I have been a Ham since 65 and a year ago is the first time that I have had an amp. my 811H has been so good the main reason I bought it is for the 120 that it runs on. The first week I had it it made a big popping noise and the two fuses blew. After calling Ameritron found out one of the tubes was shorted. After putting in a replacement tube has been doing great. Nothing but good reports on the signal and my horizontal 80 meter loop on all bands running through my antenna turner. The amp I got has a built in grid protection so I am limited to only running it with 50 watts from the exciter. This gives me 700 watts PEP out and I am happy.
Great video!! It should be noted that you will also likely need a new tuner, swr meter, and new antenna. 100W to 800W is 9dB...or 1 and a half S units of improvement at the receiver.
w4csc Those glowing tubes are lovely, especially on a cold winter’s night! I am partial to my 3cx1500a7 amps, though I’ll admit they lack in the glowing department unless something goes really wrong! 😂
This is a good video of tune up procedures. Far better than most. He didn't over drive the amp, and he let it cool between key down. Started small and re-tuned when he went to higher power. Good job. He also gave a good description of why you would want to own one.
Got me one. Works well. Service needed new out of the box unfortunately, expected though. One thing forgot to mention is down side and up side. Solid state is more expensive but you do not need to tune them. A pro and con. P.S. Save the family, lol, the only difference between the men and the boys is the price of the toys.
If you look at Ameritron's specifications for this nice little amp, you will find that it's the transformer itself that weighs 17 pounds...The entire amp is around 32 to 40 pounds depending on what material you read...
I love this comment as I’m sitting here thinking this thing felt like 70lbs carrying it out from the hamfest dang near a what seemed a mile to the car 😎
Have had my AL-811 3 tube amp for over 20 years, still working fine. Changed the tubes in 1997 to Svetlana 811A Russian made tubes. I run the 600 watt amplifier at about 400 to 500 watts with about 40 watts of drive from my Kenwood TS-570SG thru an old MFJ-989C manual tuner. Antenna is a liner loaded dipole fed with ladder line to a 4:1 balun, then RG8 to the shack, it all works well. Tom W7GER
I run Russian made 572/B tubes in my AL 572. had them years ! dip the grid keep, drive down . I stay under 800 PEP watts on a 1300 watt amp. under 500 watt digital . hardly heats up. 73's
I recently purchased a S/H AL811 600 watt version and like you say Josh they are so well made and parts are readily available and this has now opened up my interest in valve construction and history I find it so interesting and there a lot of engineers who reverse engineer these amps and come up with improvements for safety and to prolong the life of them . Its just makes the hobby more fascinating and there are some great engineers on here who explain how valves work too . bwrgds Mike
They are not well made. Look at some of the videos from “ Amp Repair Guy “ on U-Tube ! I have one and it needed a lot of mod’s to get right! JohnBoyUtah KJ7TBR 🇺🇸😎🎙📡
Great video and probably the amp I would go with since it’s reasonably priced. The only concern I have is getting RF into the neighbors devices. So far with 100 watts I’ve had no complaints.
A great video, how ever, it might be a good idea to tell people how are new to tube amps that you should always let the tunes warm up for a couple of minutes before starting to tune. Just for the life of the tubes. Thanks and all the best OH2FHJ
These valves (tubes) are literally ready to go in seconds, as they are directly heated. Other types are indirectly heated and can take several minutes to warm. Your advice is good though.
I ran barefoot (100 watts) to a station in Georgia from Illinois. I was getting an S5. I turned the AL 811H on and increased my signal by two S units. Worth it in my opinion. It made the difference in fading in and out to being a solid signal.
Thanks Josh... congrats on the AL-811H! I picked up a used AL-1200 yesterday from another ham friend and am itching to get it on the air. I never thought I'd want to go beyond 100W, but here we go with QRO! One thing certainly leads to another... also had to put a tuner downstream that could handle the wattage and will be putting in a 240V feed tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving de KM4RT!
Thanks for the review. MOST useful is your demo of tuning process, most useful part of video. However...would’ve been maximally useful to show the entire installation process, that is show all cables and connections in order like xcver to tuner amp to swr/pwr meter to antenna...these details and installation process does matter a lot and should not just be taken for granted in my opinion.
@@HamRadioCrashCourse Hi Josh. I just acquired one of these over here in the uk. However I, myself don’t know what cable I’m needing to run between the amp and my ft950 for using the exciter. Any chance of maybe doing a quickie over the next few weeks? Cheers. Paul de M6PNW
@@HamRadioCrashCourse Josh, came back to this one. Just about to click "buy it now", thanks in no small part to your review. QUESTION, think I can run my IC705 through this thing? I know I won't get much over 200w or so out of it with 10 in. Can or should the AL-811 be interfaced with 705?
