Dave Made m400 or Xforce TNT T1200LD-M

[bassman21]

I love all the bait you throw out there to start a big argument and flame war. Sorry not taking it. I'm an emotionally happy person, not some old fart that probably hasn't gotten any from his wife in 15 years and who's kids probably never come see him. You are clearly a person that isn't happy unless you have some drama in your life. You clearly think you're better than everyone else. I'm out of here. F off.

Thanks again to everyone that was respectful.

 

[fourstringburn]

You are the one who thinks your smarter than everyone else claiming to have an above average IQ, yet you can''t respond back with any intelligence.

You have been called out for your wrong information and you can't stand it so you stoop to name calling.

Now the real you is exposed for all to see.

 

[jessejamesdallas]

After reading the last few posts...I think I'm going to run out to the truck and fire up my Cobra 18, and my Palomar 450HD with my 2' Firestick antenna, and just walk all over the local Base Stations in the area with their 5 element beams up on 50' towers...


first I need to go put on my flame-suit tho....

 

[9C1Driver]

Well, you are comparing apples and plums.
1x4 targeting an honest 500 watts vs a 2x6 targeting 750 watts (PEP).
I know they will do more, but at the end of they day the math is the same.

I can't find a price on the davemade but the difference between a TNT 1x4 and 2x6 is $265. Add the additional cost of the higher amperage power supply and antenna/station work, that seems a lot for a little. But hey, that is your decision.

Personal experience is that there have been very few times where 600 watts has made a significant difference over 320 watts - but if you are chasing the edges it can matter - but it comes at a price.

I can't say which, if either, is a better builder but I have never heard anything about a davemade being used on sideband. I have heard TNT amps on SSB channels and not been offended.

If you have the cash, go big. You can always dial it back. Again, it goes back to what you want to accomplish and how much work you want to put into the system.

Very good post. If I was an AM'er I would run that Davemade at 14 volts and drive it to 500-600 watts. It would last a long time and sound good like that. Expecting 1000 honest good sounding watts is rediculous.

Since I talk mostly SSB these days I would buy the TnT, but not one with a driver stage. Even better yet I would look for a nice regulated AB box and not drive the piss out of it.

 

[222DBFL]

Or keep the Dave Made, send it to a good amp guy, have the driver stage removed and have it made into a class AB bias amp with thermal tracking and a good bias circuit and smooth key up circuit as well if you plan to use for SSB any. If you are just gonna stick with AM, leave it be and do what I have been saying as well as others, cut the power back to about 500-600 watts max. and let that amp live for a lot longer.

 

[TB01]

Alright girls all drama aside...... if you wanna talk with class you gotta get the glass!! #tubelife

Okay, carry on

 

[psycho]

I heard this many a time......."There ain't no audio like Davemade audio" .

 

[bassman21]

I heard this many a time......."There ain't no audio like Davemade audio" .

Funny you mentioned that. I just did a recording from my base and the audio is insane. It's twice to three times as loud as my Texas Star. I like to sound clean, so I actually brought my carrier up a bit. No wonder I have been getting so much more attention.

 

[9C1Driver]

What you probably heard was the difference between regular loud audio Vs blarring class C audio.

 

[222DBFL]

What are you keying up at wattage wise?

 

[bassman21]

Dead keying 140 and swinging to 700.

 

[psycho]

What are you keying up at wattage wise?

My 5 pill does 200 swing 800 watts on a good peak meter. If I put a Davemade sticker on the front of the same amp, 200 swing 1200 watts peak. So many people who use Davemade do have a tendency to exaggerate.

 

[9C1Driver]

My 5 pill does 200 swing 800 watts on a good peak meter. If I put a Davemade sticker on the front of the same amp, 200 swing 1200 watts peak. So many people who use Davemade do have a tendency to exaggerate.

That sticker makes it 3x louder too.

 

[543_Dallas]

Those kinds of amps were originally built to be used in competition and ran at around 20 volts. Being clean commercial quality amps was not of any concern. People who call BS on the wattage simply haven't tried or owned one...they just regurgitate BS they read online or preach a spec sheet they barely comprehend. A Toshiba 2879 will will take some abuse. It doesn't matter who's name is on the front of the case as long as the builder of the amp understood what he was doing. If you think you're going to get these crazy numbers and rag chew you're in for an expensive surprise.

 

[222DBFL]

543 you nailed it. That is what I have been getting at. Yes the amp will do 1kw or more I get that, so will my older tnt 600 HD with Toshiba 2879's, but like you said, driving it like that is sending it to an early retirement. Spec sheets and bs aside, that amp should be run at about 5-600 watts max with a max carrier of about 100 watts. Or am I off base here?? Like you said, getting those inflated numbers isnt hard to do, but at what cost?? I know Toshiba 2879's ain't cheap anymore and are becoming harder to come by. I tried to explain this many, many posts ago but I suppose I don't know shit. Like I told the poster, it's your amp, do with it as you will. I know if it were my amp I wouldn't be driving the shit out of it. Not worth the extra watts that no one will ever notice on the receiving end. Use a low powered single final radio that hasn't been hacked up and had swing kits and clipped limiters and such with that amp and it will last a long time. Or you can keep on with how it is being used now and maybe soon we will see a thread asking where to get Toshiba 2879's. JMO.