Ameritron ALS-600S solid-state amp

N4KZ · #1 10-23-2007, 06:26 PM

Today, I received via UPS a new ALS-600S solid-state amp that I ordered last week from HRO. I haven't hooked it up yet but did open the box. I was surprised -- very pleasantly surprised -- to see that Ameritron has added the remote control and auto bandswitching features to the amp.

You will have to buy the remote and bandswitching interfaces separately since they are options but there are now two connectors on the amp's front panel for these. And the bandswitch has been moved from the top, middle of the front panel down to the lower right corner with a somewhat smaller knob -- and one of the band positions now says "Remote." The two connectors are about where the bandswitch had been before.

Nothing in the Ameritron literature talks about this change -- not in their ads or their web site. I only quickly glanced through the manual but I don't think it said anything either. I'm not sure if there are interfaces yet available for these new features. The company recently added these features to their ALS-500 mobile amp and they have interfaces for it but not sure about the ALS-600 status.

But I'm very pleased to have auto bandswitching on this amp.

73, N4KZ

K5RCD · #2 10-23-2007, 09:15 PM

Wow ! #That is great news. I am hoping to purchase one in the near future.

Does the amp now come with the 10 & 12 meter board installed or does that still need to be purchased separately ?

Did the price go up ? The most recent suggested retail price in their catalog is $1299 with the linear power supply. # #

N4KZ · #3 10-24-2007, 12:50 PM

The amp's price stayed the same. I called Ameritron and was told the ARI-500 interface, which sells for $120, can be used for auto bandswitching.

You must still buy the 12/10 meter board separately and install it yourself.

73, N4KZ

K5RCD · #4 10-24-2007, 02:19 PM

Thanks for the info.

I just gotta get one on those. It sure would be helpful on 40 and 160 meters. #

ou812 · #5 11-02-2007, 06:39 AM

How much is the 10/12m interface???

Cheers!

WZ0O · #6 11-02-2007, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (ou812 @ Nov. 01 2007,23:39)]How much is the 10/12m interface???

Cheers!

$29.99 with a copy of your license.

73

N4KZ · #7 11-02-2007, 06:40 PM

I've had my ALS-600S with remote control and auto bandswitching for 10 days now and am quite pleased. The amp does a great job of protecting itself from operator error and shutting down when needed.

I keep hearing and reading horror stories from other guys with those expensive solid-state amps who have incurred serious damage to the finals or bandpass filters -- and some big repair bills -- when their "other brand" amps were set to the wrong band, for instance. Not so with the ALS-600S.

As others have said, there's a learning curve when using a solid-state amp. SWR and overdrive, two issues that are not quite so critical with tube amps, such as my AL-811H, are suddenly more important with a solid-state amp. I don't have SWR issues with any of my antennas but it's taken me a few days of experimentation to determine the best ALC settings on the amp so as not to cause it to do a fault overload and shut down.

Until I figured out the best drive level and ALC settings, the darn thing wanted to put out 700 watts on 40 and 20 meters. I've turned it back to 600 watts PEP out on SSB and the recommended 500 watts on CW. At those levels, it just purrs along. It worked great during CQWW SSB and I love the no-tune feature. Band changing has never been so much fun or easy and I don't see myself ever going back to a big tube amp.

My next project is to buy the ARI-500 interface and set up everything for auto bandswitching. (I'm still turning the bandswitch manually at this point but it's easy-as-pie compared to retuning a tube amp when changing bands.)

I could see myself someday buying one of the bigger solid-state HF amps with 6 meter coverage but, in the meantime, the little Ameritron strikes me as being an affordable, very decent solid-state amp that just got better with the addition of auto bandswitching.

73, Dave, N4KZ

N2RJ · #8 11-16-2007, 09:07 PM

The competition from Tokyo hy-power must be making MFJ sweat.

W4IOS · #9 11-19-2007, 02:08 AM

That is good news. I was lookiing for a good amp for my mobile station and have been looking at this amp. I need to mount it in the bed of my truck with my ICOM 706 mK IIG radio but havn't done this because of the band switching problem. I didn't want to get out and change bands every time I needed change bands. So this is VERY good news!! Thanks for the info!!!

73s
W4IOS