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these guys probaly had other issues like high swrs.no i wouldnt even think
about trying 300 watts into a lil wil .but he would be safe with a kl 40 or ther 1 pill amp
100 watts or less

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magnum delta force
magnum omega force
uniden grant
cobra 2000gtl
sirio z180
skythumper65dx

I ran a 250 watt linear into my K-40 years ago. It fried the matching capacitor of the antenna - which helps even out the SWR at the cost of loss of efficiency. The antenna still works; but it is fussy when trying to set the SWR.

Some of these major-brand entry level antennas weren't built to take any real power. They can melt or fry open - they just weren't engineered to go there. Keep that in mind - so that a minor catastrophy can be avoided...

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What gear do I use?
BASE: Icom IC-718 & GAP Titan DX, Yaesu FT-8800R & Diamond X50A, Magnum OmegaForce S45 & IMAX 2000 w/Astatic D104/TUP9.
MOBILE: Galaxy DX99V & Wilson 1000 w/Astatic D104-M2, Yaesu FT-8800R & Diamond NR-770.
"...The 444 in San Jose CA; the Central Gold Coast..."

Its your equipment...if you want to chance frying $100 amp and $100 radio on a $50 antenna, have fun.

For the price difference between a little wil and a Wilson 1000, its a small price to have more peace of mind. I have only ever read of a handful of Wilson 1000 related issues, most if not all were running beyond the 1k mark.

lil wil's are for barefoot radios, hell even wilson 5k's wont take power. we watched one melt from the coil out with nothing other than an ameritron al-1500. just over 1100 watts it all it held.

wilsons are the only magmount i will run but there not stong enough to handle the abuse of power.

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KC0WRG / cdx001

My first thought is to get a better radio, a Cobra 19 is not much of a performer. Next up a Wilson 1000 might help as well.

If you do try a small amp a KL203 or 200P would be a nice choice. You WILL have to have a shop lower your dead key to 1.5 watts though.

You might check e-bay for a used Uniden 122xl, that would be a much better radio then the Cobra 19 and it has SSB. You will get double or triple your range on SSB compared to what your getting now.

To all the naysayers a Lil Wil can work with up to 200 peak watts. Obviously a K-40 or Wilson 1000 would be better.

A Lil Wil is just a copy stick......receives OK but a very compromised transmit.

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It's a lot cheaper to supercharge a wattmeter than to buy a bigger amplifier!