Great review -just sux how much this amp has went up in price in like 2 years. Was $1029 - now like $1475 - nearly $500 price increase in just over 2 years - OUCH!!!!!
Did HRO lend to you for review or did you finally break down and buy one? In any case - good starter amp....but....if you can find a use one, get an Ameritron AL-80B over the 811. The 811 works great, but you need to be careful about tuning up due to the tubes it uses. The 80B sells for about $1000 used, and uses a much more forgiving tube. Josh - you need to due a tuning video. There aren't many of them out there on YT and I'm sure your viewers would love to see how its done!
One thing I would suggest - do yourself a favor and get a tuning pulser. This makes it so much easier to tune to full power. You can get full power (or something lower) by tuning with average power. It's a lot less stressful on the amp and the timing on keydown is less critical.
Your videos have been very helpful to me. One area that would be very helpful to me and many others is interfacing and using a tuning pulser with the FT-991A. I purchased an Ameritron AL-811H and have carefully tuned it when using it. I read about using a Tunning Pulser and how that would be a great aid in tuning the amplifier. I purchased an ATP-102 and the instructions are as clear as mud. There is nothing published on interfacing this Pulser with the FT-991A. Myself and many others would be very grateful if you could demonstrate how the Pulser might be setup and used with the YEASU radio. Thank you!
Finally scored me an amp. Sb-220 that runs like a spotted ape! Had to drop in a 240 line but only took a few hours. Haven't used it much but guy Chile with my first contact.
2:30 graphic shows amplifier weight at 17 lb. The transformer itself weighs 17 lb. The amp weighs about twice that amount. I have the 3-tube AL-811. I added a 4th tube and associated parts and get about 700 watts PEP - No problems following the modification (I even have a 572b mixed in with the original 3 811As).
just curious, how long did it take you to tune, I tuned my amp in about 5-7 seconds, even if you take more time to tune say like 30 seconds, it should not effect the tubes unless you have a major issue you MAY have overlooked.
@@lt4324 Well your fine then that time is plenty short enough 30 seconds is to long anyway use a pecker if you can get your hands on one easier on the tubes. if your going to keep the amp once the tubes do start getting soft put 572bs in it. You wont get anymore power because of low plate voltage but they are a LOT tougher than 811s,
Hi Brad. What cable are you using as an exciter between the amp and the radio? I’ve a ft950 and just need a few pointers in the right direction. Cheers. Paul de M 6 PNW
I absolutely understand about hearing further than you can be heard. I hear DX stations (using FT-8) that call CQ for many minutes at a time, and I call them repeatedly, and never get a reply. I can only assume that my TX signal is just not making it. Now, I guarantee that someone will say, "You need to put up a better antenna!!!!!" Yes, that would certainly help, but an OCF dipole and and a short end-fed wire is all I'm allowed right now. More power would help even the playing field for me. The only real concern is that right now, at 100W, many of our dimmer-controlled lamps go nuts when I transmit, and more power would exacerbate the problem. Upset XYL is a very definite limiting factor in many people's ham radio hobby.
You probably have Common Mode/RFI traveling back up the feedline and into the house wiring or your antenna is mounted on the roof, or both. House wiring, computers, etc. are all antennas by a certain degree. Everything metalic can act like a receiving antenna. Crappy Chinese wall warts act like a transmitting antenna. The list is long. There are several effective ways to mitigate most of this, even when running legal limit power. Also, all this self induced interference means you are wasting your TX signal and likely causing noise in your own RX signal. Efficiency VS Loss ! Read up on this topic and make the occupants of the house happy. You'll be happy too, but remember, solve the problem OUTSIDE before solving the problem inside. 1:1 Choke Balun at the antenna feed point (not ugly balun) and proper counterpoise, radial, etc. will work wonders and also improve VSWR. Have fun !!!
great video ! I have fixed many over the years. biggest problem is tunning up to long and starting at to high power level. watch for them China 811A tubes. some not so good. likely to flash over damage HV supply in amp. can put the better 572/B tubes in. like the Penta labs ones. keep drive down and tubes will last make notes where it tunes . watch your key down time. when working RTTY and digital modes cut your drive down . 10% drop in power goes a long way in life of the tubes and makes little to no difference on the receiving end. I have the AL 572 ones. 1300 watt 4 572/B tubes . I have Russia tubes in it. and I run it 800 watts or less. and I used mine portable with a gen set. no RG 8X with a amp like that. just between radio and amp is ok. RG 213 or ABR 400 or M & P like the POTAFLEX 7 . if you spend the money on a nice amp get good coax ! after all you want the watts out the antenna not lost in coax . also check antenna rating for power. ground the AMP with single point ground in the shack. and please stay away from antenna when transmitting ! also HV inside. do not open unless you under stand how to discharge HV caps. 73's
Ok, that makes sense as to why I see people transmitting random tones for several seconds on the HF bands. It's really annoying when having a QSO and someone transmits a constant carrier tone in the middle of the frequency I am listening!! I could never figure out why people would do this but this makes sense now that people are probably tuning their amps.
