What amp to buy?

What bands do you plan to run it on?

What MODES??

I voted AL-1500 because I really like the 8877 (3cx1500) tube. I'm not familiar with the OM Power amp but it seems overcomplicated compared to the Ameritron. When it comes to tube amps I don't care for the bells and whistles. The AL-82, AL-1200 and AL-1500 are the same amp with different tubes.

I have the AL-1200 that came with a 3cx1200a7 and converted it to a 8877. The 1200 tube is instant on and the 8877 has a 3 minute warm up time. Both will easily make legal limit, but the 8877 has more gain and is a more stable tube. It also has a more fragile grid and is easier to damage from mistuning or overdrive. The AL-1500 has a grid protection circuit so that's not a big deal.

Tubes for the Al-1500 are more readily available and there are still some good deals on MRI pulls (3cpx1500 tubes). As time goes on the tubes for all of these will become harder to find and the price will go up. Whatever you do you should buy a few spares.

Another benefit of the Ameritron is that when tubes do get scarce it's easy to convert. You can run a pair of 3-500z, 3cx1500 or one of the flavors of 3cx1200. All that will be needed is the appropriate filament transformer, sockets and chimneys. My Al-1200 had a neutralization circuit that is not needed on the 8877. Just something to keep in mind.

If you do plan to use it on 11 or 10 meters know that the Ameritrons will have less gain there. If this is CB only I would look into a custom built single band amp.

Ask yourself a question: where is nearest service centre? Than buy an amp.
Mike

p.s. I would rather buy solid state amp.

543_Dallas said:

If this is CB only I would look into a custom built single band amp.

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I know you didn't ask but solid state would be nice for the 1500 watt level....not 12 volt 100 watt devices though.

Major Paine said:

Hi, Looking to buy a NEW amp and have it down to these 3:
Om power 2000+, Ameritron al1200 or Ameritron 1500.
Thanks and looking forward to your replies.

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One Super Tough Triode in the AL-1200.It's very forgiving & it will do Legal Limit with ease.Had a friend who had one & he was a big time contester & he never had any issues.Myself I'm more in favor of my ICOM PW-1 since I only touch it to turn it on & I get 1200 watts PEP on all of the HF Bands with 35 watts of drive & 900 watts on 6 meters which is my Favorite Band of all.

SIX-SHOOTER

The thing I didn't like about the AL-1200 was the 3cx1200a7 has less plate dissipation than the 3cx1500 and needs more air flow. The Ameritron blower is a little light in the loafers for both. Not an issue for legal limit ssb but hard to keep cool on long AM transmissions. It didn't help that the glass chimney around the 3cx1200a7 let a lot of air go around the tube instead of through it. The 3cx1500 with a tight chimney was an improvement but still worried me. I just got the garage built junkbox amp (75m/40m) on the air and will use the Ameritron for light duty work.

Forget ameritron, go with an acom amplifier. You WONT be sorry you did, trust me...

groundwire said:

go with an ACOM amplifier

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I like some of these, but also know 2 op's have had major issues with them...
Tubes are easy to get!...
Anything else parts wise, along with Tech support comes from Bulgaria!
Both op's have told me, they have had good help from builder...
However, boards, transformers etc., are like 2+++ weeks away shipment wise.(to States)
1 op had the Acom1000.... transformer and main control board died!!!!
Tube shorted and took out the whole main system.
Just out of Warrenty
Other Op (1.5K) lost the tube and took out plate choke and blocking cap and few misc. parts...
Should say he run that amp with NO issues for like 4+ years~!~ Before failure...

BJ radionut said:

I like some of these, but also know 2 op's have had major issues with them...
Tubes are easy to get!...
Anything else parts wise, along with Tech support comes from Bulgaria!
Both op's have told me, they have had good help from builder...
However, boards, transformers etc., are like 2+++ weeks away shipment wise.(to States)
1 op had the Acom1000.... transformer and main control board died!!!!
Tube shorted and took out the whole main system.
Just out of Warrenty
Other Op (1.5K) lost the tube and took out plate choke and blocking cap and few misc. parts...
Should say he run that amp with NO issues for like 4+ years~!~ Before failure...

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That sucks. It seems like no matter what you buy electronics wise nowadays its a crap shoot, either you get a gem or you get a turd. Not cool, especially when spending thousands of dollars.

Before you buy one of three you mentioned be sure your antenna(s) and feed lines
are up to handling it.
Any of them will make legal limit and then some; twice that if you drive it hard enough
which is only 3db difference.
Coax power ratings are lower on higher frequencies at 80 meters it may be 4k but
on 10 meters it might only be 700 watts.
Any of them are good choices but a good efficient antenna will almost equal the
end result with a smaller amp and save you some money.
Also if you ever have to send one out for repair they are a bear to pack properly
and very expensive to ship.

Ameritron has great support with their amplifiers.I have owed several.I have sent a couple back for repairs & they were very fast in completing the needed repairs or modifications & very reasonable in costs as well.

SIX-SHOOTER

Has anyone tried to buy Ameritron parts lately? They used to list all amp parts on their website and they could be ordered from there. They've changed things up and I haven't been able to find the parts lists.