The first hundred watts will be your biggest gain, and 500 watts will be the beginning of diminishing returns.
https://cbradiomagazine.com/power-in-perspective/
https://cbradiomagazine.com/power-in-perspective/
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Hello! RM Italy KL 503 HD vs 505v thoughts?
- Thread starter arudlang
- Start date
I had a tech tell me that those amps are over rated and don't really put out 500 watts. I forget what it was but only about 300. My KL-300 P only does about 170 watts on Side band. In other forums they verify what Shadetree Mechanic has said that 100 watts shows the biggest gain or Bang for the Buck. On my GE Super base with my KL-300 P I contacted Saskatchewan Canada once from N/E PA but haven't had much time to explore further. My KL 200 P use to do South East Canada, Florida, Louisiana, and out to Wisconsin so I feel I got the most Bang for the Buck with that. Everybody has to decide for themself where they want to go because we all have different size Wallets.
What RM Italy are you referring to that puts out 500 watts? The RM Italy 703 does output 500 watts. The 503HD never claimed to put out 500 watts the spec sheet says 300. It does in fact put out 300 watts.
Tech Talk…hahaha they spew more BS than Joe Biden.
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And it's great for building doghouses. too!
You gotta find some way to get those three extra watts. They might make all the difference.
Build a smaller Dog House should do it…LOL
Three (3) watts is a LOT….if you’re QRP that is…LOL
Three (3) watts is a LOT….if you’re QRP that is…LOL
Calling yourself 503 is Miss Leading to a person with no experience if you only do 300. That is BS !
Let the Buyer Beware
Let the Buyer Beware
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Great for building or did you mean great for for heating doghouses? If I spend too much money I'm going to need something to heat mine when I get kicked out... Pretty cold here in Minnesota after all!
I just can't find enough info to come to a solid conclusion. Some things I read suggest that just because the 505v technically covers a bunch of ham frequencies doesn't mean it will be useful in the slightest in those areas because its not a high enough quality amp. Other things I read lead me to believe it could potentially be useful for ham, but nothing definitive and doesn't sound like its a popular pick for many.
Spending an extra $100 to go from 503 HD to 505v is money wasted if I'll never be able to effectively use it for anything other than 11m. But then why do they even make the 505v? Who is that marketed for?
The 503 uses mosfets and I believe the 505 uses transitors(pills). That can usually sway people from one to the other. Some like the transistors because they usually don’t run as hot. That’s what I read and not from personal experience.
The only quote “Ham radio review” I could find is at the following link. IMHO do the 503HD in the interim while waiting to secure you ham license.
The Ameritron amps tend to do the ham bands and 11 meters well. There are others such as my ACOM 2000P which covered all bands except 160m and 6m…at a cost of 7K. Of course Heathkit SB220 and Yaesu FL2100’s do 11 as well for a much lower cost.
Also don’t forget you’ll need a power supply capable of running an RM Italy or any other mobile type amplifier
https://forums.qrz.com/index.php?th...l-506-hf-or-kl-505v-linear-amplifiers.696972/
The Ameritron amps tend to do the ham bands and 11 meters well. There are others such as my ACOM 2000P which covered all bands except 160m and 6m…at a cost of 7K. Of course Heathkit SB220 and Yaesu FL2100’s do 11 as well for a much lower cost.
Also don’t forget you’ll need a power supply capable of running an RM Italy or any other mobile type amplifier
https://forums.qrz.com/index.php?th...l-506-hf-or-kl-505v-linear-amplifiers.696972/
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Ohhhhh lightbulb moment! So there is a distinguishing design difference between these amps. It makes much more sense. I am not educated on the mosfet vs BJT debate. Your comment spun me off to google searching through 10 tabs of information, but I can't find any solid consensus on whether a mosfet amp is going to be better or worse for my purposes than a BJT amp.
If anyone wants to weigh in on that, I'd request we *try* to focus on mosfet vs BJT within the scope of RM Italy's two products I'm looking at and their reputation/perceived design and skills/capabilities. Not talking about whether a hypothetical home built amp would be better off using fets of BJTs, trying to figure out if RM Italy's two amps (503 and 505v) can be effectively differentiated based on the provided information about their design.
The higher cost of the 505v suggests that *should* be a better product but... better in what way? Does fets vs BJT tell us anything about which one will work better? Have cleaner/more stable signal? Last longer?
In trying (and failing) to become a 10 minute google expert I thought I read something to the effect that the BJTs would tend to have a longer life than mosfets. I can justify spending more money if it increases the likelihood of a longer period of service before it needs work/repairs.
It also seems likely that this design difference will have an effect on which one gets closer to its advertised power output, sounded like the mosfet design is more likely to get upwards of its 300 watt advertised output, if I understood what I read correctly.
Problem is everything I read suggested that it is so heavily dependent on the rest of the build and design quality that you can't make a blanket statement like "fets are better than BJTs". More like "A great designed mosfet amp is better than a poor quality BJT amp, but a really well made BJT amp could come out on top in certain aspects". Aspects which I can't recall now.
I keep going back and forth on this. Earlier today there was GREAT conversation going on via skip, I could hear lots of conversations crystal clear and they were conversations worth getting in on, but I couldn't reach anybody. Go upstairs and each lunch, come back down and turn the radio on again and now its back to some idiot screaming repeated nonsense so blown out and overmodulated you can't even tell what he's saying but he just keeps saying it over, and over, and over, and over, bleeding 3 channels in either direction to boot, the stock scanning function of my radio can't skip over it so no more scanning for legitimate contacts until that idiot with more watts than brain cells plays himself out.
When I finish my custom scanner add-on I'll be able to bypass moron traffic to find more of the good contacts and conversations. Still won't be able to reach anyone I find reliably unless I get this amp business sorted out.
500W on rmitaly specs are referring to power consumption from power supply. Not output power xD
As far as making the wife mad thingy, I use this logic.
From personal use. Expect just over 200 watts clear output with the HD 503. It will do more. It’s best not to push it near max. It will distort. Dave at DTB put it on the spectrum analyzer paired to my TR696 FD1. It’s pretty close to stock tune. 4 watt DK. I will give a clear 200 on AM and SSB. The TR696 FD1 used to have the Top Gun Modulator in, it was cleaner on spectrum analyzer without the Top Gun Mod. Not saying anything negative about the Top Gun Mod. The radio still sounded good. My ear is not digital. Go for the HD503 just do not expect what the box says.
I have personal experience with the 505V. I have owned my amplifier for 5 years and it is ideal for any standard single final CB radio use. I have driven it with several radios with between 2 watt dead key to a 4 watt dead key. I run mine at 1/2 the rated output power and the output signal is clean. The amplifier has two fans operating on transmit and this keeps the amplifier extremely cool in winter and barely warm in summer and will handle longer overs without overheating. The wide frequency response is handy but you will probably only ever use it between 25-30 MHz. By the time you are using the lower ham bands if you go that way you will probably looking at a versatile ham dedicated radio tube amp. Go for the 505V and run it at half power and don't worry about a 4 watt dead key, it will work well, sound clear and last a long time if looked after. Oh yes, and the pre-amp works well too!.