I wish you would have covered the relay and ALC cables. Does this AMP require a " buffer type" cable connector to protect the modern radio from a higher voltage being introduced to the radio from older style amps ???
Hi Josh, love your videos. Is the best way to buy off the used list from Universal-Radio to give them a call? I couldn't find a way to make an online order. Thanks for your channel! You're getting a lot of adds from prepper types as they are finding you through your Baofeng videos.
For full-legal, you'd want to run 220, or at least put it on its own breaker, so that'd add to the cost. Honestly, I had ham radios for years, and never talked to anyone on SSB until I ran an amp. Have never had time for QRP, just always busy with work.
A simpler way to tune, with over 8 years of the original tubes to prove it, is so set at 40 watts, immediately dip the plate for peak power, and then load, and dip one more time. less than 10 seconds and 600-700 watts and ready to go. It's an amazing amp. As long as you don't overdrive the amp, and go for a plate dip, it will past forever.
I use a half wave end fed 10-80 in an inverted V. My SWR with my MFJ 998 auto tuner is about 1.5 to 1.6 at the best on 80 meters. I have the 811H also but do not run it since I can not get the swr lower than that. Not sure if it would hurt the amp or not.
Great video. I was either going to get this or the Acom 1010. One thing I don't understand in your video though is the part where you say you should tune up into a dummy load. Can you explain that in more detail? I thought the point in tuning was to get a match with your antenna system. How would tuning into a perfect 50 ohm dummy load help?
It won't help....unless your antenna is exactly 50 ohms ....otherwise you will be off tune...how much differece it makes depends on many factors...tunig into your live antenna creats QRM on the bands....however with the bands half dead most of the time it should'nt make much difference...73
I just bought one of these the other day. I'm still not exactly sure how to tune it. If I understand correctly, you start with the Load and Plate settings. Adjust the Plate knob first for max output power.. Then you adjust the Load knob for max power, also? That is the way I've tuned my tube hybrid HF rig for about 40 years with no problem. While you do this with the amp, you just make sure the grid current doesn't exceed 200mA, and the plate current doesn't exceed 750mA? And if it does, reduce the gain on your radio? Or, do you reduce the Load knob? Am I missing something here?
I thought you were not to use the tuner on the radio at all when using the amp, but just the tuner AFTER the amp to the antenna which will handle the power.
Can you use an 800w Tube amp with non resonant antenna without a tuner? Like a OCF wire, I have an 80M OCF wire . I use a tuner now, but don't want to buy an amplifier and a tuner. I have to upgrade my 4:1 balun to handle the power also.
Josh, I was wondering if you have a email address where I can ask you a question about ham radio. I would appreciate it. Thanks. Happy Thanksgiving giving to you and your family! 🦃
I had one for nearly 3 years, then part exchanged it for a new Alpin 100 MKIII. I found that the 811A's weren't that good on the higher bands and produced more heat than light. Not the best amplifier for data modes or AM, etc. The are okay for SSB, though.
I am assuming that while there is an auto tuner in place, SWR has been checked with the antenna or wire to make sure is resonant. I do have an IC-7300 and close to buy the AL-811H. Great review. Now, for the tuner, I may get one of those, as very easy to use with the radio. First, I am waiting today for an SWR meter to check my wire. It is resonant from 80 - 10 meters. In 6 meters, the SWR goes from 1.5 to 1.8 from 50.137 to 53.670, where I use the most or nets. I am also assuming the auto tune will take care of me on the 6 meters, and low or not reflected power. If you can use a dummy load, then the idea is to tune the amp to the frequency to be used at. Not sure if there will be a great difference tuning with a dummy load or with the antenna, other than perfect SWR to now something that needs to be tuned with auto tuner. I will have the SWR meter inline anyway to monitor for any differences. Also learned from a local ham that my Coax may not be set to be used with an amp, as it is RG58, therefore not made for high power. One question to anyone is, there is nothing on the video on a device to control the amp such as the Keying Interfaces ARB-704. None used or none needed? Great review. Thanks.
Good questions. I really try to get the antenna as resonant as possible and the tuner helps the rest of the way. It was in bypass most of the time on most bands. An SWR meter on the outbound side of the setup is a great thing to have. Tuning into a dummy load is always wise and I run LMR-400 coax for the long haul to the antenna. As far as keying, I use an RCA cable from the amp to the radio for keying the amp.
