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Reviews For: Tokyo Hy-Power HL2.5FX

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

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Review Summary For : Tokyo Hy-Power HL2.5FX
Reviews: 19MSRP: 6,000
Description:
Solid State legal limit HF amplifier. Expected to be availble mid 2007.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.tokyohypower.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00194.8
WR4N Rating: 2011-03-13
One Year + Review Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned this amp for over a year and I run it with the matching tuner. For over a year, the set has run flawlessly!

Recently I hooked it up to a new Kenwood 590 and experienced true automatic band selection (with my FLEX 5000 I still have to select the proper band - but no problem). The full automation is sweet. Reminds me of my PW-1.

What "con" have I experienced in this time period? Only one thing that I would note: The fans are loud! I can live with this because I know the air flow is protecting the amp, but just beware of the noise.

Would I buy this setup again? Absolutely!
N9SW Rating: 2010-11-10
Superb Engineering & Performance Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Recently purchased from Array Solutions for use with an Elecraft K3. The sales & customer service at Array was outstanding and efficient, and the unit arrived completely checked-out with the appropriate K3 interface cable as well as those for other brands, and was prewired with a 240VAC plug.

The amp is plug'n'play all the way. Worked perfectly right out of the box, and easily works to spec with a reasonably quiet fan as well as a compact footprint on the desk. Highly recommended!
KC4CP Rating: 2010-03-25
My Money's Worth +++++ Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have an Alpha 89, so I am not lacking for power. But having once owned a PW-1, I missed the quick band changes and "no-tune" ease of operation offered by a solid state amp. But I did not want another amp that was the size of a normal kitchen dish washer! Having done a lot of research, I decided on the THP 2.5. Yes, it isn't cheap. However, this is an occassion where you get your money's worth and a lot more! It is great having all that power in such a relatively small amp.

When I took it out of the box and examined it, I was immediately impressed. This amp is a work of art! The control knobs feel like they are floating on ball bearings, the internal components are unsurpassed, and the "fit & finish" are world-class! (When I took off the cover/lid, I was even impressed with the precision fit of the screws ... and I do mean "precision.") Overall cosmetic appearance is also beautiful. But how does it operate?

I had it hooked up and on the air in 5 minutes. (ARRAY SOLUTIONS had shipped the amp ready to operate; the AC plug was installed, it was tapped per my instructions at 240v, etc. Jay is a customer service wizard.) I could not resist quickly bouncing from band to band (I had so missed this feature) and I finally settled in on 75 meters for my first extended "on-the-air" test. The amp does legal limit with 50 watts of drive and has plenty of head-room! (There is a reason its moniker contains "2.5" - hi, hi ... enough said ...). My friends reported signals from S-9 +30db to +60db!!! Most importantly, they reported a super clean sound with absolutey no distortion (I enjoy ESSB on 3.630 and running a "clean" amp is critical to me).

Overall I could not be more impressed! I absolutely love the amp. Today I am ordering the matching tuner. That should be the ideal set-up. When I install the THP automatic tuner, my FLEX 5000 will basically become a fully automatic - legal limit - transceiver. Sweet!

I will keep my Alpha 89 (love Alpha amps), but I think the THP 2.5 will be permanently staying in my shack and will replace the Alpha as my "primary" amp.

Final summation: Having finally bit the bullet and spent the big bucks ... I discovered that I had gotten my money's worth and a whole lot more!

David
WR4N (ex KC4CP, AC4CP)
AE5RE Rating: 2010-01-16
Best SS Amplifier Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Back in Nov 09 I moved from the 1.5Kfx to the 2.5Kfx. This is by far the best solid amplifier. It blends perfectly with my IC-7600. I do not have to worry about band change since the amplifier follows the radio when using the CIV interface. The amplifier puts 1000w with about 45W in and can do 1500W without sweating. Customer support is second to none. I have to thank AB2CD and Tom Rum for recommending me the 2.5Kfx.
K9YEQ Rating: 2009-12-19
The best! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I really cannot add more to the reviews. This is a superior design. I picked it up from an estate sale. I had read the papers on the actual design of the amp and was so impressed that I really, really wanted one, but price was beyond my budget. This is the flagship of all solid state amps. The construction is unreal. It is also very heavy.

You will need to add an external power peak reading wattmeter if you want to know what power you are actually running as the infomative intenal amps give you average. Then again, does it matter? I am running around 40-60 watt drive. My signal reports on 75M are excellent. The quality of this piece of equipment is excellent.

I called a US vendor to purchase a radio to amp cable, won't mention names, was not given the same respectfulness as the owners of the manufacturer. Nothing like being told what to do rather than making suggestions. Good luck here. No wonder the US is losing manufacturing. On the other hand, this product is engineered to meet all the requirments. And need I mention, I am not using a tuner. The 75 meter bazooka and loop handle the output directly. So no losses there. Probably another good thing. If I were to buy a tuner I would use either the THP or the Palstar auto tuners.

