[Amps] What NOT to buy?

[Jim Brown]

In the orphan category, the output devices for the original TenTec 
Hercules I (model 444) are unobtainium (Motorola found issues with 
them that they didn't want to solve, so they discontinued them), and 
there are some temperature-related "issues" in the voltage regulator 
that TenTec never resolved. 

On the other hand, the Hercules II (model 420) is a lovely amp, and 
while the output devices aren't cheap, last I heard they were still 
available. Another major plus for this amp is that it runs on 13VDC. 

In the TenTec line, the Herc amps are solid state, the others use 
bottles. And a big plus for TenTec is that they're still in biz, 
support their equipment to the extent that available parts allow, 
and their bench techs will talk to you and give good troubleshooting 
advice (but NOT their service mgr -- he will tell you send it in for 
repair and you could almost buy a new one for the repair bill). 

Jim Brown K9YC