@@HamRadioCrashCourse Thank you for taking the time in getting back with me on this. Greatly appreciated! From all the subscribers you have, you actually took the time to get back to me on my question. That shows great integrity. Two more questions real quick please: New ham here, what is the most watts I can get out of an amp at 120 volts. I don't want to install a special 30 amp line to run an amp that may be rated at 1000+ watts. Secondly, that amp you just reviewed; when you set it up for the wattage your going to use, do I have to do that for each band I want to operate on or do I have to set the amp up to say if I wanted to operate at 200 or 400 watts, I would run through the same procedure you showed us and set it at the power level I want to use, then I'll be able to use all the bands at that power level? And if I wanted to raise the power again, I will have to re-calibrate the plates and grid for that new power level to operate on all the different bands. Thanks again for showing me some attention and getting back to me. The other youtube people who make videos rarely respond to their subscribers.
@@HamRadioCrashCourse thanks for replying. I think it may be the exhaust fan from the amp since my radio sits to the left of the amp by about 14 inches. Thanks again
I have been a Ham since 65 and a year ago is the first time that I have had an amp. my 811H has been so good the main reason I bought it is for the 120 that it runs on. The first week I had it it made a big popping noise and the two fuses blew. After calling Ameritron found out one of the tubes was shorted. After putting in a replacement tube has been doing great. Nothing but good reports on the signal and my horizontal 80 meter loop on all bands running through my antenna turner. The amp I got has a built in grid protection so I am limited to only running it with 50 watts from the exciter. This gives me 700 watts PEP out and I am happy.
Mine is 31 pounds Got mine because it runs on 110. Just love it. Had it since Sept. 2021.
You have the best audio on the RUclips than anyone else. Show that us Hams know what we are doing.
Us hams 😂😂😂🤦🏻♂️
Great video!! It should be noted that you will also likely need a new tuner, swr meter, and new antenna. 100W to 800W is 9dB...or 1 and a half S units of improvement at the receiver.
No shame in running some power. QRP makes ham radio fun in some ways and QRO makes it fun in other ways. Whatever gets it done while having fun! 73
w4csc Those glowing tubes are lovely, especially on a cold winter’s night! I am partial to my 3cx1500a7 amps, though I’ll admit they lack in the glowing department unless something goes really wrong! 😂
Welcome to the big gun club my friend. Great video.
I have had mine for nearly 30 years. I think I got it when the H model came out. It still has the original tubes and can put out 600 watts on CW.
This is a good video of tune up procedures. Far better than most. He didn't over drive the amp, and he let it cool between key down. Started small and re-tuned when he went to higher power. Good job. He also gave a good description of why you would want to own one.
Thanks James!
Got me one. Works well. Service needed new out of the box unfortunately, expected though. One thing forgot to mention is down side and up side. Solid state is more expensive but you do not need to tune them. A pro and con. P.S. Save the family, lol, the only difference between the men and the boys is the price of the toys.
i didnt even know they made this product. its on my list of things to get now. Thanks Josh
Just bought an 811 yesterday. Great video for amp n00bs. Thanks Josh!
Damn my HOA. They did save me another $1,000 though. Great info
You had me at "Really nice knob" I can never resist a nice knob!
:)
The vernier dials really are fantastic! They have a gear reduction function that lets you really precisely dial in a tune and it feels great!
If you look at Ameritron's specifications for this nice little amp, you will find that it's the transformer itself that weighs 17 pounds...The entire amp is around 32 to 40 pounds depending on what material you read...
This is correct. The 811H actually weighs around 30lbs.
If you are a senior citizen it feels more like 40lbs because it is very unbalanced in weight distribution.
I love this comment as I’m sitting here thinking this thing felt like 70lbs carrying it out from the hamfest dang near a what seemed a mile to the car 😎
The difference in signal strength from 800 watts out to 1500 is only about 3 db. A half S unit. Easily made up for with a good antenna.
I've been running my 811H for over three years now and absolutely love it! Thanks Boss Nass for another great vid. de AJ5F
Have had my AL-811 3 tube amp for over 20 years, still working fine. Changed the tubes in 1997 to Svetlana 811A Russian made tubes.
I run the 600 watt amplifier at about 400 to 500 watts with about 40 watts of drive from my Kenwood TS-570SG thru an old MFJ-989C manual tuner. Antenna is a liner loaded dipole fed with ladder line to a 4:1 balun, then RG8 to the shack, it all works well.
