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Old 300 Gray help
- Thread starter BOBKAT
- Start date
That is one torched combiner. You "COULD" get lucky and that's all that it needs, but I wouldn't bet on it. There is a strong chance that the transistors are smoked and I don't know that those are readily available anymore.
It might be the case where you need to decide just how much money that you want to throw at it.
BTW...what radio was he driving it with?
It might be the case where you need to decide just how much money that you want to throw at it.
BTW...what radio was he driving it with?
The 'friend' did one of two things, most likely.
1: Connected it to an antenna with a bad coax, bad ground or other fault causing a high SWR.
2: Used a radio that was way too big, and pumped several times the allowable drive wattage into it.
We have found that when there are no penalties for destroying an amplifier with misuse that people tend to misuse amplifiers.
I'll guess that the guy who borrowed it has not suggested paying for the repairs.
The smoked combiner tells you that after one of the two pairs of RF transistors had failed, he kept transmitting until all the smoke was released.
Ask him if he had to open both the driver and passenger-side windows to exhaust the smoke.
Considering the age of this amplifier I would probably classify it as "totaled". Might very well cost less to replace it than to repair it properly.
73
1: Connected it to an antenna with a bad coax, bad ground or other fault causing a high SWR.
2: Used a radio that was way too big, and pumped several times the allowable drive wattage into it.
We have found that when there are no penalties for destroying an amplifier with misuse that people tend to misuse amplifiers.
I'll guess that the guy who borrowed it has not suggested paying for the repairs.
The smoked combiner tells you that after one of the two pairs of RF transistors had failed, he kept transmitting until all the smoke was released.
Ask him if he had to open both the driver and passenger-side windows to exhaust the smoke.
Considering the age of this amplifier I would probably classify it as "totaled". Might very well cost less to replace it than to repair it properly.
73
Yup ! All of the above ! 
I have an Old Gray Base Amp , I got it repaired by a member of this forum , but I don't think he'll take a poke @ that one ! Parts for these are hard to get , I got lucky with what I needed replaced . Sorry to say but it's not heavy enough for a boat anchor & too big for a Paper weight . Like the say " With friends like that , who needs enemies " ! Stay healthy & Safe ! 73 & God Bless ! Leo
I have an Old Gray Base Amp , I got it repaired by a member of this forum , but I don't think he'll take a poke @ that one ! Parts for these are hard to get , I got lucky with what I needed replaced . Sorry to say but it's not heavy enough for a boat anchor & too big for a Paper weight . Like the say " With friends like that , who needs enemies " ! Stay healthy & Safe ! 73 & God Bless ! Leo