VHF amp

[avistar23]

Upon my recent high success with 2m dx, i have decided i would now go ahead and get an amp, currently im limited at about 70 watts, what would you guys recommend? not looking to break the bank, and dont know if i need another project as im still tied up in my 6m larcan project. Any good recommendations?

 

[FatHam]

I've had a TPL, a TE and both old and new Mirages. I've actually had really good luck with the old brown face (pre-MFJ) Mirages. You can get 160's for well under $200 if you keep your eyes peeled. Power demand isn't bad on them either.

I have a B-5030-G (300w) Mirage now and it takes some serious amperage to run.

Probably singing to the choir here, but there's WAY more bang for the buck putting money into the antenna if you have the room.

 

[vo1ks]

You could get another Larcan to convert to 2-meters...

 

[Shockwave]

To make any useable improvement in coverage you're going to want to at least quadruple your current 70 watts for a 6db increase. Anything less than this would just barely be noticeable. For significant increases in range you'll want to add 10db and step up to 700 watts.

VHF amplifiers in this power range are expensive however, there is more than one way to "skin the cat". Gaining 10db could be easy depending on your current antenna. If you have an omni vertical now, get a Yagi beam on a TV rotor. You could easily gain 10db and antenna gain is reciprocal so your receiver will be 10db ahead also.

If you go the amplifier route, pick one without an internal driver so you can make use of the 70 watts of drive you have and not run a big risk of over driving the amplifier. There are many common models that take about 50 watts of drive to make 300 watts of output. That would be a good starting point for an amp. Anything smaller and you may question if it was worth the effort.

 

[avistar23]

antenna and coax isnt the issue, 11 element long boom yagi, with hardline, im in the Bahamas, im shooting 200 miles to the closest repeater, so i figured adding some power now would help. unless maybe i should stack the antennas.

the antenna is a gulph alpha 11 element yagi, they are not the cheapest (adding in 60 percent import duty) and shipping from Florida here, and i have quite the array of antennas up as it is, so at the moment i was thinking more power. maybe i should just convert another industrial amp.

 

[avistar23]

the more i look at it the more bang for the buck getting another larcan amp and converting it would be, considering 1200 watts pep output .

 

[Shockwave]

I've also seen Motorola VHF Hi Band PA stages converted to 2 meter use. One model I've seen priced reasonably on eBay several times used a pair of 4CX250B tubes. They were used as repeater and pager transmitters and some would run at 500 watts. Problem is they usually only sell the RF deck since the power supply is heavy and mounted in the bottom rack.

 

[Moleculo]

I have a Mirage B-320-G that I really like. It's 200 watts, so it might not be as much power as you want, but it has a nice feature that allows you to switch between drive levels. With the low drive option, you can plug in a 5 watt HT to get 200 watts or on the high drive level, you can put your 50 watt mobile in line to achieve 200 watts. I did a write up on this amp here: http://www.worldwidedx.com/product-reviews/139047-mirage-b-320-g-2-meter-amplifier-review.html

A four or five element beam on a TV rotor coupled with 200 watts of power is a pretty nice setup.

 

[avistar23]

seems like a good option seeing as its self contained, im torn as to what is the best route for me, i think its between another larcan and that amp there, however i feel like another 11 element stacked would sure help receive.

this is the current 2 meter antenna setup