Tom W7GER
I run Russian made 572/B tubes in my AL 572. had them years ! dip the grid keep, drive down . I stay under 800 PEP watts on a 1300 watt amp. under 500 watt digital . hardly heats up. 73's
I recently purchased a S/H AL811 600 watt version and like you say Josh they are so well made and parts are readily available and this has now opened up my interest in valve construction and history I find it so interesting and there a lot of engineers who reverse engineer these amps and come up with improvements for safety and to prolong the life of them . Its just makes the hobby more fascinating and there are some great engineers on here who explain how valves work too . bwrgds Mike
They are not well made. Look at some of the videos from “ Amp Repair Guy “ on U-Tube ! I have one and it needed a lot of mod’s to get right! JohnBoyUtah KJ7TBR 🇺🇸😎🎙📡
best vid I have found for tuning a Amp I looked everywhere For Icom 7300 with a Al 80n but this will work thank I even have the same Antenna tuner.
Thanks Josh. You're the source that sealed the deal for me for my first amp. Thanks for posting the video! 73 de W5AJO.
This video answered my questions about this amplifier. Your manner of demonstrations is very good, thanks and 73 W8MTR
Thank you for watching and I appreciate the comment!
Great video and probably the amp I would go with since it’s reasonably priced. The only concern I have is getting RF into the neighbors devices. So far with 100 watts I’ve had no complaints.
I would like to see a video on the antenna that your using with the amp.
A great video, how ever, it might be a good idea to tell people how are new to tube amps that you should always let the tunes warm up for a couple of minutes before starting to tune. Just for the life of the tubes. Thanks and all the best OH2FHJ
These valves (tubes) are literally ready to go in seconds, as they are directly heated. Other types are indirectly heated and can take several minutes to warm.
Your advice is good though.
Only certain ones need a warm up time
Great review - show us practically how your signal compares thru a remote receiver at 800 W vs 100 W vs 20 W
I ran barefoot (100 watts) to a station in Georgia from Illinois. I was getting an S5. I turned the AL 811H on and increased my signal by two S units. Worth it in my opinion. It made the difference in fading in and out to being a solid signal.
"Proll" & "Hamature Radio", I'm building my vocabulary on HRCC
Home-wrecker... You are tearing us apart! lol. Great video. Enjoyed the previous video on organizing the shack, too.
I love the color of hot tubes. Happy Thanksgiving Josh, have a nice day with the family.
Very nice video Josh, excellent for new hams thinking of more power. Highly recommended and appreciate your "no attitude" style. 73 Peter
i have a Ameritron AL-811HD and i found it to be a very good amp too. thanks for the video :)
Congrats on getting a nice Amp Josh you will really like it!
Thanks Josh... congrats on the AL-811H! I picked up a used AL-1200 yesterday from another ham friend and am itching to get it on the air. I never thought I'd want to go beyond 100W, but here we go with QRO! One thing certainly leads to another... also had to put a tuner downstream that could handle the wattage and will be putting in a 240V feed tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving de KM4RT!
Thanks for the review. MOST useful is your demo of tuning process, most useful part of video. However...would’ve been maximally useful to show the entire installation process, that is show all cables and connections in order like xcver to tuner amp to swr/pwr meter to antenna...these details and installation process does matter a lot and should not just be taken for granted in my opinion.
Good point. I’ll keep that in mind.
@@HamRadioCrashCourse Hi Josh. I just acquired one of these over here in the uk. However I, myself don’t know what cable I’m needing to run between the amp and my ft950 for using the exciter. Any chance of maybe doing a quickie over the next few weeks?
Cheers. Paul de M6PNW
@@HamRadioCrashCourse Josh, came back to this one. Just about to click "buy it now", thanks in no small part to your review. QUESTION, think I can run my IC705 through this thing? I know I won't get much over 200w or so out of it with 10 in. Can or should the AL-811 be interfaced with 705?
It was a very good video you were explaining things very well I’ve seen your videos before they usually very good so thank you and God bless
Great review -just sux how much this amp has went up in price in like 2 years. Was $1029 - now like $1475 - nearly $500 price increase in just over 2 years - OUCH!!!!!
Did HRO lend to you for review or did you finally break down and buy one? In any case - good starter amp....but....if you can find a use one, get an Ameritron AL-80B over the 811. The 811 works great, but you need to be careful about tuning up due to the tubes it uses. The 80B sells for about $1000 used, and uses a much more forgiving tube.
Josh - you need to due a tuning video. There aren't many of them out there on YT and I'm sure your viewers would love to see how its done!
I show the tuning on the later half of the video. Was there more you think I could do?
One thing I would suggest - do yourself a favor and get a tuning pulser. This makes it so much easier to tune to full power. You can get full power (or something lower) by tuning with average power. It's a lot less stressful on the amp and the timing on keydown is less critical.
