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Reviews For: King Conversions 6 meter amps

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

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Review Summary For : King Conversions 6 meter amps
Reviews: 80MSRP:
Description:
HF amplifier conversion to 6M
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.kingconversions.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00805
VE2DFO Rating: 2010-07-27
AL-1500 Conversion Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Lou did a terrific job of converting an AL-1500 amplifier I had bought with a few "miles" on it already. Works flawlessly and was simply "plug and play"--no issues whatsoever.
Lou kept me informed during the whole process from arrival of the original amp to shipment.

I highly recommend Lou.

Don
VE2DFO
KO1DX Rating: 2010-07-20
AL-1500 Nice amp...with a few hitches. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Lou is a great guy whom I respect greatly. He does a fine conversion. I purchased an AL-1500 from Lou a few months back. He found a core and converted it for me. When the amp arrived the transformer was damaged (in its separate box). It didn't look that well packed to me. Anyway some of the core wires had the insulation rubbed clean off. I returned the damaged Transformer to him, the cost to box and shipping the transformer back was around $73 for all the materials to pack it including shipping. Lou said he was reimburse me for the shipping and I told him just to send back $60 of that to cover it. It's been almost a month and half and that $60 is still in Lou's pocket. So I'm not real happy about that.

A month after using the amp (which worked quite well) one of the 11 year old Caps burst and took with it several smaller components. I replaced all of the Caps for around $160 from Mouser.

The timer board no longer worked so I've ordered a new timer board (presumably it was damaged from a spike when the caps went) since it worked prior to that.

The Multimeter was sticking from Day one while in IP and PO modes, the meter swings freely and checks out okay outside the amp. (I can live with that, BUT I decided to order a new Meter Board as well).

Although these are not exactly positive experiences, I suppose this sort of thing can happen when you buy a used amp.

STILL, the amp wasn't cheap, and the extra $375 in parts and shipping I've had out of pocket isn't feeling really nice to me, nor is the down time, even if the band hasn't been great the past few weeks.

If you know the condition of your amp you are sending then you should be fine. If you are buying a core from Lou, you might try to resolve some of these issues and questions before he ships the amp to you.

As I said before Lou is a great guy! And I know he's busy with lots of work these days. But my spending an extra $375 on top of $2400 for the amp makes it a bit difficult to provide a rave review as so many others have.

If you are getting a CORE from Lou, you might want to specifically request that the caps and resistors be replaced with new before it ships.

I worked 14 JA's 3 hours after I finally got the amp online and had TONS more calling me. So the amp works wonderfully when all the parts are functioning. :-) It makes BIG power with little input.

I'm not trying to be negative, I just think its important that a buyer get the full picture from a review.

de NW0W
K6BR Rating: 2010-07-06
Best Bang for The Buck Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I read all of the good reviews for Six Meter amplifier conversions performed by Lou at King Conversions. I didn’t have a SB-220 to convert so I purchased a core SB-220 that Lou had in stock and Lou converted it to Six meters. It took Lou about two weeks to make the conversion. The packing was excellent with no damage at all to report my end. Lou shipped the SB-220 via Fedex Home and emailed me the tracking number.

Communication with Lou via email was perfect and he always answered all my questions promptly.

The converted amplifier looks great; it is clean inside and out and painted Heathkit Green and actually looks brand new. The Band Switch is replaced by an Input Tune control, which is great; you can tune even the pickiest Modern Transceiver to a 1.1:1 SWR to enable full output. Now full output looks to be just over 1450 watts PEP as read on an LP-100 Digital Vector Wattmeter (very accurate). The converted SB-220 is a breeze to tune up following the instructions supplied by Lou. It is actually much easier to tune than my SB-221 is on Ten Meters. This has to be the best bang for the buck to get you QRO on Six meters. I have been in the shack working East Coast pile up’s on Six meters with a Kilowatt going into a 7 element M2 at 72 feet. Great fun, I wished I had done this year’s ago. I cannot say enough good things about Lou’s workmanship, service and attention to detail.

73, Mike K6BR
W5IF Rating: 2010-06-27
Fantastic 6 meter amp! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I received a converted SB221 from Lou on Friday. All I can say is that I wish I hadn't waited over a year since I first talked to Lou about ordering one of his famous 6 meter conversions.

