[Amps] Ameritron AL-1500

[W0UN -- John Brosnahan]

At 12:11 PM 9/5/2003 -0500, you wrote:
>Has anyone ever successfully added a second tube to an AL-1500?  What
>changes would be needed to make the power supply sufficient?
>Rick KD5MGK

Rick--

AL-1500 is a pretty good amp as it stands.  The only reason
to add a second tube is to try and run illegal power.  But any
amp designer has to keep parts costs to a minimum so
everything is just big enough to do the job as intended.  It is
not a question of transformer ratings only, but a question of
air supply, filter caps, band switch, tank components, relays,
and everything else.

So you end up with an amp that is LESS reliable.  As a ham
for many years I am really surprised at how blatant running
illegal power is these days.  Not that it wasn't done before
but that people are so willing to talk about it in public now.

Anyway, here is part of a note on the AL-1500 product review page

http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/21


 >Just one other comment I have seen a few of these amplifers on ebay with 
2 8877's >where they have been modified. The sellers advertise 4000 watts ++
 >
 >I discussed this with a technician at Ameritron and they stated they 
would not work on >the amplifer with this modification because it is 
illegal. From a technical perspective >they said the band switch and other 
components would not handle this type of output >if someone runs this kind 
of power.