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Which is better?

BJ radionut said:
:)

Everybody has to be loud somewhere:LOL:
Merry Christmas-Happy New Year
All the Best
Gary
Click to expand...


Yup now ones I heard lower than others today were clear and could be heard at same plume level. Was neat to hear.


With that said.



Merry Christmas to you and all here, and have a very very merry one and a great and happy New Year too.
 
Heavy Metal said:
i know I am going to get pounded in this but.

Which is better and why?

Tube or solid state?

110v vs 240v

Pro vs Con


Which ones are best band for the buck vs power
Or
What's solid performer and all I know sometimes going cheap you get what you pay for, but sometimes that's is not good and it's best to wait and save for quality.


And what's min max watts to drive them and all.


And what's a good upto date one that has capability of all bands including 6m as well ect.


Am very curious, read so much just looking for opinions here with some of these newer amps comming out.
Click to expand...

If you can afford an Aplha 9500 you wouldn't need to ask all these questions.

Buy what you can afford. I use a Yaesu FL2100B. 600W out 240V and works fantastic and didn't break the bank. If money is no option, buy an Alpha or OM3500 and crush the band.

Driving power varies with amp. A little Google'ing and you will learn a lot.
 
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VE3TMT said:
If you can afford an Aplha 9500 you wouldn't need to ask all these questions.

Buy what you can afford. I use a Yaesu FL2100B. 600W out 240V and works fantastic and didn't break the bank. If money is no option, buy an Alpha or OM3500 and crush the band.

Driving power varies with amp. A little Google'ing and you will learn a lot.
Click to expand...




Sure no buggy but first need to win the lotto lol


Wow I see what you mean about it.
 
That's pretty much all I use on 75/40/20m...
Size wise not as big as you might think. Basically (2) dipoles.
Each dipole is 62 ft either side of center and the spacing is 34 ft.
They are feed 180 deg out of phase....meaning when I feed it at the center (17 ft) I gave the 300 ohm line going to the front dipole a full twist...the back dipole I kept the 300 ohm line flat with the support rope.
The support ropes:
#1. Goes from tower to tree straight back to West and just ty-rap the insulators to the support rope and then tape them up good(ty-raps) so they don't slip on the rope...

The Ends which go South: Another rope between 2 trees and slip the rope through the ends of those insulators and again ty-rap them to the rope so they don't slip(this keeps the spacing on the ends at the 34 ft.

Lastly the Ends which go North: I used the chain link fence...stood up (2) 20 ft. fence rails poles and used #10 ga. wire to tie them off to the fence supports put a "EYE" bolt in the top of each and run the ropes through those and tied them to the fence...
Done deal!
http://www.bvarc.org/Tech/CompactW8JKBeam-K5LJ.pdf

The link above is what started this creation...on page 5 where you see the drawings of the antenna the TOP drawing is the one I used.
On the antenna analyzer using a random length of 300 ohm line to my shack here's what happens:

3.500 Mhz....50 Ohms R...Zero X
3.865 Mhz....200 Ohms R....Zero X
4.000 Mhz....350 Ohms R....75-X

Don't ask the theory on how I got there....I just built it and that's what happened!
All I know is the damn thing works!
And loads Great with my tuner also on 40/20/17m ...
Gets real RF crazy on 15/10m meters, most likely due to the radiation resistance being so low (less than 10 Ohms)

So Good Luck...I love it!
I wish it was up at like 60-70 ft and not 40- 45 ft.
OH yes the L4B in my pictures is what I use...Just wait and see what #2 L4B does when I get it done!;)
All the Best
Gary
 
BJ radionut said:
That's pretty much all I use on 75/40/20m...They are feed 180 deg out of phase....meaning when I feed it at the center (17 ft) I gave the 300 ohm line going to the front dipole a full twist...the back dipole I kept the 300 ohm line flat with the support rope....
And loads Great with my tuner also on 40/20/17m ...
So Good Luck...I love it!
Gary
Click to expand...
thanks
2 questions...
I built a 60 meter resonant flat top dipole @ 60 feet using 450 ohm (wireman) ladder line, when it rains the LL doesn't like it and the VSWR goes nuts.

1. does your 300 ohm line have issues with rain?

2. I think you meant to say you gave the 300 ohm line a half twist between the elements.

oops, ...make that 3 questions,.... @ 40 - 45 feet do you see any bi-directional patterns?

I would have to run the elements East/West ,..so wouldn't the pattern be a figure 8 to the North/South?
 
DainBramage said:
1. does your 300 ohm line have issues with rain?
Click to expand...

I am using the 300 Ohm sold by DX Engineering...Much better than the 450 LL in wet conditions, only need to "tweak" it when raining. Seems also to be very stable, wide bandwith. Tune at 3865 and can go from 3840- 3900 and never have to "tweak" it.
Reminds me of the BELDEN kw twin lead they sold for Military use back in the 70- 80's.
I like it much better. I used (2) of DX Eng. 80-10m Doublet kits to build it and had a big chunk of the 300 line left over(y) Those "T" bar insulators are GREAT!

DainBramage said:
2. I think you meant to say you gave the 300 ohm line a half twist between the elements.
Click to expand...

