Texas Star Amplifiers

[Ranch55]

That's a little different. What is the logic of two and four wires in lieu of one black cable and one red cable?

Each red power wire feeds ONE amplifier board.....
No need for 4 negative (ground) wires, as the entire heat sink is a ground......
and each board is grounded to the heat sink in 5 spots.....

AND

Two wires passes twice the amperage. Four wires passes four times the amperage. With high powered amps the amperage is even more important than voltage.

Recon​

One 6 gauge wire is not good enough?

I did not want to clutter up the amplifier internals with a MAIN power buss bar in order to use the heavier gauge wire you mention.....
The Marine grade battery cable wire I used is more than adequate to drive this amplifier....

User / Operator supplies their own fuses and fuse holders at their discretion....

​

 

[Ranch55]

Well, the Sweet 16 Qty. available from Ranch likely got slimmer. First lets talk bout the shipping....Good grief they could of airdropped this unit & it would of survived thanks to Ranch's packing! Regarding the unit itself, I am thoroughly impressed w/ the quality of the work & the reports so far are exceedingly complimentary. What a fantastic addition to our collection. I have it married to a Magnum S9. Feeding it 43-45PEP w/ 14.5 V. Output of 1K+ & NO change at all on VSWR! Well worth it. Thank You again Ranch!View attachment 74492View attachment 74493View attachment 74494View attachment 74495

And Crawdad7 .....
I do appreciate your post.....
Your comments are well received and appreciated.....
Thank you very much......

 

[Recon]

Each red power wire feeds ONE amplifier board.....
No need for 4 negative (ground) wires, as the entire heat sink is a ground......
and each board is grounded to the heat sink in 5 spots.....

AND

Recon​

One 6 gauge wire is not good enough?

I did not want to clutter up the amplifier internals with a MAIN power buss bar in order to use the heavier gauge wire you mention.....
The Marine grade battery cable wire I used is more than adequate to drive this amplifier....

User / Operator supplies their own fuses and fuse holders at their discretion....

​

The Sweet -16 does not have factory attached power cables?

 

[Ranch55]

The Sweet -16 does not have factory attached power cables?

Yes, and they are attached just so-so....... through some very thin printed circuit strips that will not carry very much current to the output transformers......
I use very good Marine grade, fine strand cable and attach them directly to the output transformers where the voltage and current is most needed.......

 

[Recon]

Yes, and they are attached just so-so....... through some very thin printed circuit strips that will not carry very much current to the output transformers......
I use very good Marine grade, fine strand cable and attach them directly to the output transformers where the voltage and current is most needed.......

Sounds as though the engineers and manufacturing process are setting them up for failure.

 

[Ranch55]

Sounds as though the engineers and manufacturing process are setting them up for failure.

No, cost savings.....Just enough so it will operate, although not optimally efficient.

 

[Recon]

No, cost savings.....Just enough so it will operate, although not optimally efficient.

Same as the lowest rated tires installed on new vehicles.

 

[AudioShockwav]

Sounds as though the engineers and manufacturing process are setting them up for failure.

For several decades TS has been building these amps and if they were run as TS first recommended they were decent out of the box amps for the dollar, they had a bias set-up, not the best but if you stay within the guide lines they provided a decent signal on SSB.
Almost everyone knew they needed a fan on the heatsink, they offered the option of a fan kit if you wanted it at extra cost and the fuse holders are a well known weakness.
Ed (rip) did his best to keep prices low, for 20-30 years he kept them low, but times changed, everything got more expensive.
I think he was doing well for a product that was borderline legal......
His achievement of getting a FCC certification to sell them as CW transmitters was unbelievable.

73
Jeff

 

[Shadetree Mechanic]

For several decades TS has been building these amps and if they were run as TS first recommended they were decent out of the box amps for the dollar, they had a bias set-up, not the best but if you stay within the guide lines they provided a decent signal on SSB.
Almost everyone knew they needed a fan on the heatsink, they offered the option of a fan kit if you wanted it at extra cost and the fuse holders are a well known weakness.
Ed (rip) did his best to keep prices low, for 20-30 years he kept them low, but times changed, everything got more expensive.
I think he was doing well for a product that was borderline legal......
His achievement of getting a FCC certification to sell them as CW transmitters was unbelievable.

73
Jeff

I believe every amplifier, no matter how many transistors it had, was rated for 5w output.

 

[AudioShockwav]

I believe every amplifier, no matter how many transistors it had, was rated for 5w output.

As crazy as that sounds, somehow he got them through the certification.....
legal as Ice Cream.

73
Jeff

 

[Ranch55]

Updated......
I have
Original Toshiba 2SC2879 transistors ...... from RF Parts
$180 each ......

I also have Texas Star amplifiers....All in like new condition.....
All amplifiers do have GENUINE, ORIGINAL Toshiba 2SC2879 transistors in them......
All have wiring upgrade.......
All work very well .......
Couple of DX350V's ....... $600 ea.
Several DX500V's ..... $1100 ea.
One Remaining (had Three last week)- DX1600 Sweet Sixteen ...... $1700 ea.
I will provide box and packing material for shipping and pack amplifier securely..... $50.00
Buyer furnishes & pays shipping labels/insurance costs.......
I will do shipping for $200.00 ..... Full value insurance, additional $75.00...

No returns, No refunds ........
These are very good prices for Texas Star amplifiers with original Toshiba transistors.....

 

[9C1Driver]

As crazy as that sounds, somehow he got them through the certification.....
legal as Ice Cream.

73
Jeff

I want to say back in the 90's out of the box a Texas Star amplifier was sold as a CW keying unit (wink wink). Once you bought it they would do a conversion where a small cw board was removed that had been connected to the jack on the back of the amp. Most places would convert it for free as part of the sale. Some places would charge 10 bucks.

 

[nomadradio]

dell server

sold as a CW keying unit (wink wink).

D&A used this ruse after 1979 when the rules got tightened. What was old is new again.

73

 

[vswr]

All work very well .......
Couple of DX350V's ....... $500
Several DX500V's ..... $1000
Three - DX1600 Sweet Sixteen's ...... $1600
Buyer is responsible for and pays shipping/insurance costs.......
No returns, No refunds ........

Probably all sold by now but please correct me if Im wrong. You are/were selling 3x 1600s for one low price of 1600$?

 

[Ranch55]

Each, I had 3 for sale....... One left