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Reviews For: Yaesu FL2000B

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

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Review Summary For : Yaesu FL2000B
	Reviews: 10	MSRP:
	Description: FL200B Yaesu first amplifier using two Cetron 572B triodes in parallel grounded grid configuration. (Circ 1969)
	Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.foxtango.org/FL%20Amplifier%20Evolution.htm
# last 180 days	Avg. Rating last 180 days	Total reviews	Avg. overall rating
4	5	10	4.5

W0BKR	Rating:	2023-09-16
Great Amp and right sized for most ops			Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Going to sell mine here shortly for some medical bills but it is a good foot print on the desk and a hard worker. Great Amp period. Very quiet, generally easy to work on when required, lots of them out there.

KG6PHS	Rating:	2023-07-19
Solid affordable vintage amplifier			Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I recently picked up this amp after my Ameritron 811 broke. Even though it's a simple design compared to later amps it works great with the 2 572Bs, and puts out 500-600 watts RMS. One change I made was to replace the 2 noisy, inefficient fans with quiet 70mm PC fans that deliver better airflow, and mounted them with silicone. Great looking, and highly recommended.

KO4ZMT	Rating:	2023-06-03
Call the Amp Man			Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I loved my FL-2000B. Used it with an FT-101B. I got it from the Amp Man... N4ATS. He knows these amplifiers inside and out. If you have any issues, contact him. His customer service is outstanding, too. I found a larger amp via a SK family, so I sold it to a very satisfied customer.

M0RQX	Rating:	2023-06-02
Good stuff.			Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Considering the age its still a great amp. I often run it a 400w SSB for hours without issue. 5 stars for its age.

K9UR	Rating:	2017-12-23
About the cheapest half-kilowatt output you can find !			Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had a couple of these amplifiers for a long time. Built between 1969 and 1972, they are built like tanks. The design is criticized, but there are still many in use and on the air. They are perhaps not as simplified or refined as the SB-200, but they definitely work nicely and look loads better than the Benton Harbor green box. The chrome and black front panel is nicely nostalgic. The tune and load controls are forgiving on antennas that have some SWR..easily work into a 2:1 or 2.5:1 without issues. These can be wired for 100V (JA) or 120V or 240V. Unless you have a boat anchor exciter, they do require a very simple $2 relay module (arduino, ebay) to allow for soft-keying safely with any modern HF radio. The dual 572B design in proven. The key to long life is to not over-drive them / do not push them too hard. Stay at 500W PEP output and they will last a long long time - probably another 50 years. The caps are easily replaced (again, ebay replacement caps 150uF 500V sets will run about $50 for 6 caps with new diodes and bleeder resistors. I always tune for maximum output (while ensuring the plate is dipped) and then advance the loading 1 number past peak output to ensure the grid current is not too high. I drive it will no more than 75 watts and regularly see 500W out on 40M/80M bands. This will do 600-700W especially if running on 240V; Best to keep to a half-KW out and the amp and tubes will last a long time. There are articles about the Russian Svetlana tubes - one of mine has the Russian tubes (with a couple small mods done) and the other has the original Cetron T160L tubes. You often find these in original shape with a 2 conductor power cord - for safety sake, convert that to a 3 conductor cord to add a safety ground.

VA3DTP	Rating:	2015-11-01
Good Unit			Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Yaesu FL-2000B HF Amplifier (10 thru 80 M) with output of (800 Watts Output). Hooked it up to my Kenwood TS-870 Transceiver easily by using a Ameritron ARB-704 Transceiver Interface with the Ameritron PNP-7D Transceiver Kenwood TS-870 Interface Cable. I was very lucky and got my Yaesu FL-2000B Amp for $ 50.00 form a good ham radio operator friend of mine. Works just fine. Special note: Even though this HP amplifier is quote old, there is a good amount of literature and interfaces available to hook it up even with more modern radios.

NO0OO	Rating:	2009-06-13
Nice Inexpensive Amp			Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I purchased my 2000B from an online auction 3 years ago. I use it behind my Kenwood 530S feeding it about 80W. All I have used it on is 15M and 20M. It works like a champ. I've had no issues with it aside from a rare loud pop from (I assume) a cap. I get a solid 600W out of it, and it makes a serious difference on CW and SSB. New tubes from multiple sources are still available if I need them. Overall, if I had to do it over, I'd buy another 2000B.

N5GOD	Rating:	2009-01-18
Great little amp!			Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned my for the last 10+ years gave $300 for it from a friend and never regreted one penny I spent on it. I have not had one problem with the amp. No it don't have 160,17, or 12 meters but I knew that when I bought it. The 572B tubes are great and will give a very consistant 600 watts. If money is a issue and you are looking for a good cheap amp this is a very good one when you consider how much more money you would need to spend to get a legal limit amp that would give a little more output and get 160,17, and 12 meters. When I think of when this amp was made, how old it is now circa 1969, and the great job it does I have to give it a 5, I have a small quite extra fan I can lay on the amp if needed.

N5YRJ	Rating:	2008-08-09
Good ol' dual 572 B Amp			Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've owned my 2000b for about 10 years. I've used it and run it hard. Had to change out the caps but for its age thats understandable. Gave $300 ten years ago and it was worth every penny. Have broken a many pile up and worked a many Ragchew with this amp. It makes a good starter, primary or back up amp if all you need is about 600-700 watts out with 100 watt drive. Only covers 10-80 no warc bands. As previously stated it runs hot but fan noise is not a problem at my shack... 73'

M0BXT	Rating:	2005-09-22
Good but runs quite warm			Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is a nice amp. It’s very like the FL2100B that is widely reviewed here but is styled like FLdx400/FRdx400 and FTdx401/560/570 etc. This style generally wears very well and although the grey wrap round case on mine has a few scratches the front still looks pretty good. The comments about the FL2100B regarding running hot and having undersized band switching contacts apply equally well to the FL2000B (more below). Output power is the same; 600w+ on the low bands, perhaps 400 on 10m. I bought my FL2000B from a friend. It was tidy but internally tired and I got reports of splatter when I first used it. After ignoring it for a few years I decided to overhaul it. The (original?) 1973 Cetron 572Bs were replaced by new Chinese ones. These looked to be good copies of the Cetron ones and had the same sized anode/plate. I replaced the 6 resistors used to balance the voltages across the smoothing capacitors as they were far from the 220 k nominal. I’ve seen this in a few old linears I’ve overhauled, it’s worth checking. Apart from un-gumming one of the fans and checking the plate current metering accuracy (the Yaesu shunts frequently change value when old) the unit was ready to roll. You can check the metering using a small external PSU resistors and a multimeter; you don’t need to have the power on! I managed to zap the contact to the fixed cap switched in on 80m when testing at full power into dummy load on 40m, it arced over. The contacts were melted beyond repair although I was subsequently able to rebuild the original wafer using new contact pairs transplanted from another wafer. The internal build quality is very good with the internal cables beautifully loomed. On air it gets good reports and I like using it. Because of the iffy switch contacts and hot running I can’t give it 5/5, I would otherwise. 73, Andrew

Category:

Amplifiers: RF Power - HF & HF+6M

Product:

Yaesu FL2000B

Summary:

Rating:	Time Owned:
Great! Good OK Needs Help Poor Awful!	0 - 3 Months 3 - 6 Months 6 - 12 Months More than 12 Months

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