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  1. #1

    Just overjoyed with my 1.5k

    I just went to an estate sale. There sat a 1.5kfx. The guy running the sale asked what I was willing to pay for it. I said I didn't know since they were out of business. At that he said, "You know, I'm so tired of hearing that they are out of business and if there's problems I can't get it fixed!!. Will you give me $100.00 for it?!" At which point I could not get the money out of my pocket fast enough. I figured if it was broken I'd at least have 100 bucks worth of parts. Well it isn't broken. Puts out 1KW as advertised. Just got done setting the ALC and making the Icom cable for it. This stuff never happens to me. If there was a 500 ticket drawing and I bought 499 of them they'd draw the other guys ticket. I also picked up 2 $400.00 antennas for $45.00 and a pile of LMR-400 for $60.00. WOW! Amp works great!

  2. #2
    Active User Contributing Member KD8MJR's Avatar
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    Whaaaat !!!
    $100 for the amplifier OMG that has got to be the best deal ever. You sir won the lottery.
    I have no idea why people get so obsessed with the need for someone to work on the Amp. There are thousands of Heathkits and other amps floating around that have no official support but people have no issues buying them for top dollar. The thing most people do not realize is that 99% of the time the only thing that will go wrong with any of the THP amps is the RF power deck or relays and even that is so rare because the protection circuitry is so good. The design of these RF boards is text book in nature and any solid state RF tech with any marginal level of experience can fix most of them. The harder problems might require a guy like Bill who is listed as the go to guy on the THP website,

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by KD8MJR View Post
    Whaaaat !!!
    $100 for the amplifier OMG that has got to be the best deal ever. You sir won the lottery.
    I have no idea why people get so obsessed with the need for someone to work on the Amp. There are thousands of Heathkits and other amps floating around that have no official support but people have no issues buying them for top dollar. The thing most people do not realize is that 99% of the time the only thing that will go wrong with any of the THP amps is the RF power deck or relays and even that is so rare because the protection circuitry is so good. The design of these RF boards is text book in nature and any solid state RF tech with any marginal level of experience can fix most of them. The harder problems might require a guy like Bill who is listed as the go to guy on the THP website,
    Well, I may have hit he lottery with he amp but I lost big when the IC7300 PA board shorted and killed the amp. Luckily for me I live only a few miles form Harris RF and a lot of the ha,s here either work there or are retired from there. I know a retired amp designer who helped me with some testing and tips on testig and repair. The finals were toasted. No other damage. The 1.5 is back on the air. I bought new finals from a reputable disassembler, guarunteed and tested for to spec. $50.00 total! I'll be damned if I'd pay Digikey or anyone else $120.00 per for FET's that have been available since 2004! The chances with this guy are good that the equipemt is US Miliary and never used other than initial test. nothing could have been done. The protection will not work quick enough when something like a PA board short sends some bad juju down the line. However, the board level protection stopped the damage at the FET gate as it was designed to do. The only thing that worries me about this amp is firmware. If something happens there I have a power supply, RF deck and LPF. The rest would have to be "spliced in" from another source or home brewed.

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