Omega Electronics for a completed update and coversion to a TNY model. The amp was returned with pictures of the work provided.
I tested the amp with 100 watts drive into a dummy load, it produced 3000 watts output easily.

I used the amp for on and off sparingly and noticed a oder of something buring. I had surpassed the warrenty provided on the work completed by Omega. I contacted Bill and sent the amp back to be checked out, he found a loose connection with one of the diodes and repaired the problem with no cost to me for repairs or shipping, he said it was his error and should not have happend, while it was there I had the input for 15m retuned for 17m.

The amp came back in excellent shape and has been operating flawless ever since.

The amp produces output at 30 times the drive level> If you are not carefull when testing into a dummy load you can easily exceed 4kw pep output, although I would not recommend operating it a long time at those levels unless you were to install the 3cpx800 instead of the stock tubes.

If you get the opportuninty to buy one, and want a high power low drive amp that is barely, barely working at 1500 watts buy it, it is a real nice amp.
K5YY Rating: 2004-06-22
Excellent Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Simply stated, if you can find one , buy it! The LK800C with the TNY Omega Electronics updates is the only linear you will need for a long time. The amp puts out 2000 watts key down all day if you're into that. 3000 watts output easily from the THREE 3CX800 tubes and heavy duty power supply. Soft start and other updates by Omega make this one of the best linears for the money, certainly the best for under $3000! I have had 'em all over my 47 years of ham radio and this one I will keep forever. Great styling, efficient, well designed and easy to tune... 50 watts input will give you 1000 watts out and 100 will give you much more than legal output. So, watch the drive! San K5YY