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Reviews For: Ameritron ALS-600

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

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Review Summary For : Ameritron ALS-600
Reviews: 197MSRP: 1299.99
Description:
600W Output Solid State Amplifier w /Power Supply on 100/110/120V for US
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.ameritron.com/Product.php?productid=ALS-600
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
451974.2
KI4TWI Rating: 2007-10-22
Great Amp If Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I got my 600 used about 2 weeks ago. Right from the start I would get a fault light if the amp was driven with over 50 watts. Also observed that the reciever was not as good with the amp in line. The first thought was the relay which I cleaned. This helped but things were still not right.
Upon checking the PA board I found 2 bad connections. One from the rf in to ground the other rf ground to the output. Bad solder joints in both cases. Checked the amp and power supply but found no more trouble
The amp now works great good signal reports and no fault lights. If it was not for the poor construction the amp would get a 5.
K9IUQ Rating: 2007-09-23
3 years & NO problems Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned this Amp almost 3 years now. With the sunspot cycle at a low the amp sees daily use on CW and Rtty Also occasional SSB use. Never any problems, have had the cover off to clean the relay but it never needed it. Just a shot of tuner cleaner very 3 or 4 months.

I use it on RTTY mode, it doesn't whimper. 400 wts on rtty and I dont baby it. Ditto at 500 watts CW.
It is idiot proof, hard to screw up this amp by stupid mistakes - Newbies take note.

Price was reasonable for solid state amp. I have had many tube amps in my ham life, will NEVER get another tube amp. Solid State Amps are too convenient.

A Great 1st amp for new hams, old timers like me will love it too.

Stan K9IUQ

DXSHORTWAVE Rating: 2007-08-17
poor change over relay Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Mine would have been really neat, but for some stupid reason, the antenna change over relay is an open frame design, instead of a sealed unit. As a result, I was continually taking off the cabinet (dozens of screws) and cleaning the relay contacts. How cheap can you get? I finally dumped it.
W4PM Rating: 2007-08-17
Very good little amp Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought the amp on E-bay last year for a very good price. It's serial no. 13098 and was originally purchased new in July 2002. It had a history of blowing finals but when I learned the previous owners used 200 W transceivers I guessed that may well have contributed to the problem. You won't hit this thing with 200W for long and still have it working!

When the amp arrived, the voltage tap had been changed to raise the voltage and the guy said he and been using it in RTTY position so the voltage would not be too high. He seemed to think high voltage caused the finals failures. I changed it to the correct tap and and installed the capacitor supplied by Ameritron across the filter choke. Under load I now get 48-49 volts in the normal position and about 34 volts in the RTTY position. This is definately not too high!

I find the amp is much more efficient, approaching 65%, with the P/S in the RTTY position and since I'm mainly a CW op that's how I use it most of the time. I get my 400W out on all bands with much less heat in the shack. I guess the lower voltage moves the operating class more in the direction of class B and for that reason the few times I've used it on SSB I put the P/S in the normal position to assure better linearity. I get 600 PEP out on SSB and great audio reports.

I find the amp very simple to use and and its protection circuits function well to prevent me from doing bonehead things like putting the band switch in the wrong position or forgetting to tune the antenna to the proper band!

Since I use an antenna that must be tuned on all bands this amp reduces the number to things I have to tune when I change bands. I've had no problems with this amp. I wish it had QSK but I see there is an inexpensive mod out there I may yet try. I traded in my old Ten Tec Centurion when I bought my new OMNI VII and have not missed the additional power that amp provided at all. Normally 400W on CW is quite enough.

I've read mention of the "noisy" fan and relay. I don't find that to be true but then everyone has an different opinion of what "noisy" is. I always use head phones so I really don't hear the noise.

All in all I think this is a great little amp and am very pleased with it. Considering the ever increasing cost of amps these days this amp is a good value even at its new cost.


KT0DD Rating: 2007-06-30
pretty good Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I bought mine used here off of eham. It was a low 12000's serial# so I figure its 3 to 4 years old. I was getting reports of distortion in my audio, and after thoroughly tying up loose ends with my entire station (grounding, filters etc.) and not curing the distortion, I decided to send it to Ameritron for servicing. They said they cleaned relays, replaced an out of tolerance attenuating resistor and reset the biasing differently than they did with earlier models. It is now performing with crystal clear audio reports. I am happy now with mine. If you have an earlier model and are getting distortion with it, a trip back to the factory is worth it. Rob was very helpful and did a great job for around $100. 73, Todd - kt0dd
AD5X Rating: 2007-05-20
Rugged & Effective Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had my ALS-600SPS for over a year now and it has worked flawlessly. I really like the instant-on, no-tune convenience. It is also very small and light - especially with the switching power supply. Over the past year I've accidentally transmitted into very high SWR, or transmitted with the band switch in the wrong position more times than I'd like to admit. The amp just protects itself and keeps on going after a reset. I recently made a simple QSK conversion to this amp (info at www.ad5x.com) which makes it really nice for my DX chasing.
NM9B Rating: 2007-03-20
Trouble Free Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I own 2 of these amps and have never had a problem with either of them. Both have the 10-12 meter mod. The ALS-600 is a GREAT AMP!
W4NLM Rating: 2007-03-08
great amp but noisy ry Time Owned: more than 12 months.
great amp, but noisy relay

if u want a gud laugh, call ameritron
and ask what can be done to make it quieter;

after they tell u to 'put a piece of paper
bewteen the moving parts' ask um to be
more specific.

joe-w4nlm
K3ICH Rating: 2007-02-28
Easy medium power amp Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had one of the older non-switching supply versions for quite a while. I have no complaints with it at all. I get at least 450 to 500 watts key down output on all bands and you can't beat the convneience. The only time I've had the SWR protection kick-out is when I forget to switch to the right band, or, when the antenna is iced up and the SWR really IS too high. It's nice to know that the protection is there too. I haven't looked at the service manual, but I'm sure the trip point is adjustable. Size wise, a 30L-1 would probably be better on a Watts to cu. in. basis, but certainly not as convenient to use. Having the built-in cross needle SWR/PWR indicator is a nice plus too.
AA6VB Rating: 2007-02-27
Great Medium Power Amp Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is an updated review.

I purchased the Ameritron ALS-600 with the switching power supply over a year ago. It has received a fair amount of use and has ALWAYS performed well. When I first set up the amp, I found the ground terminal was loose and had to be tightened. Other than that one minor issue, not one single glitch.

I wanted some additional power in an "instant" in case it was needed to make the contact. I had grown tired of switching bands and having to retune my tube amp. It seemed like a hassle to switch from 160 to 80 to 40 and back again, always having to retune the other amp. I also find only a few hundred watts are needed to make the difference most of the time. So, I picked up the ALS-600 for the convenience, if nothing else.

As I said, the amp has worked flawlessly, and I am pleased to say I get between 500 and 600 watts CW out depending on the band. What a pleasure to simply "flip the switch" and go from 100 watts to 500 - 600 watts without tuning. All I need to do is change the band switch. The relay is a bit loud, but is not really a problem. I have had no problems with dropped letters on CW. I am very pleased with the performance, convenience and quality. The fit and finish on my unit is excellent.

If you are looking for a small, medium power amp that is "instant on" and "no tune", this is it.

For hard core CW ops, the amp does not have QSK, so you will have to live without that feature, but Ameritron does have a QSK switch available.