amp suggestions

[Turk182]

just acquired a 1.5kw tuner. any suggestions on an amp? conditions have been terrible lately and need a little more umph! was looking at RM Italy KLV-1000 and TX Star DX-1000.

[MDYoungblood]

Might look at a Ameritron AL-811H. Pretty hefty ham amp, not a powerhouse but it will do the job. Easily modded or 11m too and you never know, you might want your ham ticket some day.

3's

Greg

[Turk182]

thx 4 the comeback MD. Actually have an 811H, but am currently using an AL-82 for my HAM setup. I guess CB still fascinates me for the same reasons that the other bands do. DX rocks no matter where it is. Wanna keep the 811H as a standby in case something happens to the AL-82. So let's say if i find a heavy hitting HAM amp at an estate sale, could it be converted to work on 11m? I understand these amps don't like to be used on AM too much as this will shorten their lives. .....and do i need to use a small amp like an RM Italy in between since these amps require much higher drive than my Galaxy DX959 can put out? Don't want to rush into buying anything, just want to think things out, and make the best decision.

[MDYoungblood]

My suggestion would be to try it, you have nothing to lose. The 811H would not get up to it's potential with just the 959 output but you might be surprised at how well it sounds and with the lesser amount driving it the longer the tubes will last. The 11m mod for the AL-811 models is nothing more than clipping (I removed it completely) the green wire, it's in the front, can't miss it. The RM tube amp would be nice, it is a 1x3 EL-519 tubes ($$$), only thing is they are old, would probably need recapping, don't care for the TS amps much.
I am not a AM person, SSB is the only thing I do, I have made contacts around the world on just 12w PEP, can't stand hearing those off frequency AM heterodyne noises, (truck drivers use channel 38AM in my area).

3's

Greg

[Turk182]

Think i'll give that a try. I believe the amp has been "clipped" for 10m/12m use. My 811H has been awesome which was quite tolerant of my learning curve when i first got my General ticket 9 yrs. ago. Since it has only two positions SSB or CW, i'll stay off AM and stick with SSB. If i want to play on AM, i can always put the 811H on STBY, and use the RM KL505V, which can safely send about 250w without much distortion. Wouldn't push it more than that. Have always had good signal reports with it, probably since i never over-drove it.

[De_Wildfire]

I found out using a 1.5 kw amp that the first 500w are the most critical. Then you are saving the life of the amp and you can loaf at 500w.

[radiogoon]

My 811H has been awesome which was quite tolerant of my learning curve when i first got my General ticket 9 yrs. ago. Since it has only two positions SSB or CW

Never have I seen the SSB/CW switch on my, nor any other AL-811 or 811H. Seeing as you can do PSK and RTTY with these amps as well, all it cares about is RF from the radio. My 811 plays back up to my AL-80B now.

[Turk182]

my apologies, I meant the AL-82

[Bozo]