[Amps] Ameritron Amps

[Gudguyham at aol.com]

In a message dated 7/29/2006 2:46:36 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
ke6cvh at yahoo.com writes:

don't  want to bash Ameritron but I have a friend who bought an AL-1200 and 
did have  considerable problems with the electrolytic capacitor bank on the HV 
power  supply.  They did not have a good safety margin on their ratings when  
compared to the output voltage.  My friend recommended a good US source  for 
an electrolytic that would allow a safety margin.  I seem to remember  he blew 
out the caps a couple of times before he got rid of it.  A great  looking amp 
with a problem that needed to be fixed and Amertron unwilling to  fix it 
properly.  I own an ALS-600 solid state linear and have  experienced problems with 
the open frame relay.  I read on Eham.net that  others have also had this 
problem.  I am currently looking into replacing  it with a Gigavac device but once 
again, think Ameritron should either offer a  QSK vacuum relay as an option, 
standard, or some other type of fix.  I  have had two Ameritron linears, the 
AL-80A was OK (also blew a HV electrolytic  but plenty of space to
fix it easy).  Overall, my opinion is  Ameritron  is good but they need to 
listen to their customers a little  better and fix problems a little quicker.
73,
Mike



Probably using the GREEN lead on the transformer which offers HV at  4KV.  It 
is only for those who have low line voltage.  I'll bet that  was the problem. 
Lou