I hesitated to reply because one negative comment can cause quite a
stir. However I'll offer my suggestions as to what to buy, rather than
what not to buy...and will be just as controversial.
One of the best commercial amps ever made for the ham market is the
original ten tec Titan 425. Separate power supply, compact but
powerful, quiet, runs a pair of 3cx800's so you have to be very careful
with drive level, has a grid overdrive led and if you keep it dark the
tubes should last a long time, full qsk with vacuum relay, quiet
operation and TT will still support it to a point. Great buy and will
last a careful ham a lifetime but probably not a good "learning"amp.
Drake L4B, built like a brick outhouse, works forever, needs transfer
relay rework and won't do 160 but a heck of a buy in the used market.
pair of 3-500's, as is a well constructed SB220.
Ten Tec 422 an old design that keeps right on making suds. An excellent
buy and TT still supports, and continues to make it for sale. pair of
3-500's, good metering, qsk after a fashion.
Ameritron AL80A, and its sister the Heath SB1000. Single 3-500, well
designed and easy to work on, a really good learning amp. Put in a
Triode board and do all kind of fancy things with it.
Alpha 78 bandpass amp. I think this is the absolute best design ever
for a ham amp. full qsk, easily full output, nice looking, easy to tune
and bandpass tuning on 80-15. Geet one with good tubes and run it
within the tube limits and they will last a very long time. I have had
three of them and regretted selling each of them when gone. I am NOT
selling the one I have now. They made less than 1000 of them so not all
that easy to find. 3 8874's and can be replaced with a pair of 3cx800's
if they pop. Not cheap but again, one heck of an amp.
The current TenTec Titan III with a pair of 4cx800's is a solid qsk
amp. It does generate quite a bit of heat tho so be prepared to cool
the shack, even in the winter. Very easy to tune and will do much more
than legal output so has headroom.
There are several more I can think of, but enough for now. 73 bob de w9ge
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