PENETRATER HB-200

[RADIOOMAN]

PENETRATER
Amateur Bi-Linear
HB-200
---------------------------
The above is what appears on the front.
On the back there is a sticker that says:
J. V. Associates
720 W. McNab Road,
Fort Lauderdale, Fl
------------------------------
120vac powered
2sc2879 x2
5way binding post (banana) on the back to power a radio.
(has built in power supply for to provide power for the radio)
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

I am hoping that someone might have a schematic of this amp.

I would also be interested if there is anyone familiar with this amplifier that can maybe give some history/background of the company or people associated with the manufacturer of this amp.

Thank you,
RadiooMan

 

[RADIOOMAN]

http://www.worldwidedx.com/members/radiooman-albums-hb-200-picture3668-hb-200.html

 

[AudioShockwav]

It looks like a run of the mill Amp built for the 10 meter ( 11 meter ) Market in the 70`s
My guess is that it is like the CMI 300 base amp, also a run of the mill 70`s 10 meter (same) amp that used 2 output transistors.
Should be a basic two transistor amp push/pull, no filtering, and lucky if it has a decent bias scheme.
Many had unregulated power supply's in them, used a couple of SRF 2072 or PT 9878 transistors.
There are not a lot of Schematics for these type of amps, Bennie at CB Tricks has the best online resource for these and if you can not find It there it is a good bet that they are just not around.
Good Luck in your search.

73
Jeff

 

[RADIOOMAN]

It looks like a run of the mill Amp built for the 10 meter ( 11 meter ) Market in the 70`s
My guess is that it is like the CMI 300 base amp, also a run of the mill 70`s 10 meter (same) amp that used 2 output transistors.
Should be a basic two transistor amp push/pull, no filtering, and lucky if it has a decent bias scheme.
Many had unregulated power supply's in them, used a couple of SRF 2072 or PT 9878 transistors.
There are not a lot of Schematics for these type of amps, Bennie at CB Tricks has the best online resource for these and if you can not find It there it is a good bet that they are just not around.
Good Luck in your search.

73
Jeff

Not at CB Tricks under Penetrater.
I will try the other name you threw out.
This has no filtering and is running unreg. 22v no load.
Transformer looks substantial enough to cover the 2879's but I have never driven it with more than about 18 watts pep.

Thanks for the info.
It might lead me somewhere useful.

Seventy Three's
Max

 

[2RT307]

I know this is an OLD thread... but my Dad owned one of their mobile amps back in the 70's. I always thought it was cool because you could remote mount the head and keep the amp in the trunk. Here's a link to one that sold on Ebay if you scroll down:

HB 150 Penetrator Bi Linear Amp | eBay

I wasn't sure what kind of transistors it ran, but it seemed to get out pretty good on AM back in the day. Not sure if it was biased for SSB, Dad never talked in that mode.

73,
RT307

 

[RadioGuy772]

The ones with the built in transformer, with the unregulated supplies WERE NOT biased, and had the typical base-choke-ground arrangement. (class C) Although they had a SSB switch on them, it was a delay for the relays, nothing more. One *could* get away with driving them a little hard because they were MRF455s or equivalent and when a class C amplifier is driven hard, believe it or not it will sometimes sound *better* not worse on SSB because the transistor is "on" for more of the cycle. Very disgusting a crude way to do it, but hey... someone went to the bank laughing. Also the unregulated supplies allowed for lots of "Swing" with this arrangement. Another no-no, but very popular with the CB crowd. (and less parts needed..more profit!)

Anyways, the mobile versions weren't that bad, and did have a crude bias scheme, although they would go negative with drive applied, and move towards class C. Also if I recall, I used to have to make some changes to the input circuit to get the input VSWR down.

 

[2RT307]

The ones with the built in transformer, with the unregulated supplies WERE NOT biased, and had the typical base-choke-ground arrangement. (class C) Although they had a SSB switch on them, it was a delay for the relays, nothing more. One *could* get away with driving them a little hard because they were MRF455s or equivalent and when a class C amplifier is driven hard, believe it or not it will sometimes sound *better* not worse on SSB because the transistor is "on" for more of the cycle. Very disgusting a crude way to do it, but hey... someone went to the bank laughing. Also the unregulated supplies allowed for lots of "Swing" with this arrangement. Another no-no, but very popular with the CB crowd. (and less parts needed..more profit!)

Anyways, the mobile versions weren't that bad, and did have a crude bias scheme, although they would go negative with drive applied, and move towards class C. Also if I recall, I used to have to make some changes to the input circuit to get the input VSWR down.

Cool! Yes, I have heard class C amps that sounded good on SSB. Few and far between, but I have heard them. I've thought about buying one of the Penetrater mobile amps just for fun, but my main mode of operation is SSB. I do have a base amp made by Digital Sport Systems, and it has two transistors in it. I've never researched it much, but it seems to work pretty well and had a decent reputation from "back in the day". I used to know a guy from another forum that collected the DSS amps, and said they had pretty good filtering and bias in them.

Thanks for the info...
73,
Brett