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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
N4OI Rating: 2009-03-30
Just think of it as a kit - that's assembled Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
First off, my AL-80b amp works great, is very forgiving and the internal QSK-5 option makes it a real joy to use on CW. But to set expectations, one should consider the AL-80b a kit that happens to come assembled. Plan on a few initial problems that will need troubleshooting just as you would the final stages of kitbuilding. My experience included finding a pair of disc caps that arced and blew, which caused a couple of other problems. Then the filament resistance on the tube just doubled up for no particular reason (RF Parts problem). The folks at Ameritron are very supportive, once you get to a real person. They sent the parts straightaway and I am sure I could have returned the whole thing if I got tired of troubleshooting -- but I enjoyed the experience. I have now had almost a year of trouble-free operations since the initial issues. Oh, the internal QSK-5 was fun to install and it works great! I would recommend the amp wholeheartedly, but gave it a "4" because some buyers may not appreciate the "learning opportunity" it provides when first being set up.

73 de Ken - N4OI
KG6YV Rating: 2009-03-30
Great Amp Once I fixed it. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
OKm another story of poor workmanship on my AL-80B. I bought this amp in 2007 and it worked out of the box for about 6 months. Then one day I turned on the power and nothing/nada. The filaments in the 2-500Z were not lit. Well, I took the cover off, popped the tube out of its socket and something told me to check the filament connections. Guess what??? When I turned the tube socket over one of the filament wires fell out of the socket connector. There wasn't enough solder on that connection and the heat generated in normal operation made the joint break. Soldered it back and the amp has pumped out power ever since. Since I view the rating scale as an overall evaluation I am deducting one point for the poor manufacturing that I had to fix. Other than that I am happy with the Amplifier
W8YG Rating: 2009-03-30
No its no perfect far from it Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
76 good reviews . Why me? Why did I have to get not one but 2 brand new amps and they are both on the brown truck back to Ameritron. Nice folks and the tech support guy was really nice. I can't wait to get them back so I can sell them and get a real amp.
A Comander or a QRO. I am giving it a 2 the lights came on. WOW!!
W6NFL Rating: 2009-03-29
No Problem Here Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Solid performer and puts out an easy 1kw. Very durable 3-500zg tube design. As with anything made by man, not every one of them will be perfect but look at the scores here...i think they have a pretty good track record. Ive owned a few Ameritron amps over the years and all have been fine by me.
AB3FL Rating: 2009-03-24
Excellent, no problems Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
bought this amp to replace an AL-811. Got it from HRO in Delaware, no problems at all. Got it home and changed it to 240V as I have a 240V outlet in the shack. Works perfectly with my Pro III. I would highly recommend to anyone looking for an amp in the KW range.

Tom - AB3FL
W7DDD Rating: 2009-01-01
Excellent Amp Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is my first and only amp. I bought it about 2+ years ago on ebay for about $850. UPS didn't treat it all that great, and the seller left the tube installed, but the amp survived just fine.

It does everything all the others here said. Quiet, puts out the power, is a very "easy keeper." Rugged too - as I've had an occasional bout of "finger trouble" - yes, I know you guys never do that - where I've done some bone-headed thing and abused it terribly. She just winked at me, and went on about her business.

I've driven it with 3 different radios, and always get great signal reports. Mine is wired for 240v.

P.S. After 48 years holding out as a barefoot only guy, I got tired of getting the sand kicked in my face at the beach. What a difference!!! Instead of 20 minutes of calling vainly into a pile-up, I usually get picked up immediately. Why have I been knocking my head against the wall all these years? Generally, I just run her at 500-700 watts. Let her loaf along leisurely - that's almost always all the power that's needed. (Remember that old FCC dictum about only using the power necessary to conduct the QSO.)

Happy New Year
73s
Bob
W7DDD
VE7IG Rating: 2008-11-29
Nice little amp! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had this amplifier for over a year now. It has worked flawlessly. I used home brew rack-and-panel 4-1000A amps for years but moved out of the basement and have been using a SB-200 which worked fine but I needed something for 160m. The power output is sufficient for my needs and the amp is very quiet and doesn't generate much heat. The amp is easy to tune and with 240 VAC on the primary it can put out 1000 watts keydown into a dummy load no problem on most bands.

The only problem I've experienced is 20/30 being on the same switch position. The input coil is adjusted for 20m and a 100 watt transceiver requires a tuner when working into the amplifier on 30m where there is a mismatch. With a tuner it works fine, without a tuner the power output is down considerably.

The meters work well and I have no problem with the dual pointers, they are fine.

If you are looking for a medium power amplifier that doesn't take up too much desk space, is quiet and performs well, you don't have to look much further.
W8HAS Rating: 2008-11-13
1,000 + watts of pure pleasure ! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Oh, does this amp purrrr!!! I love it.. 1,000 watts plus easy tune and makes me happy. Quality is excellent. Super reports. I run this baby full out always and it works like the day I got it. I have other amps but this amp is just plain fun. Its all the amp you may ever need in my opinion. Cant be beat for the money !!!!!!!! 73,s Harry W8HAS
K2QAA Rating: 2008-09-17
A great amplifier Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
This is a very good amp.Tuneing is very smooth and easy on all bands.I added the GOP-100 grid overload protection circuit board.It was easy to install, just 3 wires.Build of this amp is very good with very high quality components and very good construction.Also the cooling fan is very quiet but moves enough air.I've been a ham since 1958 and have owned several different amps, tube and solid state, and this by far is the best amp I've owned.I highly recomend this amp.Only improvement I can think of would be to have seperate bandswith locations and tuned imputs for the WARC bands.
W5KG Rating: 2008-08-15
VERY NICE AMP Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Very nice amp.
Easy to tune with smooth Plate and Load controls.
The only dislike are the meters. I hate duel meters. Too hard to read.
The AL80A that I had meters that looked like the same meters as the AL1500 and the AL80A looks a lot like the 1500.
However all and all the AL80B very well lade out on the inside and the fan is almost noise free.
I bought mine new but are a very good buy used in the $850 range.
Glad I have one.
Don, W5KG