I love my ALS-600S. I ran a tube amp for 20 years and got tired of the heat, noise and having to tune for each band. Not to mention that tubes are getting more expensive and tough to find. This little amp is a joy to operate. I wish I had it 20 years ago! Great review Bob. I will not sell mine.

I also love mine, I use it every day to run a net. Going on 13 years with no problems.

Well as a Former owner of an Ameritron ALS-600 I can say it’s a Total POS amplifier.I owned mine for about 6 to 8 weeks and it spent more time on a Big Brown Truck than it did in my shack or at Ameritron for repairs. All it required was for me to plug it in on one occasion and on none of the occasions did I actually make a contact while it was inline.After speaking with Rob Hood at Ameritron I discovered that they had about One in One Hundred of them that had the same track record as did mine.I got fed up with boxing it up and shipping it so I finally traded it for an Ameritron AL-811H that I got over 10 years of great service out of.I now own an AWESOME SOLID STATE Amplifier in my ICOM PW-1 and Ameritron wishes they could produce a solid state amplifier of such quality.You could not give me another Ameritron amplifier that is not a tube amplifier even if you payed me extra to keep and use it.I’ll stick with my ICOM PW-1 and never look back.I would suggest that you AVOID the Ameritron ALS-600 at all costs.I should note that I had the original model with the linear power supply not the switching supply.

@Yavor54

2 жыл бұрын

Huh. I had almost the opposite experience. I owned a 811H for a few years. Mine (and a large percentage of them) have their transformer go out. The repair cost was too high to justify doing it. I then got the amplifier above and have had smooth sailing ever since. The open-air relay requires cleaning every few years...but that's easy. I'll take solid state over tube any day. (and no messy tuning up!)

@1OFGODSOWN

2 жыл бұрын

@@Yavor54 I will stick with the Very Reliable ICOM PW-1 & I'm happy that anything works for others.

Gosh, what a great review and answered the many questions I had regarding this amp. I think it'll be my first amp! Thanks so much, Bob, you're a great credit to our Ham community! 73, Howard KK4CHM

I bought mine on Ebay dead for around $250.00. Sent just the amplifier in for factory service. Updated and all new fets and relay install. ($450.00) Then I Installed a new block rectifier in the linear power supply. Fantastic amp at a great savings. ALS-600 Fantastic communication and service from John at Ameritron (MFJ)

I'm a new ham, my wife got me started in 12/2017, I studied like crazy, aced my Technician and General in 2/2018 and missed 2 on my Extra 4/2017. After wasting a bunch of money on wrong towers and radios, I now study long and hard before I buy any equipment. Your video has convinced me to order the ALS 600S!

Well done! Had my ALS 600 for several years. It replaced an 811H that replaced anAL80. At the time I contacted every [or most] ham dealers in the country and everyone was out of stock.So I ordered one from DX engineering and was put on their wait list till they got one. I plan to keep this amp forever. Easy to use and all the power I ever need. Good review.

Robert. Thanks for the review. Lots of good points about what an amp can do for me. Never owned one but considering it.

Excellent, practical review of the ALS-600. Well done, Bob! Would like to have one to use in my RV sometime to get that extra DX boost.

Hi Bob - I’ve had the ALS 600 for almost 20 years without any issues except for pile ups:). Great amp and the beauty is its overall simplicity and ease of use. Great and accurate review! Thank you & 73! Steve (K1KTF)

Excellent review! Thanks.

Great review! I’m going to buy a used one today. Now I know what to look for and questions to ask. Thank You.

@robertnagy2163

8 ай бұрын

This amp has been TOTALLY reliable for many years. Gotta love solid-state amps. Now they are much higher priced..so this one is a great value.

Now that is a good product review! Excellent.............. thank you.

I have one of these. It's 5 years now and never an issue. Very easy to use. Reliable. It's a good purchase. I don't miss having to play around carefully with an amp because of not wanting to load tubes too heavily. This will do the job for you well. 73 VE4ACM.

I've run one with switching power supply for about 3 years without any problems. The relay mod was easily accomplished and made operation nearly silent. Info on quiet (er) fan for RF deck most welcome. This will be my next mod. This PA is a good value.

Good job, that was a lot of information.

Great review

Excellent review! I have this same amplifier...but with the switching PS...and learned some things. 73 K4FMH

Nice review. I decided I need an amp. Just been running 100w on my Yaesu FTDX 3000. I keep hearing these guys with strong clear signals and I’m coming in 5-4. Heard a guy in Barcelona booming in on 20m, calling CW DX. He couldn’t hear me in Wyoming,but heard guys on west coast. Unfortunately, back ordered everywhere,

Nice job! Mine should be here this week. No more tuning tubes for me.

Excellent review!!! I have one als-500 and has some problems now SWR between radio and linear is to high in 10 and 20 m .all another band working good . I will be try fix if I can then a shipping to ameritron.

