[TenTec] Hercules II: experiences?

[Chuck (Jack) Hawley]

Allan G. Taylor wrote:
> 
> Has anyone out there any experience, good or bad, regarding the
> Hercules II amp? In a future shack incarnation, I may consider it for
> my QRP amp and I wanted to know if there are any quirks about it. For example,
> is it quiet  (I assume it has a fan!). In a practical sense, how high can the
> SWR be before it complains?  ETC.

I have one and like it very much. It has a fan but you almost can't hear
it. It puts out an easy 500 watts with about 50 in. It never feels hot
anywhere (SSB). I have it hooked up to my Yaesu band data output (thru a
interface ckt I made) and it follows the Yaesu as I change bands. I have
never noticed the SWR foldback. I think it has an overcurrent shutdown
which works for a number of faulty conditions. It has a vacuum relay
that you can hear but it is no louder than the typical relay in the
transceiver. I am powering it with an RV battery hooked up to a 35A
Astron which is set to a voltage of about 13.6V after subtracting the
drop of the diode in series with it (the diode prevents the battery from
discharging into the Astron when it is turned off). This has been
operating for several years with the same battery. As I talk, the Astron
kicks up to 15 or 20 amps briefly with my words. When I stop talking,
the Astron charges at a couple of amps for several minutes before the
current falls off to nothing. Also, I have it wired QSK. The Yaesu sends
a voltage to the Herc and the Herc sends a signal back to enable the RF
out of the Yaesu. This works very well. I found that the Yaesu 990
starts the RF a little too quick for the switching of the Herc
otherwise.

73,

Chuck, KE9UW


--
FAQ on WWW:               http://www.contesting.com/TenTecFAQ.html
Submissions:              tentec@contesting.com
Administrative requests:  tentec-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems:                 owner-tentec@contesting.com
Sponsored by:             Akorn Access, Inc. & N4VJ / K4AAA