This will be my only and last amp. I have wasted money on lesser amps but was able to "scrounge up" the cash for this one, even used. Did I mention: It is the best engineered, best built, full legal limit amp there is IMHO. It is everything you could want.
N4JA Rating: 2009-10-08
great amp great service Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I had an unfortunate experience with the HL-2.5kfx. I had a loose connector on the input to my remote antenna switch. The connector was finger tight, but after some time the connection became intermittent. The amp worked perfectly for 4 months and blew the finals while I was experimenting with the grounding of the amp. The intermittent faulting I was having on 10 meters was said by Tom Rum to be an rf ground problem. He also said the amp was bullet-proof. If you have an intermittent coax connector, you should check all connections before using this amp. I had assumed my connections were good because I had been using this antenna set-up for 5 or more years with no problem. All my tube amps worked fine with this condition because applying power to the switch caused the connector to arc and temporary weld the connection. I gave this amp a poor rating in a previous review and I hope this rating will fix that poor rating. Would I recommend this amp and would I buy another one? The answer is yes,but I will recommend you use a pair of pliers to tighten all PL-259's before you turn it on. Don't accept finger tight PL-259's because those connections eventually oxidize and become intermittent. I later discovered the intermittent connection because my SWR would be good one time on my SteppIR and the next time I used it the SWR would be high. I have proved you can blow up an HL-2.5Kfx.
WM5O Rating: 2009-08-16
5/5 Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought the Amp and the 1.5 K auto tuner at Dayton, in May of this year, so, I've operated the equipment for only about three months... my first Amplifier!

I was intimidated setting them up for the first time. A couple of the amateur radio operators who had written reviews on this amplifier (on this web site) also graciously volunteered to help answer some of my questions. But, after a couple of e-mails with Array Solutions and Tokyo HyPower, and talking with Tom, there was absolutely no problem.

The Amp is enormously powerful and has many safety features. I am extremely pleased with both the equipment and the service, and I would repeat the purchase if it were to do again. The Amp has performed without a single flaw. I have never reached a heat sink temp of over 60 degees and have not triggered a protection error. Auto Band switching is instantaneous and done perfectly.

The duo works wonderfully!
K0ZGG Rating: 2009-03-07
Excellent Quality and Performance Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I was introduced to the Tokyo Hy-Power HL-2.5Kfx linear amplifier at the 2008 Dayton Hamvention. After spending a lot of time talking to the THP people, and looking at the Instruction Manual, reading the Operational Hints and Tips, and reviewing the Theory of Operation, I new that I had to have this amplifier.

The amplifier consists of a pair of ARF1500 MOSFET (yes, only two) in a class AB push/pull configuration. The input of the amplifier is a bridged L/C network used as a input equalizer, and the output is a eight band-division low pass filter. Both input equalizer and filter output are selected by relays of the respective bands.

When I got home from Dayton I sold my Icom PW1 and purchased the HL-2.5Kfx. I've had the amplifier since August, 2008 (8 months) and it has been in use every day.

The amplifier has PERFORMED FLAWLESSLY...

The HL-2.5Kfx setup and interconnect went smoothly, and Yes, all band Data cables, ALC, Control, and power cable are provided. The AC plug (not included) must be provided by you. To many variations world wide.

As for the amplifier itself, it blends seamlessly with my IC7800. Just set the CI-V address of the IC7800 to (5Ch) and the amplifier will auto band switch with the transceiver. The set up for the Power Transformer Taps for my line voltage (208) only took about five minutes. You may NOT have to retap the transformer at your QTH. The factory preset is at 240v AC.

The amplifier is well protected against self damage. (this is good for hams like me that forget to switch things from time to time).

Now, the bottom line! This AMPLIFIER WORKS GREAT. When on the air with this amplifier I have had NO reports of SPLATTER or output CLIPPING at full legal limit. And it has never tripped out with any fault like some amplifier do.

I would recommend the Tokyo Hy-Power HL2.5Kfx to anyone.


K3OYH Rating: 2008-03-26
Excellent legal limit solid state amp Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
TOKYO HY-POWER HL-2.5KFX HF Linear Amplifier Review by K3OYH
After reviewing the QEX Sep/Oct 2006 article “Get 1.5kW from a New RF MOSFET: A Legal Limit HF Linear, Tokyo Style” by Toshiaki Ohsawa, JE1BLI, and Nobuki Wakabayashi, JA1DJW; and announcement from HRO late last year, I figured this was just what I had been looking for that would be a good addition to the shack. With a size of a FT2000 minus 3” in width, it is a very compact unit that does indeed get you to legal limit and tracks the rig’s band changes. I had been using an AL-1500, SG-500 and ALS-500.

Since I was lucky enough to be the first in the country to receive the HL-2.5KFX (SN: 073002) after my purchase in mid September, followed by a long wait with delivery on January 30th, all I can say is the wait was well worth it! It is a nice fit for my FT-2000 & FT1000D and drives to full 1500W SSB PEP or CW output with less than 80W in on all but 10 meters where the output is slightly less. For long duty cycle modes such as RTTY they recommend reducing the drive by 30%.

The amp comes set for 240vac and includes band control cables for the ICOM CI-V, Yaesu and Kenwood RS-232C radios. Using the Yaesu cable with the FT1000D required a jumper between pin 8 & 3 which will be corrected in next production run. I designed a switch and cabling that allows switching the band control lines, ALC and buffered keying lines between the two rigs. I made full use of the ALC feedback to the rigs as it can easily exceed 2kW out if you accidentally drive it with more than 80W. Maximum drive is specified at 100W.

The T/R relays are spec’d at 3ms pick and 5ms release which works well with full break-in and VOX operation although they are a little noisy after using amps with PIN diode switches (that I installed).

It is well protected with many processor controlled sensing and protection functions as well as a variable speed fan control. You can barely hear the fan most of the time when using SSB. The front panel, containing 2 lighted analog meters and LCD status panel, keeps you well informed on operational status. SWR protection is set to trip at 1.8:1– so you need a well matched antenna or a tuner.

The proof-of-the-pudding is on the air operation. I have gotten good SSB audio reports on the bands with no signs of splatter, or output clipping at legal limit when monitored on my wattmeter, oscilloscope and spectrum analyzer. Although the amp seems a bit pricy, it is a very well designed and packaged unit that I would recommend to anyone wanting legal limit transceiver functionality.