John writes...
> is a AL 811a a good match easy to connect and work with a Orion II ? thanks
> John KB2HUK
Assuming the Orion II has a transmit switching output (like the Omni
V/VI), then it will work fine.
It will not do QSK, though. If you want QSK, I would recommend an amp
specifically designed for it with a keying loop. An alternative that
is probably better is to use a foot switch with an amp keying cable,
like my Heil foot switch. That's a more sure way to prevent hot
switching. But you have to press the foot switch to key the amp before
sending CW--Ten Tec radios will only send CW with full break-in.
For SSB, all this is completely routine, of course.
The 811a does not have a power meter, and I would therefore recommend
getting a good external power meter to go with it. I didn't have the
budget for a Bird so I bought an Ameritron AWM-30, which is an
active-circuit peak-reading power meter. With it, you can tune up
using dits instead of a continuous tuning carrier, and that will be a
lot easier on those 811 tubes.
I did have a problem with mine, probably caused by too much tuning on
10 meters. The result was burned plates, blown parasitic suppressors,
a blown diode in the metering circuit, and an input bandswitch with
burned contacts that needed to be cleaned up. I needed some help
trouble-shooting it but in the end it was not difficult to repair, and
parts are readily available from Ameritron.
Then, I bought a Centaur, which is a similar amp made by Ten Tec, The
construction quality is much better and it supports full QSK with the
TX EN and TX OUT keying loop. Had I to do it all over again, I would
have spend the extra hundred or two on a used Centaur versus the used
AL-811a. But that's water under the bridge, and I did thoroughly enjoy
the process of repairing the amp.
Rick, KR9D
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