[Amps] More information for "What NOT to buy"..

[EP Swynar]

Hi Clint,

How extensive is your collection of back-issues of QST, & CQ...?

Lew McCoy penned an absolute must-read article for would-be builders such as yourself in a 1970 issue of QST, entitled "The Junker Linear Amplifier". TONS of absolutely GREAT tips for beginners --- it sure did inspire me, I can tell you...

Also in the late 80's (I think) he wrote "The Silver-City Kilowatt" for CQ --- another great read about salvaging parts & getting a lot out of practically nothing...yet another "must-read" for neophytes.

If you have back issues of Ham Radio magazine, the late-great Bill Orr (W6SAI) wrote an excellent 3-part series on the design & construction of linear amplifiers in the late 70's. Written in plain language, it's an excellent foundation on the the genre...

So you see, you really don't need a flesh-and-blood Elmer to make one of these things --- the legacy of Lew McCop & Bill Orr is timeless in this regard!

~73~ Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Clint Talmadge 
  To: EP Swynar 
  Sent: Monday, October 23, 2006 3:25 PM
  Subject: Re: [Amps] More information for "What NOT to buy"..


  Eddy,
  A large part of the problem (opportunity??) is that I don't know much about amps and when I look under the tables and see amp parts, I don't know what I am looking at.  I have asked in the small group in my area (Western Kentucky) and have not been able to find an "Amps Elmer".  No one here rolls their own as it were, so I have no one to quickly go to if I were to find a goody basket full of amp parts.  I would love to have one of the "splatter amps" that were available when I was in Dallas. These were amps used in the construction of chips (I think) that had one 8877 tube in the 20M region that could be changed to operate on 14 MHz. I seem to remember that they came with no power supply and that had to be built.  A single band amp would still provide much of what I am looking for.  So that is why I am looking for  a Project Amp with which to start.  I guess when I am done I will probably have a box of my own amp parts to take to hamfests.

  Clint - W5CPT