Help me choose an amp builder for 11 meter mobile.

[w9cll]

Ahh to just be able to go online and get what you want and not worry about if this builder is dead or this one...

 

[Highway Man]

3MADE builds a nice little box

 

[543_Dallas]

Ahh to just be able to go online and get what you want and not worry about if this builder is dead or this one...
View attachment 31960

Did you win the lottery?

 

[jessejamesdallas]

If your still looking...Can't go wrong with Hopper Built...I bought one of his 1x2 mobile box's to run with my President McKinley, and have zero complaints...Get nothing but compliments on the set-up...Also have a Predator 10K single coil antenna to top off the set-up...

I've had Davemades, XForces, fatboys, TS, Palomars, Messengers, and a few other I'm sure I'm missing, but point is, the Hopper Built is just as good, if not better than anything I've ran in the past...Never had a RM Italy tho, and no plans for one either.

 

[w9cll]

Did you win the lottery?

What?!?!? You're not getting me one for Christmas?

 

[543_Dallas]

What?!?!? You're not getting me one for Christmas?

I don't like ramen noodles. I got burned out on those things years ago..

 

[w9cll]

I don't like ramen noodles.

You need to try my Mexican Ramen, Italian Ramen and others.....

 

[Pappas and Beer]

BBI just did a video on a four transistor LDMOS that he made from 4 pallets he bought. It was doing more than 4k watts out. He said it was complicated to build it and combine it. I really think that these may be the way to go, although it cost him like $4k in parts.

 

[darango360]

Under what name? Zapco from the mauldroppers forum took over xforce around 2014.

https://carlbuilt.net/
Carl is building again. He has a Facebook page also.

 

[dave457]

Lol.... What happened to zapco?

 

[543_Dallas]

Lol.... What happened to zapco?

He stopped building amps and returning calls before he stopped taking orders. There were some people trying to get in touch with him through cbradioforum a year or two ago.

 

[tba02]

Ran across a used Cobra 450 XL today locally. Got it for $130. It has a bonding ground strap covering up most of the four transistors. I could see that they were Motorola RRO2 H. Pretty sure they are MRF 454, but that part I could not see. It's in good condition on the outside, and I don't see anything burnt up on the inside.

I want to take it easy on this amp. How much dead key should I run into this amp?

Good choice on the amp. The 450 XL amps came with either MRF454 / SD2290 / SD1446 transistors. All have about the same output. On SSB I use enough input from the radio (usually around 15-18 watts) such that my output is ~300 watts. On AM I set input from the radio (~3 watts if I recall) to get ~150-175 output.

All three types transistors are rated @80 Watts. Taking it easy: 4x80=320 / 2 = 160 watts which is a safe target number.

 

[Pappas and Beer]

I am glad that Carl is starting to build again. I hope he maintains his good quality reputation. He is worth a try for sure.

Is Hopper building in cooperation with ICA? I wonder if those are as good as or the same as Fatboy amps??

 

[Eldorado828]

I'm a little late to this thread but has anyone mentioned Tinman in the bam? I've got 2 different 2 pills he built for me one for ssb and the other strictly am, both are excellent little boxes. I ran texas star for years but the ones you buy today just don't cut it compared to the ones of 15 to 20 years ago. Just thought I'd share my experience with the Tinman amps.

 

[WN3SIX]

Greetings !
If you are not already familiar, check out this guy, he builds extremely nice amplifiers and I highly recommend him, he's a great guy and terrific RF master in my humble opinion ! BBIAMPS.COM
You can view his numerous, terrific videos on YouTube, just do a quick search on BBI Amps on YouTube. Good luck ! 73, Mark

Just getting back into CB radios after a 15 year hiatus. I trucked for over a decade using CB/amp, and had a CB/amp before I trucked. Not a complete noob when it comes to radios and amps, but I am not a technician either.

I use to run a Dave Made M400 1x4 for many years trucking and in my car. Never had a problem out of it. Bought it in Baltimore.

A two pill HG 2SC2290 is all I need. Not doing SSB right now. I bought a President Electronics Ronald radio, and did the conversion myself. The radio does have RF power adjustment, so I can lower the carrier on it.

My first choice would be a Dave Made M80 with two HG2290. I don't see a fan on the M80, so not too sure about it. I have seen remarks that Dave Made are not built like they use to be. Never heard of Hopper Built amps, but I do like the looks of the 2 x HG2290. It has a fan too.

Other than the Dave Made and the Hopper Built, what other two pill amps should I consider? I have seen some of the RM Italy amps with the mosfets, but I don't know anything about those type of amps.