Leon, unless you have a roll of money under the mattress a used amp may
be the better route for starters. Here is a short list, by no means
complete:
Collins 30L1 uses 4 811A's for 600W out. Covers 80-10M including WARCS
and has a tuned input. Oldie but rugged and built by the thousands.
Cheap in the USA.
Heath SB-200 2 x 572B's and otherwise similar specs to the 30L1. Easy
parts availability.
Heath SB-1000/Ameritron AL-80A Single 3-500Z; 160-10M with WARCS and
tuned input. 800-1000W out.
Drake L-75 very similar to the SB-1000/AL80A
Hunter Bandit 2000A uses 4x 572B's 80-10M works on WARCS, no tuned
input. A 1970 era amp but well built. Cheap when available. 800-1100W out
Dentron Clipperton L also 4x 572B's 160-10, needs PA choke mod for
12M. No tuned input. A good fixer upper amp since with a few mods it
performs fairly well. Cheap to buy cheap to upgrade.
I would stay away from recent 811 amps. My experience has been that they
run very hot on 10-15M causing reliability problems. Running below the
advertised power specs would be indicated.
I also understand that a Russian 4CX800A (one tube) amp is available in
Italy but have no other information.
The used amps I listed were selected on price/performance. They are all
available in the $250-350 price range. They also ship well.
Amps with 2x 3-500's and those with ceramic tubes start at around $400
and can easily exceed $1000, even for a 20+ year old Alpha.
73....Carl KM1H
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