‰  NOW 40 WPM  ‰  
PACKED SHIPPING BOX, I CONNECTED THE TUNER BETWEEN MY ICOM IC 756PROIII AND
G5RV ANTENNA FEED LINE USING THE STANDARD SO 239 CONNECTORS ON THE BACK
PANEL OF THE TUNER.  I ALSO CONNECTED THE TUNERS GROUND CONNECTOR, A WING
NUT, TO MY STATIONS GROUND BUS.  FINALLY, I CONNECTED THE SUPPLIED
INTERFACE CABLE BETWEEN THE PROIIIS TUNER CONNECTOR A FOUR PIN MOLEX SOCKET
AND THE TUNERS RJ 45 RADIO INTERFACE CONNECTOR SEE FIGURE 4.  THE INTERFACE
CABLE CARRIES CONTROL SIGNALS FROM THE T

OVERHEATING.  DURING THAT TIME THE ALS 1306 FANS DID NOT SPEED UP, AND NO
THERMAL ALARM WAS GIVEN.  OF COURSE THIS IS NOT A PERFECT TEST, BUT DOES
INDICATE A GOOD STARTING POINT.  THE AMPLIFIERS PROTECTION CIRCUITRY WILL
LET YOU KNOW IF YOU OVERDO IT.  SOME THOUGHTS ON AN ANTENNA TUNER  UNLESS
YOU HAVE A NEAR PERFECT ANTENNA SYSTEM, THE ALS 1306 WILL REQUIRE AN
ANTENNA TUNER FOR FULL POWER OPERATION.  SINCE ITS A NO TUNE AMPLIFIER, AN
AUTO TUNER MAY BE YOUR FIRST CHOICE.  MY MFJ 998 HANDLES 160 10 METERS
NICELY, AND PROVIDES AMPLIFIER DISABLING DURING TUNING AND/OR HIGH SWR
CONDITIONS.  SINCE MOST 6 METER ANTENNAS ARE RESONANT AND WELL MATCHED, 6
METER ANTENNA TUNER CAPABILITY USUALLY ISNT NECESSARY.  HOWEVER, WHEN MY
MFJ 998 IS BYPASSED, THE SWR AT 6 METERS IS A LITTLE HIGH AT ABOUT 1R5 1.
FURTHER, IT WOULD BE MORE CONVENIENT IF THE MFJ 998 FOLLOWED TRANSCEIVER
BAND CHANGES, AS DOES THE ALS 1306.  CONCLUSION IF YOUVE BEEN CONSIDERING A
HIGH POWER SOLID STATE AMPLIFIER, THE AMERITRON ALS 1306 MAY FIT YOUR
NEEDS.  ITS WELL PROTECTED 1200 W PEP OUTPUT, NO TUNE OPERATION, AND
AUTOMATIC BAND SWITCHING PROVIDES SIMPLE INSTALLATION AND OPERATION.  MFJ

RTTY OPERATION AT THE TIME OF THIS REVIEW, AMERITRON HAD NOT SPECIFIED THE
100 DUTY CYCLE OUTPUT POWER NECESSARY FOR RTTY OR OTHER CONTINUOUS CARRIER
MODES.  ONE OPERATOR TRIED USING THE ALS 1306 DURING AN RTTY CONTEST, WHICH
TYPICALLY REQUIRES 5 TO 10 SECOND TRANSMISSIONS, FOLLOWED BY A SHORT
RECEIVING BREAK, OVER AND OVER AGAIN FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD.  AT 1000 W
OUTPUT, HE NOTICED THAT AFTER A FEW MINUTES OF THIS, THE PA BALANCE METER
INDICATION CREPT HIGHER UNTIL THE PA WARNING LIGHT FLASHED.  REDUCING POWER
TO 600 700 W ALLOWED OPERATION TO CONTINUE.  WE REPORTED THIS EXPERIENCE TO
AMERITRON, AND THEY DECIDED TO TRY A DIFFERENT CORE MATERIAL FOR THE OUTPUT
TRANSFORMERS TO HELP WITH HEAT ISSUES.  THE NEW CORE MATERIAL IS USED IN
CURRENT PRODUCTION.  AS WE TRIED TO NAIL DOWN A RTTY POWER RATING,
AMERITRON INDICATED THAT SPECIFYING SUCH A RATING IS COMPLICATED AND
DEPENDS ON THE LOAD IMPEDANCE, SWR, AMBIENT AIR TEMPERATURE, DUTY CYCLE,
BAND OF OPERATION AND OTHER FACTORS SUCH AS COMPONENTS HEATING AND COOLING
AT DIFFERENT RATES.  BASED ON THE 350 W OUTPUT/10 MINUTE ON OFF/ 50 DUTY
CYCLE RTTY SPECIFICATION OF THE AMERITRON ALS 600 AMPLIFIER, I BELIEVE THAT
700 W FOR SAFE RTTY OPERATION IS ABOUT RIGHT, AS THE ALS 1306 IS
ESSENTIALLY TWO COMBINED ALS 600 AMPLIFIERS.  I TRANSMITTED 700 W FOR THE
60 SECONDS THAT MY DUMMY LOAD COULD TAKE THIS POWER LEVEL WITHOUT
‰  END OF 40 WPM TEXT  ‰  QST DE W1AW  ƒ