You can get a very nice Henry floor console amp with two working 3-500z
tubes for about $1000. A new pair of 3-500zg tubes is $400 with a three
year warrantee. If a Henry has the export/commercial power supply Henry
specked it at 2000 watts PEP output like my 3K-A because of the 4000 volt
anode voltage. If you lose a transformer or choke they are able to be
rewound from several sources and all the other likely repair parts,
including the Zener diodes (using NTE equivalents), are all currently
available from multiple parts houses and construction is such that they are
easy to repair. I have had SB-220, Kenwood, Drake, and Collins (both 30S-1
and several 30-L1) and several Henrys and the Henrys have been the most
efficient and trouble free of all. Ted Henry still answers his emails in
about one day to help us keep the fine old Henrys running. Unless you just
must have auto tune I just can't see spending multiples of thousands of
dollars on an amplifier that most hams will need to send to the manufacturer
for repair. Anyone who is safe working with high voltage and can read a
schematic can repair a Henry.
Dave W7VM
-----Original Message-----
From: Amps [mailto:amps-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Catherine James
Sent: Saturday, December 3, 2016 6:50 PM
To: Bill Turner; Amps group
Subject: Re: [Amps] The cost of amplifiers, radios
Yes, but usually the "way that is found" is to get on the air with cheaper
gear. Hence the proliferation of Ameritron equipment, used SB-200s, etc.
I've never heard of a ham getting a second job to move up from an AL-80B to
a Henry. (Remember that this thread started with discussion of $9,000 amps
and $13,000 radios.)
I enjoy building kits, and I'd like to do more homebrew. But I'm an
electronics builder, not a sheet-metal worker. I can solder, drill holes, do
screws and bolts, and troubleshoot, but not bend sheet metal, machine heat
sinks, cut carefully shaped holes for meters, and stuff like that. And I'm
not particularly interested in learning those skills. My time is limited and
I have to choose where to spend it.
So my homebrew is more likely to be QRP transceivers bread-boarded on the
desk, not an HF amplifier. Instead, I'll repair used amps, which lets me
focus on the interesting part.
Scrounging has never worked well for me. Once in a while I get lucky, but I
don't typically find the key items like power transformers, heavy duty
cases, or high-power tubes. Even in the QRP area, a surprising amount of the
cost is in the metal case.
73,
Cathy
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