Old Amp, But Is It HomeMade?

Wow, a 2 year old thread. So much has changed since then I hardly know where to begin. The Crusader went dead. I had new pills put in it, used it a few days and it just never did perform. It is sitting on the floor in a corner, covered by other stuff.

I have 4 other amps, all sitting on shelves, not being used. They are all low drive amps, and either have something wrong with them, or are now useless to me since I got rid of the junk I was using to drive them. For anyone who reads this, take a word of advise. Get away from cheap CB junk radios and buy a nice old Kenwood, Yaesu or icom HF rig to use and convert it to 11m. The quality of these rigs far surpasses anything any CB manufacturer builds and they all put out at at least 100W barefoot.

I have 2 Yaesu's and a Kenwood TS-430s. I use the Yaesu's daily, an old 101EE tube final radio that works flawlessly and a 757 GXII. I also have a FL-2100b that puts out 500W+ anytime I turn it on. They cost a bit more, but it's money well spent. I quit spending my money on junk that I just was not happy with. Ask anyone with a HF rig and see what they say.

Don't be shy about buying another 101E. They were the best model, and came with the processor installed. I held off at least a year cause of all the stories about tube cost and being hard to find. You can still get them though and I would not put it past someone to start making them again, or a good replacement. The big 572B tubes in the amps are also set for a new production run. You just can't keep a good rig down. However, both 101E or the FL 2100B tubes will probably outlast me, so I no longer worry about it.

The FL 2100b was made for the 101 series radios though and it does work much better behind my 101EE than driven by the 757 GXII. You need to get an interface for the 757, numbered yaesu Relay Box, FRB-757. You can find them on E-bay cheap, or get a new one from Ameritron, here. You can even use a foot switch.