Al,
I ran my AL-80b from my Omni VI for several years with only one small
problem. The Omni emits a large spike of RF upon keydown for a
fraction of a second, resulting in overdrive on many amps (this spike
can exceed 100w.) Many rigs do this from both sides of the pond, and
there has been many articles addressing this in the past. Many
manufacturers do not consider this a "problem" due to the short duration
of the spike. At the 100w level, it's not a problem - unless your
driving an amp.
This issue was addressed in the Technical column of "73" magazine (I
think it was Feb. 96') after my query to them as neither Ameritron nor
Ten Tec could provide a solution. Ameritron's answer was lower drive,
Ten Tec support's answer was to run one of their amps, and they wouldn't
speculate on other amps from other manufacturers. I could never get a
satisfactory answer from anyone, so my solution was to keep the drive
down.
I later sold the AL-80b, and purchased the AL-800H (legal limit) amp,
which blew itself to pieces every time I used the Omni on it as that amp
couldn't handle the spike. After several trips (4) to Ameritron for
warranty repairs, HRO was kind enough to give me my money back (thanks
HRO!) I then purchased the Alpha 89 which has no problem dealing with
the spike.
You can see this yourself on any oscilloscope. The AL-80b typically
handled the spike as long as I didn't push it (input drive power) too
far. If anyone's interested, I can look up the articles and the letter
I sent to 73 and input them here. The AL-80b will work, just don't
input too much drive from the exciter and you will be ok.
73 de Dave KB6JOX
>----------
>From: AL_LORONA@HP-USA-om33.om.hp.com[SMTP:AL_LORONA@HP-USA-om33.om.hp.com]
>Sent: Wednesday, January 07, 1998 10:45 AM
>To: tentec@contesting.com
>Subject: [TenTec] Compatibility w/ Ameritron Amps
>
><<File: cc:Mail.txt>>
>
>
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