I love mine... Its the older vintage model with linear supply. I did send it back this week with a problem with keying. When switched to "Operate", the xmit led would illuminate dimly which was strange, and the relay would not engage, then after sitting for a while it starts working normally. I will never get rid of this amplifier. I am interested in the ALS-1306, but MFJ has problem sourcing the parts now. So I will wait and buy one when they are available again. I'm in GA, so having MFJ in MS is so close to return for repairs.

Nice review and shirt! I am toying with an amp, mostly for 160 n 80. This one seems good and easy!! The 606 is 169-10 ready but for 30.00(as u mentioned), one can install the board on the 600. Thanku

It's a very forgiving amp.

I was fortunate to receive ALS-600 from a SK estate for $600

Morning Bob, yes works perfect, people tell me dont bother about the ALC with a solid state radio, especially if you dont run full power...Fred g4vvq

I bought a good pwm controller with sensors from China (Ali Express probably) so that the fan on my linear supply is normally slow. It only gets (very) noisy if the heat sinks heat up. The controller is for dual fans with independent settings, but I only use 1 side at the moment. 12V.

@patrickbuick5459

Жыл бұрын

@Embry Kendrick

I have had an earlier version of this amp for about 10 years. It is very touchy to setup and get the drive and ALC to play together nicely. Your SWR must be near perfect or the ALS 600 will trip off even with an external tuner connected for a perfect match. Not very forgiving like the old tube amplifiers that we are used to. During my first few months of use I had to return it to MFJ two times for repair. Once because it just quit and then again after the first repair flames and smoke came out of the side of it the first time I keyed up. Not too good for a brand new unit that had just been repaired under warranty. I use the ALS 600 with an Icom 746 Pro and it does work very well and I get comments all the time on SSB indicating a very strong signal and clean audio. I also use an LDG 1000 Pro tuner with it although it probably is not really necessary with my low SWR matched antennas. I have also used the ALS 600 many times on CW and RTTY with excellent results. On CW and RTTY this amplifier really performs nicely! I have never been able to get over 500 watts out of it on any of my antennas which all have excellent SWRs. I never drive it past 75 watts with the exciter as it makes very little difference in output power and I see no reason to drive it that hard. The manual also suggests running it at 75 watts drive. On 10 meters I was told by an MFJ technical person that 400 watts is all you should expect under full power which is what I get which is more than you ever need on 10 meters anyway. One trick that you can do if you are running SSB and don't need full RF output power is to run it in RTTY mode with the reduced power setting. This reduces the output to about 60% and the amplifier doesn't have to work as hard. Once you get the ALS settings working correctly on all your antennas never touch the ALS knobs again just reduce your exciter power to control the output and everything will work fine. If you are looking for a quick entry into a less than 1kW amp I would NOT recommend this product. I would go for a tube amplifier. The instruction manual is also an absolute disaster and very difficult and confusing to use with very limited information. However in all fairness to MFJ it does get the job done for a very reasonable low price. You do get what you pay for. Electronically speaking it is probably a very well designed unit if you can handle the quirkiness. Also, it is easy to service and can be setup to run on 240V although the manual suggests sticking with 120V. The made in the USA factor is also a big plus.

Hello ab5n I pick up a used als-600 today and I can't seem to get it to work with my icom 718 the alc light does not come on when I key up on 20 meters .. I have both rca wires hook up and the antenna is tuned with my versa tuner ect, but I don't know what I'm doing wrong .. wondering if the amp is defective..I did turn up the alc in the back of the amp as well but no luck .. Any advise on who I should call for help?

Nice review video of a sub 1 KW linear amplifier alternative. Too bad it doesn’t natively come with the solid state relay, instead of the clunky mechanical relay. A quiet QSK solid state relay would be a huge improvement. I wonder why a quieter fan isn’t provided by the manufacturer. Could the amplifier and power supply be remotely controlled? If the amplifier and power supply could be put in another room of your house, then you could have higher power without putting up with the loud fan noise in your ham shack room. What are the prices of the amplifier, power supply, relay mod, and fan mod? Dave KY0L

Nice review think I will save my penny's KQ4CDPaul

Hey, Bob - great review, I enjoy your videos. I am considering one of these to use with my Flex 6300. Did you ever get the auto-band switch setup? And after a couple years, has your opinion changed at all? Thanks and 73! -N2ADV

@robertnagy2163

6 жыл бұрын

James- I did not get the auto-switch thing. Why? There is only one knob to change on the amp...so it's no big deal. The amp has performed perfectly and it is a no-hassle device. When I need it...it always let's me snag the DX station.

@prtclmn001

6 жыл бұрын

I do 99% of my operating remotely and it would be nice to have the amp change with the band so I can use the amp while running remote.

I would be very happy if Ameritron and others would specify how many dBA is the noise level of the amplifiers. No data from magazines like QST either.

