Cheap HF Amplifier any good?

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sickboy
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Cheap HF Amplifier any good?

Post by sickboy »

I picked up a Yaesu FT-817 today and i just wondered if these were worth the asking price?
Or does anyone know of a decent HF amp (new or used) that would be better?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2017-MINIPA-1 ... 1438.l2649
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Buick Mackane
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Re: Cheap HF Amplifier any good?

Post by Buick Mackane »

sickboy wrote: 01 Feb 2018, 00:26 I picked up a Yaesu FT-817 today and i just wondered if these were worth the asking price?
Or does anyone know of a decent HF amp (new or used) that would be better?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2017-MINIPA-1 ... 1438.l2649
I'd avoid that like a dose of aids, Decent quality HF Linears tend to be quite expensive, Take a look round some of the amateur radio retailers websites, You might find a used one at a reasonable price.

Don't waste your cash on that pile of dung :problem:
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sickboy
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Re: Cheap HF Amplifier any good?

Post by sickboy »

I suspected that it might be a waste of cash. Rather than paying big bucks for an amp i might be better selling the radio on, adding a bit of dosh and getting something with better power output and maybe even a built-in tuner. Something like a 450D?
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Re: Cheap HF Amplifier any good?

Post by marvin »

Depends what you are aiming to do with it ! I've got a 450d and used it mobile quite a lot but it became a right royal PITA putting it in the car etc, so I found an IC 703 and put that in as a permanent install with a little extra help for 11m SSB, I keep bidding on 706's & 857's but the latter are still holding strong money, the 450 now sits on the desk at home unused due to s9 of noise.
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Re: Cheap HF Amplifier any good?

Post by black olive »

it probably does the job as a broadband amplifier, but suitable output filtering is equally important to prevent harmonics being transmitted

have a look here

http://www.eham.net/ehamforum/smf/index ... 164.0.html



of course by the time you've sourced/built/boxed an amplifier and low pass filter and got it all set up that small FT-817 isnt a small radio any more.

as said, depends what you want it for but if you want a small 10 watt radio then a better bet is an 857 or alinco DX-70
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