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[Amps] AL-80B questions

To: <amps@contesting.com>
Subject: [Amps] AL-80B questions
From: 2 at vc.net (rlm)
Date: Sun Mar 9 14:18:54 2003

>
>--- ad5gb <ad5gb@myway.com> wrote:
>> Therefore, I'm curious to know if there are others
>> on this reflector who've experienced similar problems (any brand
>> amplifier) that have been successfully solved with the AG6K ( or
>> another design ) VHF supressor. To round out the study, one would
>> also need to know if someone had installed such a thing and found
>> that it *did not* solve the problem it was intended to correct, or if
>> it caused other problems.
>> 
>
>I'm glad someone finally asked a question like this.  I'm curious of
>the results as well.  Here's my story:
>
>Bought a used TL-922 with the 10m mod already installed.  Fired it up
>and got full output, but about 15 minutes after testing, the amp made a
>horrible buzzing noise, blew one of the mains fuses, and let out a puff
>of smoke.  Found the welds bad in both Eimac 3-500s.  By the way, it
>defintely arced on tune-up.  The antennas are a resonant Alpha-Delta
>40/75m dipole and a Gap Titan.  SWR is NEVER worse than 2:1.  Feed line
>is new RG-213, no lightning arrestors.  Everything is grounded.
>
>Bought a matched set of RF Parts 3-500ZGs and the amp still arced on
>tune-up.  Installed the extra capacitors and grid-fuse resistor, along
>with home-brewed Rich Measures suppressors.  

**  expect a letter from my copyright attorney.

>The amp hasn't arced,
>spit, or sputtered on tune up since.  I still need to add the
>step-start, but just haven't had the time. 

**  One can always do the step-start mod when replacing the 922's 
welded-ON/OFF switch. 

>Also have a new bandswitch
>(that I haven't installed yet) since the original has carbon tracks on
>it.  I also installed the filiment mod -- I have pretty high line
>voltage so the filiments were getting almost 6V.  They're now down
>around the recommended 5V.  I also want to install the fast (and quiet)
>switching mod.  
>
>Bottom line, the mods fixed the arcing, and I spent less than $3.00. 
>I'd like to ask Tom why these work -- he seems only to say that
>parasitics don't exist, and the mods don't make sense.  If that's the
>case, why is my amp now working so much better?  The filiment mod is
>very clear to me, same with the step-start mod.  Why is this such a big
>deal? 

**  probably for the reason it took Ford 9-years to fix the solid-state 
ignition failure problem in their gas engine powered vehicles -- i.e., 
NIH syndrome. 

> If you make your own suppressors, you'll spend very little, and
>certainly won't hurt anything.
>
>Also, if parasitics don't exist or are "Voodoo", why are there
>suppressors on just about every amp or tube transmitter??
>
**  Good question.  However, Tom put did his reputation on the line when 
he designed the only 8877 HF-amp ever that uses no parasite suppressor 
whatsoever,  [See Figure 24 on my Web site]


cheers, Joe

-  R. L. Measures, a.k.a. Rich..., 805.386.3734, AG6K, 
www.vcnet.com/measures.  
end

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