The quality of work is outstanding, tuning is easy and puts out plenty of power. The unit looks brand new even though the sticker on the back shows that it was built in 1980! The communication throughout the order and delivery process is top notch.

Call or email him NOW, you won't be disappointed! 73 and GD DX W5IF
K4YA Rating: 2010-06-25
Great guy to deal with! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Lou converted my SB-221 to six meters and did an outstanding job, both cosmetically and electrically. He's fast, continues to communicate with you, and is a pleasure to deal with. The amp puts out full legal limit and loafs as it does it. Lou's work is the best way to get the least expensive dollar per watt that there is. If I were to do it all over again, I wouldn't consider anyone else. Lou really knows his stuff!
N8RR Rating: 2010-06-24
Super Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I sent Lou a rough looking SB-220 for conversion. He did a great job on the cosmetics, it looks fine. The best part though is that it makes watts on 6 meters as advertised. Tuning is smooth, much smoother than an SB-220 on most HF bands. The cummunications were great, and the service was prompt.

I have been on 6 meters for less than a year, running 100W to an M2 6M7JHV. My first QSO with the amp was JH0RNN, first Asia on the band.

I highly recommend Lou's work.

73 Charlie N8RR
W5DQ Rating: 2010-05-18
Long Live the QROKing Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Lou is definitely a great guy to deal with. I can't say enough good things about him. While looking at his amps, I found and bought one of his creations in the 'used' market. Even after I cut his deal he still was professional and very helpful, answering my questions and providing advice. A true honest businessman which is rare these days.

His conversion work is top notch. The design he has created for converting the SB-220 to 6M is nothing short of legendary. Nothing shabby in there and everything is solidly constructed. The SB-220 I have gives a solid KW out on CW and tips the meter over 1300W on SSB with 60W drive. Ip and Ig are right on the money. The TUNED INPUT control is great as you can 'dial' in the lowest SWR for the exciter regardless of where on the band you are. No more 'sweet spot' tuned inputs and hoping for a good bandwidth. All amps should have this feature.

Take my advice, read these reviews and when you're in the market for a good solid 6M KW amp and don't want to shell out upwards of $2500+ for other brands, drop Lou and email and check out his inventory. You CAN NOT go wrong with the QROKing.

73 to Lou and the gang at King Conversions.
N5ORT Rating: 2010-04-19
SUPER JOB!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just received my new King Conversions amp. It is an Ameritron AL-1500 converted to 6M. Using my K3, it took only 36 watts of drive to output 1500 watts into my antenna. Needless to say, I am very pleased.
If you would like to see this amp in action, go to youtube.com, do a search for King Conversions, and view the video for the AL-1500. That is my amp just before Lou shipped it to me. The video is an eye opener! The quality of workmanship on this amp is top notch, and the interior looks just like it came from the factory, rather than a conversion. Additional labeling has been added where needed, and the overall appearance is "Factory Fresh". Lou is a great guy, and a pleasure to do business with. He is very honest, answers any and all questions, and gives very good operating instructions. If you want a top notch 6 Meter amp, contact Lou at King Conversions. He is the BEST!
KE5WCE Rating: 2010-03-27
Proud owner!!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Ok let me start off by saying that Lou is a great guy and really does care about his product and how his customer's feel bottom line is that Lou is a super nice guy and great to deal with. Ok now for the famous King Conversions 6 meter amp. WOW!!!!!! inside and out solid built. This thing is a beast Lou knows how to build them. easy kilowatt with very low drive on 120v with my quick testing cant wait to get the 240v ran I know it will be great!!!! I will update later. Lou you are the best!!!
WS9J Rating: 2010-03-17
AWESOME Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I've been a ham for over 42 years, and have purchased lots of equipment in my time. Lou is a pleasure to do business with, and a man of his word! Unfortunately, due to blind luck, my amp had a few problems which ended up being major. Lou went above and beyond, and stood behind his product all the way. The amp now works perfect! I would highly reccommend purchasing from Lou - you can't go wrong. If you want a solid full limit 6 meter amp at the right price, plug and play, this is where you will find it.