AL-1500 METER ISSUE

[W1QJ]

Problem solved!!!! I called Ameritron Tech Service and it took the tech about 5 seconds to tell me what was wrong. My opinion of their tech service just went up. The tech said, "hummm, that is unusual" then a pause. Then he said "the only thing that could cause my problem was the wires going from the meter board to the antenna relay in back of the rig." I am using a QSK Master by WX0B and he said somehow that line was shorted to ground or there was a bad relay in the external QSK box. I jiggled the wires going into the amp, took the male plug out of the back of the QSK box and looked at it and switched the QSK box on and off and the problem went away. I think it was that male plug had worked loose.
Any way thanks to all for the help and hopefully this experience will help others in the future. This is not my first experience with those small stero plugs. If they are not in just the right place things will not work.

Ummmm.....where was that "little" tidbit of information in your original statement? I mean about using an external QSK box?

[AG6K]

This could be a couple of things, 1. It could be an issue with the tube itself ... ...

 Indeed. Positive grid-I could be caused by leakage inside the tube. I would use a high-potential tester to perform the Funderberg go/d-sputter test I would install a glitch-R in the HV+ and install a low-Q VHF/UHF suppressor to reduce the 8877's substantial high frequency amplification.

[N3JBH]

Where can the Op get a low-Q VHF/UHF suppressor at ??? Rich

http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php...to-a-amp/page7

[AG6K]

Where can the Op get a low-Q VHF/UHF suppressor at ??? Rich

http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php...to-a-amp/page7

 An 8877's suppressor can be made from Cu or Ag wire if one has access to resistors that have <15nH that will dissipate c. 45w @28MHz. [see "Calculating Power Dissipation in Parasitic-Suppressor Resistors", March, 1989 QST, • For the same Q @ 100MHz, if the suppressor's L is made from #22awg resistance-wire, the resistor dissipation is c 55% of what it would be with Cu wire.