Paul,
As far as I know, the PIN switch in the AL1200 is the same as mine
in the AL80A. It is spec'd to switch in less than 500 microseconds. I
have taken a very close look with scope and found the amplifier fully
switched over long before the TX is ramping up with power.
Your concern was mine as well at first but no problem in over 10
years with multiple rigs.
Good point on the "EXT TR". If it there and works like on the
Pegasus, Grant could then go from full QSK to semi breakin from the
front panel of the ORION........if it has the delay setting like the Peg.
Lot's to learn about the ORION, only wish I was one of the
experimenters. But that if wishes were horses..............................
:-)
73 de Lee, WA3FIY
On 28 Mar 2003 at 19:34, Paul Christensen, Esq. wrote:
> > Grant:
> > You might try the Alpha 89 setup as outlined on the
> > Alpha Power website at:
> > http://www.alpha-amps.com/html/tentec.htm
>
> Be cautioned that unless your Ameritron AL-1200 has hot-switching protection
> circuitry, the mod as suggested above will likely cause hot-switching at the
> leading edge of transmission. You mentioned that the AL-1200 has the
> optional QSK circuit, but is it truly hot-switch protected?
>
> Ten-Tec uses TX OUT and TX EN in a true hand-shake fashion with their own
> amps to guard against hot-switching. Since Alpha's mod is a single-ended
> key line (single, but formed by using a "Y" adapter to the TX OUT/TX EN
> jacks) with no handshaking provision, I found that it hot-switched my Alpha
> 70V amplifier when trying it with the Omni Six. The mod works fine with the
> Alpha 89 and 87 due to their internal QSK protection circuitry. Generally,
> the only way to know whether the amp is becoming hot-switched is to observe
> the output waveform on a monitor scope.
>
> If the Orion uses the same "Ext. T/R" circuit as used on the Jupiter and
> Pegasus, look no further since this is an ultra-fast solid-state switch line
> which should interface perfectly into your AL-1200.
>
> -Paul, W9AC
>
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