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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
KD7DDT Rating: 2014-11-11
Nice amp Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is my first review for this AMP. I am new to Ham radio (general in October 2014) and needed an amp to get me out in the radio waves. Easy setup, was on the air within 30 minutes. Will have more of a review after I learn the amp more. I would recommend a buy if you need a good amp.
WB4HRH Rating: 2014-11-05
ALS600 Problem/ FIX Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased a new ALS600 a couple of weeks ago from Gigaparts. The reflected power meter did not work. After getting nowhere with MFJ, I saw the post by Rich KE4ZHN describing the same issue and identifying the problem. The cover screw (front left, 2 back) was shorting out the board that provides the signal to the meter.

After pushing the issue with MFJ management, I received a call from their customer service tech. It seems that they changed the cover of the ALS600 in this latest batch and it is thinner than the original. They are sending me another cover.

If you have a similar issue. i suggest you contact MFJ and mention my post.

Thanks again to Rich for identifying the cause of this problem.
N8LU Rating: 2014-10-11
Great Little Amp Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned this amp and associated power supply since November of 2000. I just experienced my first repair; the lamp burned out on the amplifier meter. I am replacing the lamp with a LED. So, because I am 72 years old, I should never have to do that repair again!!

This is a great little amp that is easy to operate.
NG9W Rating: 2014-09-02
A Venerable Workhorse Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Purchased a pre-owned ALS-600 with the linear power supply from a local ham who had upgraded to the ALS-1300. S/N 16198. Added MOD-10MB. Interfaced to my FTdx-3000 through the ARI-500 (also pre-owned). Previous owner was also using it on an FTdx-3000. Has been FB in my shack.
AA4GE Rating: 2014-08-21
Died on Initial RF Power-up Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased the ALS-600 with the analog power supply. I set it up and adjusted the ALC with my rig (per the manual) then powered the transceiver back to 60 watts. I started bringing up the power slowly. Power climbed up to 200 watts (with 0 reflected) and would not go any further. Then everything died and I smelled smoke in the power supply. I boxed it up and sent it back to the dealer for a full refund. For those who have had good luck with this amplifier, congratulations. I would recommend caution for anyone considering this amplifier.
AA2LD Rating: 2014-08-03
No problems after ten years Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought this amp new with the power supply. It works very well and I've had no problems whatsoever. It is almost idiot proof. You must feed it a tuned signal or it will default. So, I take a little time to tune my wire and vertical antennas with a Palstar tuner and shazam. . . hundreds of watts out with great signal reports. I would never sell or 'upgrade' this tuner----it just works well and I like the design.
WA7NDD Rating: 2014-08-02
I've had two ALS-600 Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I fell into a good price on an older ALS-600 answering an add in a very rural part of Idaho. I had no problems with the amp. Then by happenstance I ran into a AL-572 like new almost no use for $900. I sold the 600 and applied the money to the 572. The 572 was very good wired to 220, but it was not long before I was fed up with tuning for every band or frequency change. I sold it an bought a new ALS-600 with the switching power supply in 2009. It has worked flawlessly. I've since upgraded my station to no tuning of anything other then a button push. For you purest, I spent 45 years repairing broken electronics including 10 years of two-way radio, an broadcast stations. I know how resonance works, I don't need to fight it in my old age. HI HI.
W4KVW Rating: 2014-08-02
A BAD JOKE! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I must say that the AMERITRON ALS-600 may be the worst piece of Ham Radio gear I have ever owned.It spent more time on the UPS Truck than it ever did here in my shack or even at AMERITRON. It never operated long enough for me to know how well or poorly it worked.Just plugging it in would blow parts up so keying it was out of the question on at least two tries after being returned from AMERITRON. I returned it 4 times in lass than 4 weeks & after it's last return traded it for an AMERITRON 811H which never had any issues.Never been so happy to get rid of any piece of gear as I was the day this one became someone else's toy. Maybe it was finally fixed because the fellow I traded with never had any issues.I'll not take any more chances on another solid state amplifier from AMERITRON. I am happy that I now own & operate an ICOM PW-1 which has been a PERFECT example of how a solid state amplifier should operate.Some honor that this amplifier gets an even worse review than the Yaesu FT-857D because it was also a BOMB! {:>)
NG0Z Rating: 2014-06-19
Good not Great Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I am not a tinkerer, I just like to plug stuff together and get on the air so I wanted a solid state amp even if for the same price I could have had a 1KW AL-80B. As for the concept, I love this amp as its easy to use, requires no tuning, protects itself from high SWR and the inevitable user error, and has an easy to read power/SWR meter. Just tune your antenna, turn to the band range, hit "operate" and its good to go.

I use the ARB-704 interface which works fine but is also one reason why I don't give this amp a 5. Essentially, it shouldn't need it, but it did because calibrating the ALC with my 7600 was more trouble than it should be without it. So I spent the extra $80.

Now that its been up and running for a couple months, I think I'm starting to have the T/R issue mentioned in other reviews which is really unforgivable given how long this amp has been in production and how prevalent this issue appears to be. The issue is intermittent for now. I probably won't bother with a warranty repair or the pencil eraser fix as either are only temporary solutions. I will probably go for the AD5X QSK relay kit fix and void my (practically worthless) warranty as I don't want to wait to get my amp back or go to the trouble of packing and shipping such a heavy piece of equipment.

Also, while the amp's fan is very quiet - the power supply fan is very - no, ridiculously noisy. In light of all this, I think a "4" is quite generous.
former_KY3F Rating: 2014-05-20
Bad TR Relay Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I had to change the TR relay. It started acting up within months of buying the ALS-600 new.
Ameritron said to clean the contacts with a pencil eraser. I was cleaning it every few months.

I found a Ham on line who had a fix. It entailed ripping out the TR relay and replacing it with a small circuit board. Ameritron said that mod might fix it, but it would void the warranty.
The fix was not plug and play. It required twisting the old relay out of the board, and doing some good soldering in tight spaces.

So if you want to buy an ALS-600, keep in mind what you may have to do.