Topband: 160M PREAMP SUMMARY

[Major Ron]

Hi all,

I mistakenly posted this to Towertalk yesterday, when I meant to post it
here.

I finished the installation of the first two 'two-wire' Beverage antennas a
few days ago. The N/S Beverage is 560 feet long and the E/W one is also 560
feet in length. The NE/SW Beverage will be 1360 feet long and the NW/SE one
will be 1100 feet long. All are 'cone-of-silence' lengths. Being able to
switch directions at the lick of a switch is terrific!

With the first two installed, I was able to compare them with the pennant
and evaluate the pre-amps with the antennas.

I wish to extend my extreme thanks to those who sent me their pre-amps for
this evaluation. The only one I did not have to compare was the Elbert
County Preamp. All preamps have been returned to their rightful owners.

ALL of the units performed well, but I am listing them in the order of my
preference. Please do not take this as a condemnation of any of these units.
Like any other ham gear, preference is almost always a subjective thing, and
certain units fit better with my particular circumstances and applications.

A word of caution is in order. The feed-point for all of my Beverage
antennas is with 50 feet of my 160M vertical. One antenna passes within ten
feet of the vertical. With 1KW to the vertical, I wound up blowing the
2-watt 51-ohm resistors in the control box that switches the receiving
direction. No, I didn't blow any pre-amps because I didn't have them in the
line. That is one reason my preference was for an indoor pre-amp.

The preamps from ICE are available as single-band units.

# Mfr    M#  160M  80M  40M  Price

1) KD9SV    Dual-band YES  YES  NO  $120
2) Ameco    PT-3  YES  YES  YES  $120
3) AY Technologies  PRE-2  YES  YES  YES  $99
4) ICE    See Band 123B  124B  125B  $48
5) Elbert County Preamp  PP-1  Not available for test    $65

Ron, KA9ALC