[TenTec] Centurion Amplifier history

[Duane Calvin]

Doug,
	I owned a Centurion (422) for several years. I bought it new, and
had an early-life failure of the bias transistor which I replaced with the
help of TT techs.  It worked flawlessly for me, including a bit of RTTY
contesting.  It was very smooth, and I loved the instant-on 3-500ZG's (RF
Parts) that came installed in it.  One of the finals failed with the "usual"
grid short to the cathode, and a new pair of 3-500ZG's from RF Parts cost me
over $400 at the time.  I later sold it and bought an Alpha 99 (pair of
GU-74B / 4CX800 tubes).  I miss the "instant on" feature of the 3-500's.  By
the way, the Alpha also arrived with a single early-life failure - the
vacuum relay, which I replaced with Alpha's assist.  Bottom line - the
Centurion performed very, very well, but the 3-500ZG tube life disappointed
me a little.

	73, Duane 


Duane Calvin, AC5AA
Austin, Texas
www.ac5aa.com  

 

-----Original Message-----
From: tentec-bounces at contesting.com [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com]
On Behalf Of Speer, Doug
Sent: Wednesday, March 14, 2012 7:44 AM
To: tentec at contesting.com
Subject: [TenTec] Centurion Amplifier history

I'm looking at acquiring and adding a Model 422 Centurion to my Ten-Tec
station line up.  Can anyone tell me or point me to the history or evolution
of the Centurion?  Questions I have are:   any differences other than
cosmetics between the Model 422 and the current Model 422B?   Any  updates
that should be performed on the 422?   Are there any production runs (i.e.
serial number ranges) that should be avoided?  I've done a cursory internet
search but have not found a good history.

Doug, W9PN
Janesville, WI


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