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Carl Built
- Thread starter Staybolt
- Start date
I heard he got sick I think over a year ago. That was second hand information.
A good friend of mine wanted me to ride with him to the shop because he had an appointment to replace the driver in a 1x4. That was at least two or more years ago. About one hour drive from me in the town of Archdale, NC.
A good friend of mine wanted me to ride with him to the shop because he had an appointment to replace the driver in a 1x4. That was at least two or more years ago. About one hour drive from me in the town of Archdale, NC.
S&W357
$upporting Member KO4RJD....WDX-556
I have a Carlbuilt 400hd (SSB bias) that I run on 14.5 volts driving it with a AT-5555n ii ( 70 watts peak). With a 4 watt dead key I get about 80-100 watt DK swing to 550-600 peak (bird) with crystal clear modulation.
Very happy with my Carlbuilt amp. Looks like his shop is back open with a small lead time.
Very happy with my Carlbuilt amp. Looks like his shop is back open with a small lead time.
My brother is running my 400-12hd with bias from Carl.
Built back in 2002 , still working.
73
Jeff
I am considering ordering the 400HD to run with my 5555N II as a base. I have a Powermax PS4-120 amp power supply so amperage-wise I should be good. Its voltage output is adjustable.
Are you running yours as a base or mobile? If a base, are you using a single PSU for both or one for the AT-5555N II at 13.8-ish volts and another for the Carlbuilt running at 14.5 volts? Anytone says the radio can use 13.8 DC ±20% so in theory it should be safe at 14.5 volts.
Your modulation is crystal-clear on both SSB and AM as you are driving it now?
I had a 400 HD from Carl built about 3 months ago that wouldn't key up with the Stryker 955 because of a high input SWR. No matter what the radio ----> amp coax length was, my radio would angrily beep and refuse to key up. Called Carl and back it went without any hassle. Maybe the amp was a lemon, but at least the customer service was good.
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I run the 400hd( as a base amp) on a 100 amp power supply (3x) 6 volt server supplies each set to 4.83 =14.5vdc @100 amps. My supply dips to 14.4 when I transmit on SSB. I run the Anytone At-5555n ii on a seperate 50 amp switcher supply @ 14.3 volts. Most of my DX is done on SSB but I get great reports on AM also. As a side note my AT-5555n ii was tuned by Scott's radio in Michigan.
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I heard a simular story from someone else with the AT-5555. My input match is 1.2 until I get to the very edge of the band with my antenna.
Shadetree Mechanic
Delaware Base Station 808
I have a Carl built 400hd with bias, run it with my 955 v2. Amp powered with a Powermax pm3-100, radio powered with Megawatt 30A. One hundred watt carrier, swinging to 600 peak. Walks the dog for sure.
My Carl Built biased HD400 is run at 150 carrier, 650pep. Pulls around 80 amps on A.M., and over 110 amps on SSB, 45 pep drive on both A.M. and SSB. It's been run this way for over a year and never puts off much heat, even when I get really long winded.
A local amp builder friend of mine has fixed a few of these amps that were Carlbuilt. They would work fine on a single final bipolar radio, but with a Stryker 955 high input just like you described.
The amp builder said he had to use a blocking cap to fix it. He said like the way Texas Star uses blocking caps. Went right over my head!