Your videos have been very helpful to me. One area that would be very helpful to me and many others is interfacing and using a tuning pulser with the FT-991A.
I purchased an Ameritron AL-811H and have carefully tuned it when using it. I read about using a Tunning Pulser and how that would be a great aid in tuning the amplifier. I purchased an ATP-102 and the instructions are as clear as mud. There is nothing published on interfacing this Pulser with the FT-991A. Myself and many others would be very grateful if you could demonstrate how the Pulser might be setup and used with the YEASU radio. Thank you!
Finally scored me an amp. Sb-220 that runs like a spotted ape! Had to drop in a 240 line but only took a few hours. Haven't used it much but guy Chile with my first contact.
Great review, I have the Ameritron AL-80B and have no complaints. 73 from W5DPV
Good job Josh!. 73's KB4ELI
Ps. I love the last parts hahahahaha!....
My 811H works great up here in Ontario , Canada. Great video Josh. Keep them coming. 73s , VE3NCV
I definitely need one!! N7WOT Wyoming
2:30 graphic shows amplifier weight at 17 lb. The transformer itself weighs 17 lb. The amp weighs about twice that amount. I have the 3-tube AL-811. I added a 4th tube and associated parts and get about 700 watts PEP - No problems following the modification (I even have a 572b mixed in with the original 3 811As).
I have had one for about a year great little amp watch your tuneup time those tubes really are not very tough.
just curious, how long did it take you to tune, I tuned my amp in about 5-7 seconds, even if you take more time to tune say like 30 seconds, it should not effect the tubes unless you have a major issue you MAY have overlooked.
@@lt4324 Well your fine then that time is plenty short enough 30 seconds is to long anyway use a pecker if you can get your hands on one easier on the tubes. if your going to keep the amp once the tubes do start getting soft put 572bs in it. You wont get anymore power because of low plate voltage but they are a LOT tougher than 811s,
That's the amp I have and I love it. I use it with my FT1200DX.
Hi Brad. What cable are you using as an exciter between the amp and the radio?
I’ve a ft950 and just need a few pointers in the right direction.
Cheers. Paul de M 6 PNW
I absolutely understand about hearing further than you can be heard. I hear DX stations (using FT-8) that call CQ for many minutes at a time, and I call them repeatedly, and never get a reply. I can only assume that my TX signal is just not making it. Now, I guarantee that someone will say, "You need to put up a better antenna!!!!!" Yes, that would certainly help, but an OCF dipole and and a short end-fed wire is all I'm allowed right now. More power would help even the playing field for me. The only real concern is that right now, at 100W, many of our dimmer-controlled lamps go nuts when I transmit, and more power would exacerbate the problem. Upset XYL is a very definite limiting factor in many people's ham radio hobby.
You probably have Common Mode/RFI traveling back up the feedline and into the house wiring or your antenna is mounted on the roof, or both.
House wiring, computers, etc. are all antennas by a certain degree. Everything metalic can act like a receiving antenna. Crappy Chinese wall warts act like a transmitting antenna. The list is long.
There are several effective ways to mitigate most of this, even when running legal limit power. Also, all this self induced interference means you are wasting your TX signal and likely causing noise in your own RX signal. Efficiency VS Loss !
Read up on this topic and make the occupants of the house happy. You'll be happy too, but remember, solve the problem OUTSIDE before solving the problem inside.
1:1 Choke Balun at the antenna feed point (not ugly balun) and proper counterpoise, radial, etc. will work wonders and also improve VSWR.
Have fun !!!
Enjoy the new QRO in the shack Josh! Wishing all hams and future hams a great holiday. Mike N6IMY
great video ! I have fixed many over the years. biggest problem is tunning up to long and starting at to high power level. watch for them China 811A tubes. some not so good. likely to flash over damage HV supply in amp. can put the better 572/B tubes in. like the Penta labs ones. keep drive down and tubes will last make notes where it tunes . watch your key down time. when working RTTY and digital modes cut your drive down . 10% drop in power goes a long way in life of the tubes and makes little to no difference on the receiving end. I have the AL 572 ones. 1300 watt 4 572/B tubes . I have Russia tubes in it. and I run it 800 watts or less. and I used mine portable with a gen set. no RG 8X with a amp like that. just between radio and amp is ok. RG 213 or ABR 400 or M & P like the POTAFLEX 7 . if you spend the money on a nice amp get good coax ! after all you want the watts out the antenna not lost in coax . also check antenna rating for power. ground the AMP with single point ground in the shack. and please stay away from antenna when transmitting ! also HV inside. do not open unless you under stand how to discharge HV caps. 73's
Thank you Sir. Nicely done.
