| ZS4U |
Rating:      |
2013-01-04 | |
| Good bang for the buck |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| I have had several amplifiers but my first solid state amp was a Ten Tec Hercules II that really impressed me. Got hold of a second hand ALS-600S and all I can say is that this little guy is more than willing to do it's rated power and more. No issues and the protection works as advertised. I will recommend the switch mode supply due to less weight and it also has a better regulated output/duty cycle than the linear supply. |
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| N9TLU |
Rating:      |
2012-11-12 | |
| Nice Amp! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I purchased the amp with the switching power supply. I've seen several reviews where they had problems with it. I've had none. The fault protection has saved me a couple of times when forgetting to switch bands. A very forgiving little amp! Going on 3 years now with no problems.
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Earlier 5-star review posted by N9TLU on 2010-10-08
I haven't had this very long, but from what I've seen and done with it so far, I'm VERY impressed. As others have mentioned, the ALC setup is a little confusing, but if you watch your power levels, you can do without. This is a very quiet unit and I think it is very well made for the price. I'd recommend it to anyone wanting to increase their DX contacts! Put simply... IT WORKS! |
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| W3DDF |
Rating:      |
2012-11-06 | |
| Excellent Amp |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| I have had the ALS-600 for 5 months. It is working very well. Love the fact that no tuning is required. Sold a AL-811H as soon as I bought this amp. |
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| AI4HO |
Rating:      |
2012-11-05 | |
| Still going strong..Still a great amp! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Having made the decision to drastically downsize my operating positions..I had 2 complete stations, rigs, tuners, amps. Being disabled I wanted the best of and my favorites. Sold of my FT-450AT, AL-811H, Palstar AT2K,(I almost cried when I sold this tuner, saved a long time to get it). I kept my IC-756 ProIII, my LDG AT-600Pro auto tuner, and my Ameritron ALS-600, with the ALS-500M remote control. All this is on my parents old stereo, along with my QRP station a Yaesu FT-817ND and an LDG Z-100+ and my Kenwood 2 meter rig.
But this is about the best and my favorite amp, the Ameritron ALS-600. I've had this amp 3 years this month..hardly seems possible. This has been by far the best amp, most trouble free amp I have owned. Ny very first amp was the venerable AL-811, but where they both will give you any where from 500-700 watts, the AL-811 you had to tune, even though my antennas..well most of them any way, there is my G5RV that requires the use of a tuner. That said, my ALS-600, seems to me to be working even better now than when I first bought it and put it on line. I am consistently getting 700 watts with about 65-70 watts drive, I like to keep the drive at about 60 watts, which produces a good solid 600 watts out. With my ProIII, the LDG-AT600Pro, all I really need to do is make sure I'm on the proper band and once that is verified, I tune down or up depending upon weather or not I'm on 20 meters or up, or 40 meters and down, I simply go to CW, make sure my antennas haven't gotten squirelly, one quick tap with my straight key, turn the amp on, do it once again..adjust the drive if necessary and I'm cooking. Back to USB/LSB, and I am good to go.
What I like most about the ALS-600 is the fact that this is a no tune amp. As long as your antennas are resonate, or in the case of my G5RV use a tuner, there isn't much more you have to do. With the addition of the ALS-500M remote control..the amp is on the floor, out of the way, out of sight. Its nice to not have to reach down/up/over/around..take your pick if the amp was up on my operating position. Make sure on the amplifier that the band switch is switched over to the "remote" position, after that, you use the remote to change bands, turn the amp off and on..yes..its the height of laziness, but then again..I like to think of it as the height of convenience.
As stated above..when I downsized just 3 short months ago, I wanted to keep the best of what I had, and my favorites of what I had. My ALS-600 fits into both categories quite nicely, like the my summary states..Still going strong..3 years now, no malfunctions, Still a great amp..yes it is, and then some. Get one, it really is a rather nice amplifier..OK..so you're not a high power setup, but as has been said..the first 600 watts is what makes the contact. The Ameritron ALS-600 gives you that first 600 watts, get one..see for yourself.
73 de Mark
AI4HO |
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| N0AZZ |
Rating:  |
2012-11-05 | |
| Typical MFJ |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
In 2 mo from receiving it the power transistors were bad (3) of them back to MFJ for repair under warranty returned 45 days later.
Returned to service for 3 weeks again same problem this time (2) of them, paid again to send it back to MFJ $48 more. Got it back quicker this time just under a month.
When I got it back this time I left it in the box and sold it while it was working (for a while anyway). This was the last of 3 MFJ (New) amps that I had owned and had not been pleased with any of the tube amps and tried this SS one I should have known better.
