Varmint SS 600 Solid state Amp

[AudioShockwav]

I have seen 1 in my lifetime years ago, and have never seen another one until now.
This is on E-bay for sale, get a look at the pictures before it is gone.
This was the first time i had see two 5 pill amps combined together in one box.
Take a look at the output transformers on each 4 pill section....
Big like Dave made...way back then.
anyway, have a look while you can nice piece of history there.

VARMINT SS-600 HF LINEAR AMPLIFIER /very RARE - eBay (item 170586442521 end time Jan-06-11 21:43:31 PST)


On edit:
I was commenting on another Maco Amp thread this morning, and came back to this one to see if the pictures are still on E-Bay.
As I am sure Some day they will go away, I hate to see them get lost in the dust of time.
I have copy and pasted the pictures here, so if they do go away, they will be saved here.




73
Jeff

 

[Unit 148]

Jeff,

Now you're going back in time indeed showing that solid state Varmint.

I dealt with the designer Abe Brewer (RIP) out of Porter, OK in the 70's.

I imported Abe's first SSL600 into the UK, drove it with an early Yaesu FT301S (10w version of the 100W 301D) and it rocked driving an oil filled Audio King antenna - do you remember them?

Happy Days & great skip activity.

Unit 148
London, UK

 

[AudioShockwav]

I imported Abe's first SSL600 into the UK, drove it with an early Yaesu FT301S (10w version of the 100W 301D) and it rocked driving an oil filled Audio King antenna - do you remember them?

Yes I do, The first and only time I had ever seen this model varmint was in the back of a little CB shop in central ca, half a life time ago.....I never forgot the image of it, and then I was surfing FleaBay and when i saw the ad, I went "HOLY SHIT"....My wife walked into the room and said What`s wrong?
My reply
Nuthing Hunny, I just found a gateway to Mr Peabodys WayBack Machine

Thanks for the comment!

73
Jeff

 

[MrSuburban]

I laid an eyeball one one of these amps years ago, and have never seen another one until now.
This is on E-bay for sale, get a look at the pictures before it is gone.
This was the first time i had see two 5 pill amps combined together in one box.
Take a look at the output transformers on each 4 pill section....
Big like Dave made...way back then.
anyway, have a look while you can nice piece of history there.

VARMINT SS-600 HF LINEAR AMPLIFIER /very RARE - eBay (item 170586442521 end time Jan-06-11 21:43:31 PST)


73
Jeff

Thats a great find, in Alaska no less. I have never seen the inside of one glad I got to see this.

Thanks for sharing

 

[AudioShockwav]

A very old school 600, it used 2 amp`s built into one unit
1 Transistor driving 4 Transistors X 2 using big combiners with that big squirrel cage fan

This is what the seller posted in the Ad

this amplifier draws 75 amps of curent , when turned on the squirell fan idles, upon key up it accelerates to about 1500 rpm the fan is relatively quiet. as stated with ten watts drive from my ic-703 the p.e.p output is 1146 watts on my radio schack digital wattmeter on twenty meters . the pictures speak for themselves this amp is overbuilt and very rugged driven by two transistors driving 8 transistors. comes with the original wired remote which plugs into the front of the amp.

What surprised me, is it never sold.
Here is the last photo, the Remote that came with the Amp.

73
Jeff

 

[TexasStarRepair]

Great pics ..... I expect one on my bench next week. Any schematics out there?
Anyone work on them if I can't??

reply TexasStarRepair@cox.net

 

[mackmobile43]

Great pics ..... I expect one on my bench next week. Any schematics out there?
Anyone work on them if I can't??

reply TexasStarRepair@cox.net

Looks pretty straight forward point to point construction so it shouldn't be a problem to diagnose.

I asked CCM about this type of combining a few years back and he laughed at me and said it was a silly idea.

 

[DJFondren]

Jeff,

Now you're going back in time indeed showing that solid state Varmint.

I dealt with the designer Abe Brewer (RIP) out of Porter, OK in the 70's.

I imported Abe's first SSL600 into the UK, drove it with an early Yaesu FT301S (10w version of the 100W 301D) and it rocked driving an oil filled Audio King antenna - do you remember them?

Happy Days & great skip activity.

Unit 148
London, UK

Hello. I have the Varmint SS600 that was seen on eBay some time ago.
I see you imported the Varmint SS 600 amp to the UK.
I need any information on them that you might have.
(Schematics?)
Any help will be most appreciated.
Thank you.
Larry Stafford
Tucson, AZ

 

[AudioShockwav]

I know of no known Schematics for the 600 Solid State Amp.
It is hard to find much info on this amp as they were really rare.



73
Jeff

 

[AudioShockwav]

Bump for further discussion

73
Jeff

 

[Enterprise312ok]

Saving knowledge before its lost to history, new almost never means better in my opinion.

 

[AudioShockwav]

Saving knowledge before its lost to history, new almost never means better in my opinion.

I don't think I will ever see another 600 built like that.
You guys can post pictures of other Varmit solid state amps in this thread.

73
Jeff

 

[nomadradio]

Whups! Got distracted today, didn't dig out the 2-transistor Varmint SSL100 base amp. Got heavy traffic scheduled for tomorrow, too.

73

 

[AudioShockwav]

No worries, I just find it interesting that they were using large core output transformers before the "comp" builders started doing it.
They are also the only ones I have ever seen build 2 1×4 amps and combine them into one case.
Thanks Nomad.

73
Jeff

 

[Enterprise312ok]

Ok here are some varmint mobile amp pictures. According to the shop owner where I am countinuing the craft Abe Brewer told him he used the large output transformer because they are narrow banded and he didin't have to tune them as much with capacitors.