Just made a deal on a Kenwood TL-922a legal limit amp. It's going to need a bit of TLC, mostly cosmetic stuff, but the guy that owned it said it works fine, no arcs inside and it's power tubes are good. It uses two 3-500's. Even if they are soft, I have a brand new pair I bought years ago, thinking I was going to homebrew a two holer 3-500 amp. These amps are selling on the 'bay for anywhere between $1K-2K, depending on age, what brand tubes it has and condition of the amp.
This one I'm picked up was a steal. The amp weighs in at 75 pounds so shipping from the left coast isn't exactly cheap but even with the cost of shipping it in two boxes (the tubes are packed and shipped separately), it was still half of the low price on eBay.
I'll have to do some "upgrades" to the circuitry that really needs to be done for the amp to run better. I'll also install a few protective circuits to keep the fireworks out of the amp should something going awry.
And...this will force me to run 240 volts out to my shack, something I've been putting off since 2011 when the house was built. I'll be installing a 240v 60 amp sub-panel in the garage in the next month or so.
It'll be nice to have a bit of extra push on my signal when needed. Conditions have been utterly terrible the past few weeks...those DX stations I can hear are not hearing my piss weak little station.
A little blurb on the amp:
This one I'm picked up was a steal. The amp weighs in at 75 pounds so shipping from the left coast isn't exactly cheap but even with the cost of shipping it in two boxes (the tubes are packed and shipped separately), it was still half of the low price on eBay.
I'll have to do some "upgrades" to the circuitry that really needs to be done for the amp to run better. I'll also install a few protective circuits to keep the fireworks out of the amp should something going awry.
And...this will force me to run 240 volts out to my shack, something I've been putting off since 2011 when the house was built. I'll be installing a 240v 60 amp sub-panel in the garage in the next month or so.
It'll be nice to have a bit of extra push on my signal when needed. Conditions have been utterly terrible the past few weeks...those DX stations I can hear are not hearing my piss weak little station.
A little blurb on the amp:
Kenwood TL922A Amplifier. Kenwood TL-922A amp
www.universal-radio.com