Tony, please don't take this wrong. But you have an amp made by a company still in business where as many other companies have gone out of business and ," you don't know where to send it"? Do you think this company stayed in business by doing people wrong or charging to much? And who better to look at what you got than the people that built it? Thats what they do every day. I'm not saying there are not others out there that may can do this job maybe cheaper and even better. But finding them is one thing. I would think that if anyone the original company might do a better job. And though it may be more than others I'm sure it would be fixed right and carry some warranty. Will the others you look for offer this.
You have to be kidding! After many local hams turned down my request to take a look at an AL80 they insisted to ship to Ameritron. I got it down there and after about a month (they said 2 weeks) I got a call saying it was fixed except they could not get the Xmit light to work. I asked him what the problem was and he said he replaced the bulb and it does not work. That was the extent of his "repair". I asked him if the circuit was working and that there was power being sent to the bulb socket and he said he did not check that, he only replaced the bulb.
I asked why he did not check to see if power was being sent to the socket and he said something about how this was an old amplifier and they did not have any sockets like that anymore or and models to look at when repairing them. What ever that meant.
His advise was to watch the output meter so I would know I was transmitting and not worry about the light.
So and I excited about sending my Ameritron to Ameritron for repair? No, since they could not fix what should be one of the easiest items on the thing and they did not even test to see if power was being sent to the bulb.
I would like to know how I can have value in an item that is "repaired" but not working as it should?