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Palomar 250; good, bad, or ugly?

Robb

Robb

Honorary Member Silent Key
Dec 18, 2008
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Silicon Valley CA, Storm Lake IA
I was looking at the Palomar 250 amp at H&Y Electronics.
Anyone familiar with this unit?
For the price of $110 +shipping; is it all that it is cracked up to be? It uses the SD1446; do these have the WWRF Seal of Approval? Or can one do better for the price? How much input power can you drive with it safely? I have the OmegaForce 10-12 meter radio that I was thinking about using it with along with a Wilson 5000 for the mobile. The OF is supposed to put out as much as 45 watts on its own; would this be too much for this Palomar amp?
 

I haven't looked at that amp in a while, but I can tell you without even looking at the specs that driving it with the radio you're describing is a disaster waiting to happen. That radio is WAAAAY too much drive for a couple of SD1446 transistors. I envision smoke....
 
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Rob KI6USW said:
I was looking at the Palomar 250 amp at H&Y Electronics.
Anyone familiar with this unit?
For the price of $110 +shipping; is it all that it is cracked up to be? It uses the SD1446; do these have the WWRF Seal of Approval? Or can one do better for the price? How much input power can you drive with it safely? I have the OmegaForce 10-12 meter radio that I was thinking about using it with along with a Wilson 5000 for the mobile. The OF is supposed to put out as much as 45 watts on its own; would this be too much for this Palomar amp?
Click to expand...

I sure wouldn't give that yard sale amplifier any seal of approval. The Omega force would smoke the final transistors in that amp like a cheap cigar. Obviously with the equpiment listed, you must have a bit of disposable income........why go cheap like that????? Get a Texas Star amp at a minimum.
 
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OK OK OK ...
So the OmegaForce wouldn't be the right choice for this Palomar 250.
Since I also have a Ranger TR-696FD-1, I'll consider this Palomar for it in the mobile.
I've decided to keep the OmegaForce for the base, as it is really a fantastic radio for that - and works barefoot really well.
So - the Palomar 250 and the TR-696FD-1 is a good working comination - then?
Would YOU do it this way???
 
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I think you should get a Texas Star for the mobile. A lot of those Palomars are knockoffs of knockoffs. One builder might make a pretty decent one with bias for SSB, while another will make cheap copies which are class C junk.

Not much you can do to make sure you are getting one of the "good" ones, so why take a chance? Texas Stars are not the greatest, but they are a good, biased amp for 10/11 meters, and they have a great warranty and support.
 
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Get something with either B or AB bias. Bulletproof makes a nice AB lower priced amplifier, they have three models of 2 pills, 1446's, 2290's and 2879's. A Texas Star 250 or 350 is the tried and true, or the new TnT by X-Force are class B with pre-amps.
 
9C1Driver said:
Get something with either B or AB bias. Bulletproof makes a nice AB lower priced amplifier, they have three models of 2 pills, 1446's, 2290's and 2879's. A Texas Star 250 or 350 is the tried and true, or the new TnT by X-Force are class B with pre-amps.
Click to expand...
eeeeewwwwww!
 
I just recenlty traded for one of these and when i looked on the inside i noticed the circuit board has a space in front appears to be reserved for a AM/SSB switch and relay that ofcoarse is not there.
Im just curious of this type of circuitry if its common to see in other brands of solid state liniears or is this another cheap teaser ? An invitation towards a guaranteed failure saying, i dare you to add ssb to this kicker and ill blow your house up as soon as you key down. Lol
 
They made so many different 2 pill amplifiers that someone stamped Palomar on the front you will probably have to post a picture. That said most have an auto SSB delay. If there is a switch on the front that says AM-FM / SSB then those have a switched delay. A delay circuit is the only thing added to an amplifier to make it function on SSB. Many Palomar amplifiers are class C which is not great for SSB use. A class AB or B would work best for SSB use.
 
So is there anything good to be said about a plane jane palomar 250 that actually works ? Also like to know if theres any known modifications that would improve the amplifier in any way possible ?
 
This is probably the closest you'll get to a diagram of your amplifier.

https://cbtricks.org/Amp/palomar_other/250R 600p landscape B.gif

Production of these amplifiers was done on the sly, usually by a contractor. Not by the folks who put a name on it and sold them wholesale.

Production changes are inevitable, but you won't find records of those. And if the vendor who built them changes, anything inside might be different.

73
 
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