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Reviews For: Microset SR200

Category: Amplifiers: RF Power - 6M/VHF/UHF+

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Review Summary For : Microset SR200
Reviews: 7MSRP: £300
Description:
144 MHz, 12v, 200w output, solid state linear amplifier.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.microset.net
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0074.4
M0KZX Rating: 2021-04-12
Great amp for the money but treat it with care Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've owned this amp from new for about 5 years now and use it every week. Its never let me down but then I've always treated it with care and never run it over 150W.

However, be aware that this amp runs hot and needs forced air cooling if you are using it for anything other than SSB. I use a low noise PC case fan and it runs nice and cool.

I also find that the amp to present the radio with a perfect match to the radio (1:1.5 at the bottom end of the band). There is no adjustment for this as there was on older amps. Microset tech support was absolutely useless and just didn't want to know!
G8RBW Rating: 2017-08-20
Best value and very reliable Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is probably the cheapest decent 200 watt linear for 2m. I owned one for three years or so and never had any problems with it but I was careful not to overdrive it and I used it with a fan on if I was doing anything intensive. It ran clean and I would get good audio reports with it in circuit. I did not use the preamp so cannot comment on that. It does need a good power supply with a bit of headroom. I used a 40 amp at 13.8v supply and that was just enough.
G4CQM Rating: 2016-09-23
An affordable and useful 2M linear amplifier Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I purchased my Microset SR200 secondhand a couple of years ago. Things you need to know: Do not overdrive, no more than 30-40W, otherwise damage can occur! A clip on fan keeps the amplifier very cool indeed! The 12 volt power leads can pick up external noise which is noticeable on a sensitive receiver. Clip on ferrite or slip over screening stops this! Otherwise an affordable and useful 2M linear amplifier.
GM4FVM Rating: 2016-06-07
Great piece of kit Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had the Microset for a couple of years. I bought it from an Italian eBay site as it was a lot cheaper than UK sellers. Service from the site was excellent. The amplifier runs 200W for me with 50W drive, as claimed.
I do use the internal preamp when I turn off the one in the rig (usually IC-7100). Both together would be very noisy but can work on meteor scatter.
Use it for both SSB and data. On data I have had long QSOs running 100% duty cycle data - 30 seconds on, 30 second off, for an hour or more. I have a 120mm fan on all the time. The fan runs on 6 volts to cut down the noise. Sometimes use two fans (they are in series on the shack 12V supply). Like that it never gets more than warm. It shares a MyDel 50 amp power supply with my other linears.
Still using the PL259s. I have it wired for PTT which is much better than rf switching, even for data.
Really happy with this and it works 100% as it said it would.
M0ATV Rating: 2010-12-05
Good workhorse but runs HOT Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is the 2nd SR-200 I've owned, a real workhorse, but as some of the other reviewers have stated, the pre-amp function is only good if your rx is a tad deaf, they do run very hot if used in FM mode, but I tend to have a standard 120mm PC 12v fan on top of the heatsink with the fan in BLOW mode rather than SUCK, mine has N type sockets as a retro fit, also got to add mine doesn't seem to like RF sensing very much, so ended up having to run a PTT cable from radio, works like a treat now, 150 watts out draws around 21 amps at 13.8v DV, good value for money.
G6NHU Rating: 2010-10-24
Does what it promises but be aware of a couple of issues. Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
This amplifier works perfectly, I bought it a while ago and did some tests to make sure it was clean when running the full output power of 200w and it was really good.

The first time I used it for a six hour contest it got very hot though so I've bought a silent PC fan (Noctua NF-S12B ULN) which I just have rested on the top of the amplifier sucking air through the vanes. After a twenty four hour contest with very high duty cycle, the amp was only just warm.

My only issue is that the preamp is useless. Most people who want to run this sort of power will already have a decent masthead preamp and won't need the internal one. I wish manufacturers would produce amplifiers without preamps and would also realise that SO-239 connectors are terrible. I've replaced the SO-239s with N-types.

So apart from the fact that it runs hot, has a useless preamp and dodgy connectors, it's a good solid amplifier and I'd recommend it providing you're happy with these points but two of the three (heat and connectors) are easy to get around anyway.


M0PRO Rating: 2005-08-30
Great little amp! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I had to write a review for this little amp, because it was so good.

My SR200 was great, I owned it for around 12 months, and gave it some pretty heavy use. 35w in, gave 200w, and I never had a single problem with it, in fact I which I didn't sell it now!

Gets very hot if not used with some kind of external fan, but what do you expect at this price?

Well done Microset.