Ok, that makes sense as to why I see people transmitting random tones for several seconds on the HF bands. It's really annoying when having a QSO and someone transmits a constant carrier tone in the middle of the frequency I am listening!! I could never figure out why people would do this but this makes sense now that people are probably tuning their amps.
The knob shafts are insulated from RF which is great. Most Ameritrons are not.
Pretty nice knob, heard that before.
That was woodhead K7CQX.
I have an al80a,l4b//alpha87a and thinking on the al811 for me bedroom radio back at the house
$1200 now days. Looking forward to getting one.
I like big Watts and I can not lie.
Other hams can't deny
I wish you would have covered the relay and ALC cables. Does this AMP require a " buffer type" cable connector to protect the modern radio from a higher voltage being introduced to the radio from older style amps ???
Hi Josh, love your videos.
Is the best way to buy off the used list from Universal-Radio to give them a call? I couldn't find a way to make an online order.
Thanks for your channel! You're getting a lot of adds from prepper types as they are finding you through your Baofeng videos.
You can email them.
Good review 👍
Great video, thanks a million.
For full-legal, you'd want to run 220, or at least put it on its own breaker, so that'd add to the cost. Honestly, I had ham radios for years, and never talked to anyone on SSB until I ran an amp. Have never had time for QRP, just always busy with work.
Another fine video! Thanks.
Thank you!
Nice video. I think you convinced me to get one and IT IS ALL YOUR FAULT. Thank you very much... good job wb8bra
You just need a bigger antenna.
Amps are for broadcast stations.
ORO-verkill is not my favorite power setting, but this is really a nice and efordable amp. Not my game, but nice! 73, Stephan DF6PA
"QRO-verkill"! 🤣
A simpler way to tune, with over 8 years of the original tubes to prove it, is so set at 40 watts, immediately dip the plate for peak power, and then load, and dip one more time. less than 10 seconds and 600-700 watts and ready to go. It's an amazing amp. As long as you don't overdrive the amp, and go for a plate dip, it will past forever.
@goinghomesomeday1 I'm pretty quick so I tune at my normal power input. I typically drive it with 40 watts and get 600 plus.
I use a half wave end fed 10-80 in an inverted V. My SWR with my MFJ 998 auto tuner is about 1.5 to 1.6 at the best on 80 meters. I have the 811H also but do not run it since I can not get the swr lower than that. Not sure if it would hurt the amp or not.
nice ameritron al 811h good job 73
Great video. I was either going to get this or the Acom 1010. One thing I don't understand in your video though is the part where you say you should tune up into a dummy load. Can you explain that in more detail? I thought the point in tuning was to get a match with your antenna system. How would tuning into a perfect 50 ohm dummy load help?
It won't help....unless your antenna is exactly 50 ohms ....otherwise you will be off tune...how much differece it makes depends on many factors...tunig into your live antenna creats QRM on the bands....however with the bands half dead most of the time it should'nt make much difference...73
What's the device on your desk that kinda looks like a radar scope had a kid with a compass?
It's an antenna rotator.
Hi Josh just picked my 811-h on sat. Hoping to reach out and hit sum DX 😉thank you for starting my addiction 😜😆KC3ONO
up to almost $1500.00 now! I think I paid $800.00 for mine back in Jurassic times.
Great video to the point. Answered several questions. David Byrd KN4BHS
I never drive my amp at full power. I’ll tune up about 10% lower. I doubt you would know the difference on the other end.
I just bought one of these the other day. I'm still not exactly sure how to tune it. If I understand correctly, you start with the Load and Plate settings. Adjust the Plate knob first for max output power.. Then you adjust the Load knob for max power, also? That is the way I've tuned my tube hybrid HF rig for about 40 years with no problem. While you do this with the amp, you just make sure the grid current doesn't exceed 200mA, and the plate current doesn't exceed 750mA? And if it does, reduce the gain on your radio? Or, do you reduce the Load knob? Am I missing something here?
Nice amp. Ever thought of taking it on a SOTA or POTA outing?
It draws about 14 amps on 115 volts AC... Also weighs hefty amount. No idea why anyone would want to try it portable
@@Gabagabe1 That's what I kind of thought.
I thought you were not to use the tuner on the radio at all when using the amp, but just the tuner AFTER the amp to the antenna which will handle the power.
He didn't. He tuned up an external tuner.
I need one tonight on 80, when the noise was 5/9 and they could barely hear my 20 watt, station. 73's kd9oam
Any experience with fan noise or vibration?
Can you use an 800w Tube amp with non resonant antenna without a tuner? Like a OCF wire, I have an 80M OCF wire . I use a tuner now, but don't want to buy an amplifier and a tuner. I have to upgrade my 4:1 balun to handle the power also.
