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Re: [Amps] Henry console value

To: amps@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [Amps] Henry console value
From: Ryan Foster <foster.ryan@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 2009 19:49:15 -0500
List-post: <amps@contesting.com">mailto:amps@contesting.com>
I don't know, I'm going to have to support Carl on this one.  I saw someone
trying to sell a 2k (not sure if it was a x or not) for $800 about 2 months
ago, and no one was looking twice at it, except for some kids that I doubt
knew anything about it, they were just surprised at the size and how much it
took to push (by kids I really mean like 16 or 17, but they acted decently
immature for a hamfest, so I stick with my initial word)

Anyway, no one looked twice except for me, because I really wanted to use
the parts in a retrofit, but when he wouldn't take $600, I left too.  At the
end of the day I helped him wheel it out to his truck.  There was also a 7b
for $800, but someone beat me to that, and a 600w solid state (I don't
remember which one now, but a common one) for $800 also.  I bought a gsb-201
for $150, a mla-2500 for $600, and a l4b for $600.  The first two were this
year and the Drake was last year.  Why would I pick up the Henry 2k for $800
when I can get a L4b for $600?  If I didn't buy the amps I buy primarily for
retrofits (because I can't metalwork for crap) I wouldn't have been looking
at the Henry at all either.

I'm not saying they aren't of great quality or anything, I mean that's why I
wanted it for the housing and parts but they aren't commanding a price when
desktop amps are down.

Sure, you can sell a lot of things for well more than they are worth on
ebay, but there again being pretty much a "pick up only" kind of a sale, you
are competing with the lighter, more shippable desktop amps.

Prices might be better where you are, but in Michigan and Wisconsin, that's
how it's been.

--Ryan, w8cya


On Thu, Dec 31, 2009 at 7:11 PM, Donald Fox <taurusshoguy@yahoo.com> wrote:

> I do a lot of lurking here, but have to weigh in on this.
>
> I think Carl is thinking of the older Henry console amps prior to the
> Classic series. Admittedly, I am slightly biased having both a 2KX and a 3KX
> in the shack at the moment.
>
> While the Henrys are big, low tech, and pricey for their time, they are
> pretty reliable as long as one takes care of them. I would not call them a
> contest amp per se, although I think a Henry can hang in there when compared
> with an equal specimen of another brand.
>
> I find them (the consoles any) roomy and easy to work on. You won't throw
> one under your arm and trot off to Field Day with it, but from any location
> it will put out reliable power when and where you need it pretty much from
> 3-30mhz.
>
> While a Henry console will not compare with an Alpha or other high tech
> modern amp when it comes to no tune up or quiet operation, I feel that they
> have earned a spot in ham radio history as a formidable amplifier that was
> in some ways ahead of its time.
>
> I think the use of a variable coil and fixed capacitors to be an
> interesting deviation from the standard Pi network that everyone else uses.
>
> If I had the bucks, I would buy all of the Classic consoles I could get my
> paws on for less than a grand, and regularly see the 2K and 2KX consoles
> sell for $1400-1800.00.
>
> The HV PS in all but the base 2K is capable of much more than a pair of
> 3-500zs could ever ask from it.
>
> I know if my Henry blows up, I can repair it. I would not make the same
> wager with an Alpha, Emtron, or PW1, etc.
>
>                                                               Don
>
>
>
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