Expect to get what you pay for with MFJ and you will not be disappointed when it doesn't work. |
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| K2GT |
Rating:     |
2012-11-05 | |
| Yes! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I've owned it 2 weeks so the fact that it worked right out of the box and has no issues with the switching power supply is pretty much the only review I can give it, but that's important to know. I got it from DX Engineering who greatly subsidized the UPS 2nd day air to Hawaii and I really appreciated that (it gave them the sale). I had it in time for CQWW SSB and worked 32 new countries without trying too hard with it and a G5RV. I would have given it a 5 if Ameritron could get the story straight on the remote switch for the TS-480. Ameritron says it won't work, and then gives instructions on how to hook it up. Huh?? |
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| W4ET |
Rating:      |
2012-10-02 | |
| Great amp! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I have owned the ALS-600 with the Linear power supply since 3/5/09. It is the version with the remote bandswitching jacks on the front. I originally bought it from Gigaparts. It has given me good service and I have had no trouble with it. The power supply did have a cosmetic problem when I got it and MFJ sent me a new front panel at no charge.
I would buy it again and do recommend it to others. I owned an AL-811A previously and really liked that amp, but the no-tune feature of the ALS-600 makes it a lot easier to use and superior to the AL-811 IMHO.
There have been times when I forget to change the band switch, but the amps' protection circuit has always worked. I have used the amp with both resonant antennas and non-resonant antennas (with a tuner) and it has worked perfectly. I seem to have to drive the amp a little more to get full output than some people have reported. That may be because of the ALC setting, but it takes a good 75 to 80 watts to get full output depending on the band. Most of the time I adjust the amp for around 500 watts output.
I have used the amp on CW, SSB, and RTTY. I usually run full output on SSB (I rarely work SSB), 500 watts or less on CW (when I use it on CW which is rare) and 300 Watts on RTTY. Sometimes I will run psk-31 with 50 watts output with the amp which requires about 5 watts drive from the transceiver. This is easy on both the rig and the amp.
I am very pleased with the amp and with the fact that MFJ made things right with the power supply. I would buy it again without hesitation.
73 DE Ron - W4ET |
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| N9RO |
Rating:      |
2012-09-10 | |
| Great little amp. |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| Great amp for the money. Quality is fine and works as expected. Wanted a no tune amp and this fits my needs. |
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| K5WRK |
Rating:      |
2012-09-10 | |
| GREAT AMP |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I gave it a 5 rating because of the no tune feature. I did not want to mess with tuning tubes, just set it on the band you need and go, if there is a mistake made, no worry, it protects itself. |
|
| KY3W |
Rating:     |
2012-08-27 | |
| Good amp in its price class |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
I had read about poor quality control long before I ordered mine. And it's true but not too bad. I first unpacked the amp and heard something banging around inside. Turned out to be 4 washers & 4 screws. Some fell out of the fan, some I had to remove the cover to shake out. I installed the 10/12M mod, which had 4 screws without washers already in the posts. What the loose hardware was for I never found out. I inspected the unit carefully, no bad solder joints. I did find a problem on the large resistor "fuse" holder, which had a wire soldered on both sides. I'm not sure if this was done to add strength or for RF reasons. Regardless, the resistor was loose and I could easily turn it. I simply twisted the wires with pliers and the resistor tightened right up. I hope this doesn't come back to haunt me. The aluminum cover was bent in on one corner, not by me. I straightened it with pliers and only marred it a bit.
On to the power supply. Having read many reviews on the 600, here and other sites, I noticed an interesting fact. A large number of bad reviews were due to failed switching supplies. I have never been a fan of switchers and opted to save 100 bucks. I don't like the waveform they produce anyway. The only drawback to the linear is it's not regulated. My unit reads 60V when idle and drops as low as 45-50V at full power. The heavier weight is irrelevant to me. I found nothing rattling inside the PS but I did notice a lot of solder spatter. It takes expertise to solder well but I do believe someone at MFJ/Ameritron could use some lessons. The conversion to 240V was a snap. Unsolder 2 jumpers and resolder them to other lands. I did have to cut the 120V plug off to put the 250V plug on. I found it impossible to buy AGC 8A fuses, not supplied, locally so I dug around the shack and found an 8 and a 7, which worked fine. Remember when Radio Shack actually sold useful items?
I've been using the amp for a few months now and once I got the bugs worked out I am pleased with it. The ALC, if not set correctly, can give you false faults. I would recommend not using the ALC to control power. Set it so the LED does not slightly flicker and drive it with no more than 50W. The output power is different it seems on every band. 160 and 80M gives only 500W for instance, 40 and up give more.
Despite the lack of quality control and the issues I had to address, I still consider the 600 to be a good, inexpensive solution that will work well for many. If you buy a new one, inspect both units thoroughly before use. It might save you heartache down the road.
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