[TenTec] Mike Hyder --N4NT--" Hercules 444

[Mike Hyder --N4NT--]

Other than the fire and the fact that Ten-Tec washed its hands of that 
model, oh and the lack of replacement finals, I thought the amplifier was 
OK.  My only complaint before the fire was that when the heatsinks got warm, 
the fan sounded like a 747 in full reverse.

73, Mike N4NT

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Speer, Doug" <Doug.Speer at FairbanksMorse.com>
To: <tentec at contesting.com>
Sent: Friday, September 12, 2008 4:17 PM
Subject: [TenTec] Mike Hyder --N4NT--" Hercules 444


>I guess we all have had our good luck / bad luck stories.  I did not set
> out on this path but I ended up with two Hercules 444 amps.  I have run
> them daily and run them hard in contest and find the units to be pretty
> robust amplifiers.  Of course if I loose the finals the unit will either
> become land fill or as someone commented, a science project.  Someday I
> will update my amplifier's) with something modern and maintainable but
> in the mean time I'll run the 444s.  I might be smart to locate a fire
> extinguisher within reach, hihi.
>
> Very 73,
> Doug, W9PN
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 14
> Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2008 21:21:25 -0400
> From: "Mike Hyder --N4NT--" <mike_n4nt at embarqmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [TenTec] hercules444 ?
> To: "Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment" <tentec at contesting.com>
> Message-ID: <B5C24A2F865C45B28B61B575EE6108C5 at dell8300>
> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
> reply-type=original
>
> I had one of the 444 amps with its supply.  The amp runs on 48VDC.  I
> hadn't
> had mine very long (bought it used) when it caught on fire.
>
> Ten-Tec was nice enough to repair it -- they may have had to make one or
>
> more circuit boards for it.  When I got it back they warned me that they
>
> would never work on that model again.  I sold it to a fellow who wanted
> to
> replace its innards with some Motorola modules.
>
> There are not many pieces of ham gear I wouldn't haul home but the 444
> is
> one.
>
> 73, Mike N4NT
>