Inside a messenger 2KW (2) drving 16 pills

[CHARLEYMARBLES]

LOL you guy's crack me up if ya don't like the box just shut up damn

hey Pumphouse looks like a sweet setup to me as long as your happy ignore the clowns

as if anyone of them would throw it out the window if it were their's lol


Chuck

P.S. BTW constructive critisism is good but this sounds more like ENVY if ya see something that might help our friend by all means give him your ideas but to just dog him is wrong. Sorry if I hurt feelings but DAMN !! I thought we was all friends here?

 

[555]

dont get me wrong it s neat looking coversation piece

and not a bad deal for 1,000.00

what looks to me it is 2 boxes

one box had all 2290s
then converted to the 2879s.
then the guy bought another box with all 2879s
like taking steps in the upward direction
then he had them combined.

seen it done plenty of times

the plug hanging out the front is the face plate plug
all the switches on the original faceplate has the on and off switch
and the am/ssb switch
and the other switches
then all them tied into a circuit board
then when the front can be removed and just unplug

 

[-=PEAKABOO=-]

I know I am bringing an old thread but this amplifier was built this way by messenger. i have worked on a few of them like this. The bias design needs a little work. If a pill shorts out and send the voltage from the collector to the base it will back feed to the base of every pill in the amplifier, some of them had a 1n4001 from the input xfmr to ground and some did not. This helped in the case of a short from collector to base.

 

[pumphouse]

I know I am bringing an old thread but this amplifier was built this way by messenger. i have worked on a few of them like this. The bias design needs a little work. If a pill shorts out and send the voltage from the collector to the base it will back feed to the base of every pill in the amplifier, some of them had a 1n4001 from the input xfmr to ground and some did not. This helped in the case of a short from collector to base.

I still have this amp. It was rebuilt by Justin back in 2005. He said he redid the bias to lean more along the lines of class B. I will take some closeup pics and maybe you can see if the abovemention problem was fixed.

Edit: let me know what areas you would like to see close up that is not shown in the pictures on the first page of this thread.

Pump

 

[MisterFatty]

I had one of these, I picked it up from Grayslake ILL. Hamfest, back about 15 years ago, transistors were all dead, paid 50 bucks for it... Quite a monster considering when it was built..

 

[-=PEAKABOO=-]

I still have this amp. It was rebuilt by Justin back in 2005. He said he redid the bias to lean more along the lines of class B. I will take some closeup pics and maybe you can see if the abovemention problem was fixed.

Edit: let me know what areas you would like to see close up that is not shown in the pictures on the first page of this thread.

Pump

The original bias scheme that was in the amplifier would drift into class B after few seconds of keying anyway. At east the couple I have worked on did.

 

[TonyV225]

THAT IS A BIG DADDY THATS FORSURE!! I THOUGHT THIS TEXAS STAR 1600 I HAVE SITTING HERE IN THE BOX IS MORE OF A HANDFUL THEN WHAT I NEED THEN I SEE THIS MONSTER GEEZE LMA!!!!

VERY COOL!!

 

[HiDef]

I still have this amp. It was rebuilt by Justin back in 2005. He said he redid the bias to lean more along the lines of class B. I will take some closeup pics and maybe you can see if the abovemention problem was fixed.

Edit: let me know what areas you would like to see close up that is not shown in the pictures on the first page of this thread.

Pump

You can get a rough idea of the class of operation using an ammeter in series with the amp's power lead. A clamp on type would work too.

 

[-=PEAKABOO=-]

You can get a rough idea of the class of operation using an ammeter in series with the amp's power lead. A clamp on type would work too.

This would a real rough idea.

 

[Cotton Mouth]

That looks pretty close to the Messenger 2K I have. That is a true Messenger as I believe there were only like 100 of the 2K's built or something close to that anyways. There is a lot of time in building a box like this one. I paid I think $1200.00 for the one I have and purchased it through Messenger back in the 80's. I have never had to do anything to mine yet and it still cracks a lot of Heads and Zips a lot of Lips when you need to.

Here is a little eye Candy:


Cotton Mouth.

 

[-=PEAKABOO=-]

Yeah they were decent amplifiers. They even have a decent output filter also. I think I have actually worked on 3 of them and seen maybe 4. One of them I worked on the guy had completely disassembled and brought all of the parts to me in a box. He wanted me to rebuild it with what he call "copper boards" I talked him out of it and put it back together using his parts and mounted the heatsinks side by side with a fan cooled case. I will tell you this. They are a bitch to just simply work on, you have to take all kinds of shit loose just to get to the inside.

 

[pumphouse]

Yeah they were decent amplifiers. They even have a decent output filter also. I think I have actually worked on 3 of them and seen maybe 4. One of them I worked on the guy had completely disassembled and brought all of the parts to me in a box. He wanted me to rebuild it with what he call "copper boards" I talked him out of it and put it back together using his parts and mounted the heatsinks side by side with a fan cooled case. I will tell you this. They are a bitch to just simply work on, you have to take all kinds of shit loose just to get to the inside.

Yes they are a bitch to disassemble. You gotta actually unsolder the coax going to the so239S before you can open it. Also, I retapped ALL the sheet metal screw threads on my messenger 2kw and converted to metric. That way, i wouldnt worry about wearing out the threads or the screw coming loose with the sheet metal type screws.

Just to think that some "amp builders" would use sheet metal screws to secure the pills.....Damn!


Cotton mouth...nice pics! You indeed have a rare messenger box with those 2879's!

Maybe someone could ask Ray or Bennie at cb tricks if they know the actual number of Messenger 2k's ever made.

Pump

 

[Cotton Mouth]

I was told one time how many of the Messenger 2K's were built and I think it was 120 projected and ended up with 117 in wich actually sold, as they were very time consuming to build. I believe they called them the suitcase model because they folded together like a suitcase.

At the time they were building those 2K's there wasn't much demand for them so they stop building them and than I think 8 months or so later after they stop building them is when they started to get a lot of buyers looking to buy the 2K's and they were going to build more again at that time but for some reason they never did, but I think the reason why it took 8 months or so before they had more interest in the 2K's is because it took that long before people started to find out about them and than once they got wind of the 2K's being built and wanted one that was when they stopped building them and never did build anymore after the first run.

I was told the story behind the Messenger 2K's at one time but my memory doesn't recall all the details anymore like it used too. Back than it seemed like the 2K's was by far the best amplifier being built for the Buck anyways and if you wanted better or Bigger than you had to have some deep pockets with a lot of coin in them or a friendly banker to get a loan. The 2K's seemed to be the Cadillac of Amplifiers and the 2K still does a great job when you want to drop the old Hammer.

Cotton Mouth.

 

[357]

16 custom 400-amp alternators

 

[Cotton Mouth]

Well come on tell us a little more than that, quit teasing like that. Shit that there is above and beyond me. Do you think that I could maybe run my 2K from that sub station and get my name called? Hell with my 2K you could shut down 14 out of 16 Alternators and save all the headache and coin it would cost to run all those.

I would like to see pictures of the motor that powers all those when you go to drop the Hammer. Maybe a 4.25 Cat Engine might be able to do it with out killing the engine and burning up the Turbo. I can't see any Gas Burner going to be much help. That would be like running my 2K off that system, not cool.

I will say this though that is a sweet set up and someone was pretty creative in the design of it all, now I would like to see the rest of it all so I can be able to tell if all those Alternators are gutted and hollow out and all show and no go.


Cotton Mouth.