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Dumb Amp Question.....?

WX2MIG

WX2MIG

Still Alive & Well
Dec 10, 2008
730
5
28
39° 19' 23" N X 74° 36' 30" W
I have never owned a linear amp before, known a few who had them during my CB days, but that was back when everything ran on tubes.
Most of the ham's I know that run extra power are still using tube amps....

I always hear the term "Pill" used in describing amps, mostly from the CB guys, and I have no idea what a "Pill" is. The only thing I can figure out is that the more "Pills", the more power the amp can handle.....

Would someone please explain what a "Pill" is, and is this something specific to CB amps, or does it apply to amps used by ham's as well......????
 

Pills are the transistors that do the same job that the tubes did in older amps, the more pills the more watts... same as more tubes equal more watts. Their are differant size transistors with differing power output capabilities just like their are differant size tubes with differant output capabilities.
 
It's CB slang for a transistor. A lot of the bipolar transistors used in transistor Amps look like an aspirin...thus the slang.
 
in answer to your other question ,some HAM amplifiers are solid-state (pills) ESPECIALLY once you start looking at VHF/UHF amplifiers although there is one or 2 companies that make 160-10 HF amplifiers solid state as well

however MOST "actual" HF amplifiers (i say "actual" just to differentiate from the 10M only amplifiers aimed at the 11M guys ....no offense intended guys so dont take it that way) are still tube for whatever reason

i'm a tube guy myself with 6 out of 9 of the radios here in my shack being tube ,the only "power adders" i own being tube and tube audio amps (like for listening to music) and a old dynaco tube audio amp on the bench being restored

scott
 
I see in the HRO catalog that Tokyo has a 400 watt solid state 160 to 10 amp, don't know how many "Pills" it has, but that would be something of interest to me...

Of course I'd have to get a better antenna tuner since my MFJunk 949 is only rated for 300 watts, and I doubt it would even handle that......:eek:
 
it might survive the occasional 300W instantaneous peak, as long as it don't arc...

For any sustained high power activity (maybe even at 100W) most likely the inductor support will melt...
 
First thing before you buy an amp, make sure you have the best antenna system you can put up. An amp will not make up for a poor performing antenna system. MFJ rates there power as input watts, not output. That is roughly 60 % of output. Keep in mind you may be thinking 400 watts today, but what about tomorrow? Buy a 3k tuner now, and it will be your last one. Best bang for the buck today is the AL 811h. Up to 800 watts out. Drive it at 500 and it should last forever.
Rich
 
Rich,
as you stated, my first mission is to come up with a better antenna system.
Right now I have a mish mash of home made dipoles, none of which are mounted high enough to be fully effective, a random wire that tunes up and does pretty good on 75/80 meters, but interferes with the house phone, and the TV in my son's room. Then there's the old Shakespeare Super Big Stick that acts kinda funny at times, but got me a DX contact on 10 meters this evening.

The first thing I know I have to do is get a better antenna tuner, this one works, but I'm starting to have my doubts as to how well it actually works.
Then what I'd really like to do is loose all of this wire I have strung up from one end of the yard to the other, and mount a 9 band Butternut vertical on my garage roof with the roof mount & radial kit....(there's $700.00 I just don't have right now)....This would cut the number of antennas down to 3, the Butternut would cover all the HF bands, my Diamond X50A for 2 meter / 70 cm, and the Metz coil loaded VHF Marine antenna for that radio....

If I had a tower in the middle of my property things would be a whole lot less complicated......:cry:
 
Pills are useful for leveling real amplifiers placed on an uneven concrete floor.

MIG - can you put up a doublet at your place? 700 bux is a lot of money.
 

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