[MFJ-Ameritron] Re Failed AL-1500

Wed, 4 Sep 2002 05:15:25 -0700

Paul,
I bought one new last year and had nothing but trouble with it, sent it back
to Ameritron twice before getting it fixed..Mine has the option qsk 5 i
believe it was...
My relay sticks all the time and i have to rock the OPR/STBY switch to get
it to kick back in...
Anyways, im sorry I bought it..Three days ago I bought a used Alpha 87a
which was only a few hundred less then my NEW AL1500 with the qsk5
feature.......I use a FT1000D with the amp...
I have a second station a OMNI 6 plus where i run a Titan 425 and there
tuner, all three rack mounted...Im gonna keep that set up ...
Maybe I just bought a NEW lemon...just thot id pass along my experiences
with Ameritron...Im sorry I bought it, and you know I wont even come close
to getting my monies back out it, so I guess I will have to tear it down to
fix it and use it as a back up amp...its only got a handful of hours on it
too....
Hope you have better luck,
73 / God Bless
de Steve N6TT

----- Original Message -----
Wrom: QBGJSNBOHMKHJYFMYXOEAIJJPHSCRTN
To: "Duane Fischer, W8DBF" <[email protected]>;
<[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, September 03, 2002 8:30 PM
Subject: Re: [MFJ-Ameritron] Re Failed AL-1500

> hi duane   i am getting bad feelings here.....  i have a 1500 on the way
!!!
> 73  paul w8jn
> ----- Original Message -----
> Wrom: HGSWZIDREXCAXZOWCONEUQZAAFXISHJEXXIMQZUIVO
> To: <[email protected]>
> Sent: Tuesday, September 03, 2002 10:46 PM
> Subject: [MFJ-Ameritron] Re Failed AL-1500
>
>
> >
> >
> > Hi All,
> >
> > I had a discussion today with a tech at Ameritron and also with Jim
Smith
> the
> > owner of Burghardts Amateur Center in SD. The concensus is that the 8877
> shorted
> > out.
> >
> > This amp was purchased new and is just under the warranty by six days.
The
> tube
> > is warrantyed by Emoch. (Not sure how to spell that company) I am hoping
I
> can
> > get the tube replaced by the manufacturer uner warranty. Ameritron
seemed
> to
> > think it would be replaced under warranty.
> >
> > I was told that this amplifier was one of the best made by Ameritron. I
> was told
> > it was rugged, dependable and well designed. i was told that the single
> 8877 was
> > superior to running a matched pair of 3-500zs tubes. Now I wonder how
much
> of
> > what many told me was really accurate.
> >
> > Does the 8877 have a history of failure out of the clear blue? This amp
is
> well
> > ventilated, used only for 20 meter NCS duties, was tuned and left alone
> and gets
> > about one hour of actual transmit time per week. I drive it with 60
watts,
> > average modulation and zero compression. I do not use an antenna tuner,
as
> the
> > swr on the three antennas are all less than 1.5 without one. In short,
the
> amp
> > is well treated and well taken care of.
> >
> > It worked just fine last Wednesday. No problems of any kind. Sunday it
> failed
> > when it reached the warm up point and engaged the relay. That is when
the
> one
> > fuse blew. Only one blew. The same fuse blew again on a second test. I
> think it
> > is F2, but I am not positive of this. Being totally blind I can not read
> the
> > schematic to be certain.
> >
> > Is this behavior typical for the AL-1500? I do not want an amplifier I
> have to
> > live in the fear of it failing like this in so short of a time. I
realize
> > anything can happen to any amp under the best of circumstances. I just
> want your
> > collective wisdom to tell me if the AL-1500 is apt to do this same thing
> again
> > in six months, eleven months or sixteen months.
> >
> > Thank you for your candor.
> >
> > Duane Fischer, W8DBF
> > [email protected]
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > MFJ-Ameritron mailing list
> > [email protected]
> > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/mfj-ameritron
> >
>
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