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Reviews For: HENRY SS-750 (solid state series)

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

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Review Summary For : HENRY SS-750 (solid state series)
Reviews: 14MSRP: 1,250
Description:
1.8-30 MHz solid state amp 750+ watts out, 13.8 VDC. Remote head (optional)
Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.henryradio.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
15144.6
KA1BC Rating: 2000-11-07
very nice amplifier Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The Henry SS750 mobile amplifier is a well designed and robustly constructed piece of equipment. The only problem was getting Henry Radio to actually produce and ship it to me after being paid in full for the unit. After more than a year of daily use it still performs without complaint and delivers a substantial amount of RF. It is mounted in a cross-bed tool box along with a very large lead-acid battery which is connected in parallel with the main vehicle battery. Driven by a Yaesu FT900 and feeding a KW3 screwdriver antenna the Henry delivers very close to 1 KW. It is remotely controlled from the pickup cab. These high power solid state amplifiers draw very high current.....nearly 100 amps at 14.4 volts so large leads and good connections are mandatory. The Henry has spent well over a year in the tool box in all kinds of weather and temperatures and has given no problems,.....a result of the high quality components used and the well thought-out design and construction. I have owned another solid state amplifier and its quality did not compare with that of the Henry. A bit pricey perhaps, but well worth the extra expense.
N3IZN Rating: 2000-09-22
Good amp Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
It was a 12 week wait to get this amp.

I reviewed what I could find on mobile amps, and even though Henry was the most expensive, I thought about the old saying, “You get what you pay for”. The amp comes with power leads, keying line and a coax jumper (BNC – UHF?). That’s not mentioned anywhere on the web site, a pleasant surprise.


I agree with the earlier review, why did they use toggle switches for the band select? If you don’t select a band you key into an open! This unit also uses a lot of relays. 17 relays to be exact, though 10 are used for switching the band filters. I’m sure the designer had their reasons. The connection for the positive post comes loose, I would have preferred a stud like the ground uses. After a week of mobile operation, I took it out to dress up the installation and it had a rattle. I took the cover off and found a nut had worked it’s way off. Enough bashing.

I don’t have a good wattmeter to give accurate output levels but I think on the upper bands power does drop off. Signal reports are excellent however. 10 meters has been open lately and I have started a few pile ups. It’s a good feeling when your working some one for a while and then they find out your mobile when they thought you were on a base.

I’m pleased with my Henry. It’s not perfect but it does what they claim it will do. If any one is thinking about going mobile, you better review your electrical system first. Feel free to email me if you have any questions.

N3IZN@aol.com
K2VCO Rating: 2000-07-09
Good buy, not perfect Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I've had the amp for several months, and after a few teething problems (bad fan thermostat, a couple of small electrolytic caps exploding), it has proven to be reliable. I find the no-tune design and 160-10 meter coverage extremely convenient. Relay switching of the output filters makes automatic band changing a possibility with appropriate control circuits.

There is one problem that a prospective buyer should be aware of: output into a 50 ohm load drops off on the higher bands. I could only get 550 watts CW output on 15 meters. This is apparently due to the matching circuitry presenting a too-high impedance to the transistors. I solved this problem by running it at 15v instead of 13.8v, thus raising the optimum load impedance demanded by the transistors. I now get at least 750 watts on all bands. Tuning the antenna to provide a load somewhat lower than 50 ohms also works.

The unit is well constructed. Unlike CB-type solid state amplifiers, it includes relay-switched lowpass filters and regulated bias. For some reason, each filter has its own rocker switch, allowing you to select more than one filter, which you would never want to do! I don't know why they didn't use a rotary switch.

Henry Radio replaced my bad thermostat without too much trouble, but they did not respond to my (polite) questions about the power output issue.
W7RF Rating: 2000-04-23
SS750 gives mobile or base output of 750+ watts on all bands Time Owned: more than 12 months.
HENRY has been making their solid state amplifiers for the commercial markets and now offers these to HAMS set up with Ham bands on the low pass filters selectable from the front panel. They also have a very small remote control head (optional). 160-10M including WARC, this all solid state amplifier uses 8 very rugged 2SC2879 transistors. Actual output is more like 900-1000 watts for this amplifier, but HENRY is very conservative in their ratings. Separate power supply is available for base operation.