@Yavor54

4 жыл бұрын

the amp is a little noisy. People replace the fans with quieter ones. Easy.

I was confused about one thing, which is no small matter. I'm running a 100W Icom 7300. I didn't understand whether I want/need to have the two components, or just one. Also, will I need a separate (external) tuner?

@robertnagy2163

6 жыл бұрын

David- You need both parts! the amp only needs 65 watts or so to drive it to full output power. When you connect the ALC line from the 7300 to the amp, you'll set the ALC knob on the amp so that it limits the 7300 from delivering over 65 watts no matter what the 7300 power output is set at. ALC=Automatic Level Control. You do need to have a resonant antenna that will handle 600 watts. The internal tuner on the 7300 will only match the SWR from the radio to the next thing.. in this case the amp. So, you need an all-band antenna that is naturally resonant- or a large antenna tuner to load up a random wire antenna etc. I'd suggest a HexBeam. The beam and the amp will push you into the big-boys playground.

All they need is an improved parts ordering facility. I have been trying to order parts from Amertiron/MFJ for two weeks with no luck. They will not oblige by email and the phone is always busy. Not a happy camper.

Nice common sense review, love your laid-back style but yet attention to details. 73 de nn4qq

Hi Bob i have an Icom IC 7300 now and an ameritron AL 811 800 watt, do you know if you can connect them direct regarding the PTT and ALC sockets....from Fred g4vvq. tnx.

@Yavor54

6 жыл бұрын

YES... I am running mine on my new IC-7610 and I'm sure the interface is the same. It took 3 minutes (and two of those were finding an old stereo RCA cable). Then just adjust your ALC control. Mine is at 2.5 ...which is where your's will be. Adjust the rear ALC control first (as per manual) Fantastic combination.

@gvvq-pi5ml

6 жыл бұрын

Cheers Bob....F

Bob, I really love you videos.. I have a question I bought a ALS 600 amp, I want to wire the switching power supply for 220 I can not find the instruction for changing from 120 to 220 I hope you can help 73 Jerry de K7ER

@robertnagy2163

3 жыл бұрын

Golly Jerry- I have the linear supply! It HAS to be an easy option, as it will run much happier on 220V. OK, just looked at the whole manual. It is on page 7. You open up the power supply and change two jumpers. For 115V they jump A to B and C to D. You want to change them to just B to C -just one jumper.

@jerryk7er686

3 жыл бұрын

@@robertnagy2163 Ok you know what is weird... the manual I have is an older one??? I guess I down loaded the one for the wrong supply... Thank you so much I opened it up and I see the jumpers. Again Thank you I really respect your knowladge and enjoy all of your hard work on the Videos 73 Jerry

@TraipsingOne

Жыл бұрын

@@robertnagy2163 Robert, if the 120V line is a dedicated circuit should there be any difference?

Hello. I like my 600 but it overloads

how easy to install the fan into the power. how much work is it tnxs kq4cd

@Yavor54

3 жыл бұрын

Piece of cake. 4 screws and a connector. (from what I remember 5 years ago!)

Will this run 11 meters on the 7300 without a problem?

@Yavor54

Жыл бұрын

That's a YES

With the 10-12 mod will the als 600 operate on 11 meters. With a tuner.

@M70ACARRY

8 жыл бұрын

yes

@davegreen5862

7 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the info. Rob. I have a Kenwood TS 690s . The owner I bought the Rig from had the Mod done for 11 meters. I have had the Rig for over a year and it works very good. I do like to talk to some of my friends on the Children's Ban at times at 20 watts. I have watched your vids and find them very informative. I all so have a Kenwood TS 940S I bought at a swap meet and toke the guys word that the Rig works like new. So true to his word it operates like new. I am sure you know how bad you can get bit at a swap. LOL. So far I have been very lucky. So now I got the bug for the ALS 600. and looking for one from the U.S. just to much money. But luck was with me and I got one from a Ham here in Canada he bought and did not like using it now I have it. HO-RAH. and it works as you have said it would. So I am going to add 3 Options to it and it will be complete. I run it on a MFJ 989d tuner and no Faults. And its your fault I bought this AMP. LOL. 73, Dave VE3DGU.

@John-622

4 жыл бұрын

Will it work good on 10 meters AM and SSB?

@WildBillQRO

3 жыл бұрын

@@M70ACARRY cant get mine to

@WildBillQRO

3 жыл бұрын

@@davegreen5862 Dave did you get yours to work on 11 im trying to but throwing soft fault maybe to high swr pls advise im in Canada too Dave thanks

those are cinch-jones connecter

Do away with the mech relays altogether and replace with solid state relays

I don't think you are actually outside where pictured.

@Yavor54

4 жыл бұрын

I am! My backyard!

@K1OIK

4 жыл бұрын

@@Yavor54 not one leaf moved.

Great review; thank you! de W5HLM