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Reviews For: Ameritron AL-80B

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

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Review Summary For : Ameritron AL-80B
Reviews: 148MSRP: 1300
Description:
Kilowatt output HF desktop linear
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.ameritron.com/products.php?prodid=AL-80b
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
141484.6
N4KC Rating: 2017-10-02
Effectively amplifies Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
An upgrade from my trusty AL-811, which has served me well. The quandary was whether to go solid state or not. The price and the reviewed performance of the AL-80B convinced me to remain "hollow state," and so far, no regrets. The amp does all I would expect and more, gives full rated power out on all bands with 65 watts drive or less, tunes easily and consistently, and appears to be clean on the air (according to many who have taken a look on their fancy-schmantzy band scopes!). Note that I am running it on 110 volts...a dedicated circuit...and it seems to do just fine.

I inspected it carefully when I installed the final tube and did the 10-meter mod. All solder connections were beautifully done and there was no loose hardware that I could find.

Only minor quibbles:
--The fan is a tad noisy but I am already used to it and hardly notice it anymore. It does its job well.
--The input SWR on 30 meters is a bit high. I have not tweaked it since I doubt I'll use the amp much on that band and don't want to mess up the 20-meter input...where I WILL use it.

I use the amp on a regular AM schedule every week. I drive it with 15 watts on AM and get over 200 watts out. I consistently get unsolicited reports of good audio and signal purity with the 80B and a Kenwood TS-590S. It does get warm with long (typical AM) transmissions but never hot.

The 80B does exactly what I want it to do, does it well, and--so far--does it reliably. That's a "5" in my book.
VK5AGC Rating: 2016-06-27
Disapointment Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Seems lots of people like this amp, having had it for or a short time,it has let me down badly. It is with Ameritron now,and I sincerely hope they are going to sort it all out for me.The first one I bought wasn't good at all, the second one not much better!...I am hoping the blokes at Ameritron are going to fix it once and for all.
K1FBI Rating: 2015-10-04
Great Value Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've got mine wired for 240 Volts and read 239.5 Volts off the outlet. I get 1100 Watts on 40 Meters LSB and set it back to run 800-850 Watts. It came with a Machlett Tube, my old AL-80B came with a Taylor and I was hard pressed to get 800 Watts out of it. I am very satisfied with this one.
AD5HD Rating: 2015-07-04
A steal at twice the price Time Owned: more than 12 months.
No problems with build quality or operation, has been bulletproof. Using a Hardrock-50 as an exciter so it doesn't go much past 600W CW and thus doesn't need global ALC back to the Elecraft K2. Trapezoidal waveform indicates excellent linearity. Tolerates inept tuning and loading even on the wrong band, ask me how I know. Added a Bird Termaline 8860 off the antenna-2 port of the downstream LDG AT1000ProII to allow indefinite tuning/loading time. Also recently added an Ameritron ICP-120 and have one of their QSK boards sitting around waiting to be installed. Absolutely no complaints about this amp. A kilowatt amp that plugs into a 110V outlet? How cool is that?
KI6JL Rating: 2015-05-13
BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK Time Owned: more than 12 months.
A superb SSB amp for the price. Combined with an inexpensive FT-950 radio with a K4KIO hex beam at 30 ft makes a serious package that will compete irritatingly with the 10 Kilo-buck+ stations. heh heh.
I'm a klutz. MY friends know it. I'm sure Murphy is lurking in the dark spaces. One thing is true though; there are no spiders building nests in my AL-80B because it is always on. It has taken my abuse for two years now and refuses to quit, to my delight. For 1300 bucks, you can't go wrong. Any ID-10-T can have a reliable kilowatt megaphone.:) As for my next purchase? I'm going to give the ALS-1306 a spin. My critical ham friends have raked theirs over the coals and have only rave reviews. Let me be clear. I'm talking about the long filibusterer type transmissions where everyone is excited and the talk is fast. You know what I mean. Apparently they, Ameritron, resolved the power supply and combiner problems and now have a solid state amp that can stand up to the daily abuse amplifiers suffer with here and not reach Chernobyl temperatures in doing it. I'm looking forward to the kilowatt 6 meter punch that will help on meteor scatter and aurora happenings. 73 de Hank
KJ7FX Rating: 2015-02-28
Excellent first Amp. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Owned for a couple of months now. I could not believe how easy it is to setup and tune. Not nearly as difficult to tune as I imagined. I get excellent signal reports and the operation is very well integrated with my FT DX-3000. I use the ALC interface and it couldn't be any easier.
WD1W Rating: 2015-02-23
It's a Keeper! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I currently have six amplifiers ... two of which are AL-80Bs. If I had to sell, these would be the ones I'd keep. Buy one, you won't regret it. Why? Easy to tune, repeatable settings, 1000W, 120V (no special wiring), movable (50 LBS), clean signal, great audio reports, tough and inexpensive tube, quiet. What more would you want?
K4ROX Rating: 2015-02-17
Great Amp Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Great amp, really delivers. Easy to tune No problems on any band. Traded an ALS-600 for it and never looked back. No need for 220 unless you have a stressed outlet or want to lower your bill. Break some Pileups.
WB5LFV Rating: 2015-02-08
excellent amplifier Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
well got this amplifier just recently and I gotta say is wow!! very nice and works very well so if your lookin for a clean amplifier look no further! I run this one at 750-800 watts tuneup and it'll do up to 1kw voice peaks and I been told it is very loud and clean on everyone's scope! very easy to use and tune up! I love my amplifier and highly recommend it!!
K1GUY Rating: 2015-02-04
Amoung The Best Amps Made Time Owned: more than 12 months.
this is a follow up to my review from 2009. Coming from an Alpha 99 which had to go back to the factory for repair (not user caused) , i must say i have had ZERO problems from this whisper quiet amp. it sill gives more than 1k output on most bands, as i am running 220v. i called tech support with a question about setting the pot in the back for 15/17,and a few other tech questions, and they immediately answered, and were very helpful, letting me know they are always there for you. hats off to AMERITRON for a superb product and support. you can see my youtube video of getting 1100 watts out on 40 meters, however i usually run it at 800. after 5 years of perfect performance, this amp has proven itself. mates beautifly with my new Yaesu FTdx 3000!