What Band do you plan on using the amp?
"If the HLA 300 is anything like the HLA 150, here is what you can expect:
RM HLA-150 test
RM Italy clearly lies about the power rating. On SSB, the HLA 150 is only clean to about 100 watts, even though they claim it is a 300 watt PEP amplifier. The HLA 150 BARELY makes 155 watts when totally saturated. So if someone splatters enough, they can get 155watts PEP from an HLA150.
It's my experience that a company that boldly lies about the ratings of one thing can't be trusted for anything else.
Since you report 450 watts from an RM-300 that they say is 600 watts, it makes sense to assume they lie about equally for all product ratings. This means to have a reasonably splatter free signal you would probably need to run the RM300 at about 220 watts or so.
73 Tom "
"
That all sounds good, but filters have absolutely NOTHING to do with splatter. I don't know where people get the idea that an output filter can clean up splatter, but it is a pretty silly idea!!!
The RM Italy HLA 150 is very clean for harmonics, but fails FCC radiation limits for the microprocessor inside!!!
The splatter comes because the transistors they use are too small for the power they try to run, and the bias system is not that good. Also it uses 12 volt transistors, bad for higher power levels. To fix the splatter you would need bigger transistors and better bias, NOT a better output filter. The output filter is fine.
You intend to clean up what is not broken, and fix what does not affect splatter...and splatter is the main problem.
I think an RM150 would probably be acceptable as a 120 watt PEP mobile, and a 90 watt home amplifier. This means an RM 300 would probably be good as a 180 watt home amp on a big antenna, and a 240 watt mobile amp on a small antenna.
They are not good amps for splatter. Most 12 volt amps are not.
73 Tom "
Quote:
"What Band do you plan on using the amp?"
Whichever band I want. I have an Extra ticket. And using the amp isn't illegal in the USA. Just manufacturing and distributing them, without certification.
And yes... I am more than familiar with Tom, and his credentials. I have seen a million and one of his posts, reviews, and articles over the years. I've also seen plenty of people with equal (or even better) credentials who disagree with him on some things. If I took everything that he says as absolute, undisputable, gospel hardline fact, I probably would end up running nothing. Just because someone regards themselves as a purist, doesn't mean they are infallible.
I can easily understand why Tom is so vehemently down on these amps, even though other people have tested them with good results, and plenty of other people are absolutely happy with them. After all, Tom has been affiliated with designing for other manufacturers. Of course, there are also those who have never owned one, who are quick to say disparaging things about them, as well as the fact that almost ANY piece of equipment is going to have people who had a bad experience with it. But I happen to know a number of folks that use these all the time, on 40M and 75M and every one of them have nothing but good things to say about them. 2 people I know even went and bought another one.
Maybe that, in itself, wouldn't be solid evidence for quality, but when I repeatedly hear (with my own ears) an amplifier with good, clean audio, and it isn't splattering, or blasting out harmonics, and then when someone affiliated with the designing of a competitive manufacturer's amps, has all kinds of horrendous things to say about it, I have to consider motive and pride into the equation.
I am not saying Tom isn't right about most things, and I'm sure he's a good, decent, and all around nice guy. Only that he isn't infallible, like some people make him out to be. As I said before, there have been plenty of people who have gone rounds with him over the years, and who I personally think won the arguments.
I am not a purist. I also don't have wheelbarrows full of cash to throw around. If an amp has reasonable specs, and sounds excellent on the air, then that is all I am really interested in. There are more people who have tested this amp as reasonable and clean, than there are who have tested it, and found undesireable emissions.
Truth be told, I never intended to get into all of this, considering that my thread was intended to get information on a key line for my amp/radio combination. I also find it somewhat amusing, that with the number of people who really ARE running filthy amps at this forum, that it would be a bone of contention to try and garner info on an amateur amp, with proper biasing, switching, filtering, etc... albeit a foreign manufacturer.
I'm not looking to run a 2KW illegal CB amp here. Or even 1K. Just a puny few hundred, on a filtered and biased amateur amp. I'm licensed to run 1,500. No need for the drama, really. A very good percentage of the amps currently being used on the amateur bands, are not FCC certified, and yet are just as clean (and legal) as those which are. With the very low number of amateur amps that RM Italy exports to this country, I can fully understand why they wouldn't want the expense of certification, even when the product would pass. There are a number of other reasons that I can imagine, which have nothing to do with whether the amp would pass or not.
73's to all...