YEP your right...Half twist!:confused:

DainBramage said:
40 - 45 feet do you see any bi-directional patterns?
Click to expand...

Yes, even at 40-45 ft it's HOT West & East (best West)....
However HOT off the corners also SW to NE and NW to SE...(ask Wavrider how it gets into FLA. from IND.)
BIG on 40 meters down under(ask VK rules!) and HOT into Europe and Northern Russia.(Smokes into Europe /Africa on 17m!!!)
I think if it was higher I would lose the corners, but maybe not?

Never run it through the EZNEC or any other antenna software, but be interesting to see!

Well that's the skinny...Good Luck, if you try one!
I would be interested in your perspective, after you've had it up 3-4 months down the log:)
All the Best
Gary
 
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BJ definitely lumps a big signal into N. Florida.
Receives real well also as we can qso on 75 meters and I am only using 100 watts some times.
 
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What about the

Ameritron al-572? Which varients equivalent to 80b

Ameritron al-800 or f? One Eimac®
3CX800A7 tubes Or One import
3CX800A7 tubes

Ameritron al-800 h or hf? Two Eimac®
3CX800A7 tubes Or Two import
3CX800A7 tubes


Ameritron al-80b


Which of these or others that are like the al-80b and in same price range and best for the buck and which one is best as far as tubes go and why?


Another words which tubes are better out of the above mentioned as well, In that they last longer work/perform better ect.



Curious

Thanks



 
Last edited:
Initial cost for tube amps for a base can be cheaper if your running 1kw or less since you don't need a big power supply like you do for solid state. Most kilowatt tube amps should be able to run on 110 volts on non-continuous carrier modes. Once you get over 1kw, then you need (and should) run it on 220 volts which goes for both amps so that cost of running 220 to your shack needs to be considered.

I prefer solid state because I like the fact that the newer ones can be interfaced with most modern HF rigs for auto band switching. With my legal limit tuner with amplifier bypass, I can hit the tune button on my radio and tune the antenna(sort of speak) with the amp bypassed until the tune cycle is complete then be ready to go on the selected band.

I may open a can of worms for this, but as far as audio quality? I think it is in peoples mind which sounds better.

I hear plenty of amplified radios broadcasting daily and it is indistinguishable to tell if one is a tube and one is solid state. Once you find out which one it is though, then your personal preferences kick in and take over.

Reason why? because our radios aren't true HI-Fidelity and were never meant to be. I know seeing those big glowing tubes is a treat and I can understand that.

In the audiophile world, HI-Fi tube amps ( if they are even still being made) tubes can make a big difference. One reason for this is tubes can be driven to a higher level before clipping and distortion kicks in where solid state amps can sound terrible when driven hard then clip and can eventually fail.

I'm also a Bass player and used to play a lot in rock bands and still do when I have time. I run tube preamps but final out to solid state for amplification. This hybrid combo gives me the best of both worlds. Fast transients for the low frequencies from the solid state amp and delicate and articulate highs that tubes are known for on the high frequency range.

Is tubes really better than solid state sound wise on HF radio? If we could do a blindfold test with at least 10 people maybe the consensus will determine so.
 
fourstringburn said:
Initial cost for tube amps for a base can be cheaper if your running 1kw or less since you don't need a big power supply like you do for solid state. Most kilowatt tube amps should be able to run on 110 volts on non-continuous carrier modes. Once you get over 1kw, then you need (and should) run it on 220 volts which goes for both amps so that cost of running 220 to your shack needs to be considered.

I prefer solid state because I like the fact that the newer ones can be interfaced with most modern HF rigs for auto band switching. With my legal limit tuner with amplifier bypass, I can hit the tune button on my radio and tune the antenna(sort of speak) with the amp bypassed until the tune cycle is complete then be ready to go on the selected band.

I may open a can of worms for this, but as far as audio quality? I think it is in peoples mind which sounds better.

I hear plenty of amplified radios broadcasting daily and it is indistinguishable to tell if one is a tube and one is solid state. Once you find out which one it is though, then your personal preferences kick in and take over.

Reason why? because our radios aren't true HI-Fidelity and were never meant to be. I know seeing those big glowing tubes is a treat and I can understand that.

In the audiophile world, HI-Fi tube amps ( if they are even still being made) tubes can make a big difference. One reason for this is tubes can be driven to a higher level before clipping and distortion kicks in where solid state amps can sound terrible when driven hard then clip and can eventually fail.

I'm also a Bass player and used to play a lot in rock bands and still do when I have time. I run tube preamps but final out to solid state for amplification. This hybrid combo gives me the best of both worlds. Fast transients for the low frequencies from the solid state amp and delicate and articulate highs that tubes are known for on the high frequency range.

Is tubes really better than solid state sound wise on HF radio? If we could do a blindfold test with at least 10 people maybe the consensus will determine so.
Click to expand...





What about the tubes themselves used in each which tubes are better or more efficient ect and why?


Example: 572 vs 3CX800A7 vs 3-500ZG ect
Even though the al-80b seems to be best bang for the buck a few hundred more for a 2 tube 3-500zg amp vs 572 tuned amp vs a 3CX800A7 tubed amp?


Pro and cons of tubs used in general.
 

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