TNT 250 vs a TS 250, both/ var power ?.

Hard to beat the TS ...










AKA Boozer ....

In theory I guess the class AB Texas Star should be. Problem is the biggest factor in "clean" is you and your radio, not so much the amplifier. If you run a mis-tuned or clipped radio and overdrive the Texas Star it will splatter like heck.

It's a tough choice, the TnT is custom built, class B with a fan, auto SSB, and can handle higher input wattage. The TS250 is class AB and has switched SSB delay which I like.

Go with the TS. It has better a better bias circuit.

Absolute no brainer, buy a TNT 250.......MUCH MORE bang for the buck.

No question . . . The TS . . Just don't overdrive it and keep it running cool . . . AB biasing is superior in the TS over the TNT (B class bias IIRC) . . . No contest if you want 'clean' . . .

Neither one is regulated in terms of bias. Figure which one has the most heatsink. With both having some kind of bias, amp is going to heat up quick. Figure out which one will be easiest to mount a fan to heatsink. That is my suggestion.

Texas Star or old Boomer or Palomar...TNT will get to know the neighbors really good...hehe 73

I'd have to say go with the Texas Star as well.

IMO the TNT has improper R.F. bypassing and actually radiates out of the positive lead as well as the bias going negative which causes distortion, splatter, and also IMD. The texas star is just better. You should see about 260 plus watts out of the texas star at 14.2 volts and set your carrier level for one fourth that level.

yep

MudDuck442 said:

IMO the TNT has improper R.F. bypassing and actually radiates out of the positive lead as well as the bias going negative which causes distortion, splatter, and also IMD. The texas star is just better. You should see about 260 plus watts out of the texas star at 14.2 volts and set your carrier level for one fourth that level.

Click to expand...

couldnt say any better...thats how you will get to know them...

Texas Star is not a ab bias either
its just an amplifier as well it amplifies what you throw into it

North Texas...not to be rude but... you are ABSOLUTELY WRONG here! The texas star is absolutely biased... hence the voltage divider that supplies idle current to the base of the RF power transistors. Most amplifiers use a simple wirewound resistor and a diode to accomplish this. Most are non regulated either. The problem with the setup I just mentioned is that a bias source needs to be a low impedance high current source. That is why with no drive applied they appear to work but wrong value devices cause the bias to go negative often seen in magnaforce / tnt and other style amps. The texas star at least uses a voltage divider which remains more stable. Anyone who can read a schematic or knows what they are looking at on a board layout can clearly see all texas star amps except the modv use this circuit and are therefore biased. Anyways..not going to argue but check out the board or schematic for yourself.

Also this garbage in garbage out "fad" is a bit ridiculous. While it is true that a distorted signal in will result in a distored waveform out...I have heard it incorrectly said that a radio that produces splatter will cause an amplifer to amplify the splatter and the harmonis too....not true!!! What gain do you think a broadband amplifier that uses HF devices will have up at 54mhz or even higher on the 3rd harmonic? Zilch! Nada! None! Not to mention that the circuit isn't tuned or designed for it.

Now that is not to say that a transmitter distorting on negative peaks and clipping won't cause the amplified signal to be a mess too...it will. But if we are to teach and to share information we must make sure we are explaining it correctly.

If you are still undecided try to pull up some internal pictures of both amps........at that point the Texas Star looks cheap and the TNT looks much more heavy duty.
Since both amps cost about the same nowadays, I wouldn't even consider a Texas Star since their amp pricing is unreasonable.