Can you use one rca jack make the ic-7300 work for keying I just ordered al-811h and have ic-7300
Josh, I was wondering if you have a email address where I can ask you a question about ham radio. I would appreciate it. Thanks.
Happy Thanksgiving giving to you and your family! 🦃
Hoshnasi@gmail.com
Thanks, Josh. I’ll send you an. Email in a bit. No hurry to open it, so enjoy the family this Thanksgiving!
tnxs 73
Wish he didn't block the view of the meters while tuning. Also wish he spent more time explaining the tuning process...
how much input drive ? AM and SSB ?
Very informative.
Thanks for the video Josh.
de W2MSA
I had one for nearly 3 years, then part exchanged it for a new Alpin 100 MKIII. I found that the 811A's weren't that good on the higher bands and produced more heat than light. Not the best amplifier for data modes or AM, etc. The are okay for SSB, though.
Hello KG4MUK here can you put the 572B in place of the 811 ???
how about ft-8
'Hamature Radio' -Luv It!😻 LOL!💩💨🙊💃😼... Great video, very informative -Thanx☺!
What is like the next new radio shack to buy radios and equipment
Ham radio outlet?
I am assuming that while there is an auto tuner in place, SWR has been checked with the antenna or wire to make sure is resonant. I do have an IC-7300 and close to buy the AL-811H. Great review. Now, for the tuner, I may get one of those, as very easy to use with the radio. First, I am waiting today for an SWR meter to check my wire. It is resonant from 80 - 10 meters. In 6 meters, the SWR goes from 1.5 to 1.8 from 50.137 to 53.670, where I use the most or nets.
I am also assuming the auto tune will take care of me on the 6 meters, and low or not reflected power.
If you can use a dummy load, then the idea is to tune the amp to the frequency to be used at. Not sure if there will be a great difference tuning with a dummy load or with the antenna, other than perfect SWR to now something that needs to be tuned with auto tuner.
I will have the SWR meter inline anyway to monitor for any differences. Also learned from a local ham that my Coax may not be set to be used with an amp, as it is RG58, therefore not made for high power.
One question to anyone is, there is nothing on the video on a device to control the amp such as the Keying Interfaces ARB-704. None used or none needed?
Great review. Thanks.
Good questions. I really try to get the antenna as resonant as possible and the tuner helps the rest of the way. It was in bypass most of the time on most bands. An SWR meter on the outbound side of the setup is a great thing to have.
Tuning into a dummy load is always wise and I run LMR-400 coax for the long haul to the antenna.
As far as keying, I use an RCA cable from the amp to the radio for keying the amp.
@@HamRadioCrashCourse Got it. Thanks a lot for taking the time to answer. 73
First of all, Happy Thanksgiving. Secondly, have you ever reviewed or will review; in the future, any Flex (SDR) Radio Systems?
If I get my hands on one, yes!
@@HamRadioCrashCourse Thank you for taking the time in getting back with me on this. Greatly appreciated! From all the subscribers you have, you actually took the time to get back to me on my question. That shows great integrity. Two more questions real quick please: New ham here, what is the most watts I can get out of an amp at 120 volts. I don't want to install a special 30 amp line to run an amp that may be rated at 1000+ watts. Secondly, that amp you just reviewed; when you set it up for the wattage your going to use, do I have to do that for each band I want to operate on or do I have to set the amp up to say if I wanted to operate at 200 or 400 watts, I would run through the same procedure you showed us and set it at the power level I want to use, then I'll be able to use all the bands at that power level? And if I wanted to raise the power again, I will have to re-calibrate the plates and grid for that new power level to operate on all the different bands. Thanks again for showing me some attention and getting back to me. The other youtube people who make videos rarely respond to their subscribers.
Good video but the AL 811 H is 30lb.
Great video! Ameritron site states that operating weight is 32 pounds, so is it really only 17 pounds?
It's 32 lbs
@@M70ACARRY I was thinking about that. I have a 811 and i was thinking it was quite a bit heavier than 17 lbs.
How much power will this do if you only put 15 watts in (dead key) and 60 watts peak?
Kindly suggest some good 70€ Ham Radio kits I mean Tuning of up to 70€
Great Video! What cable do you need to run the 811H with the IC-7300?
You need the coax and two rca cables.
Would you still recommend it now it's almost 150% the price?
nope.
save up and get a solid state amp. Those tubes are getting expensive and not might not be reliable.
great video! Question, does your radio get warm when using your amp?
The radio? No.
@@HamRadioCrashCourse thanks for replying. I think it may be the exhaust fan from the amp since my radio sits to the left of the amp by about 14 inches. Thanks again
The manual mentions something about turning the Load slightly clockwise after tuning for peak rf out. Any thoughts on that?