T. E. Systems 0552G
When I renewed my interest in six meters in the mid 90’s I started off with 100 watts and my six-element six-meter beam at 78’conditons were pretty good and you had plenty of stations to work stateside.
However, my intentions were to work all states and some DX stations on six as well, I felt I needed a little more power then 100 watts.
I started to look around in QST and CQ magazine to see what was available, some fellows had reported redesigning old Heathits amps for this band. For one, I did not feel I wanted 1500 watts of power on six meters, in reality if the band is open anything from 100 to 500 watts works very well.
In the back pages of QST I found a company called T.E. Systems based in California, they had a variety of amps for six, two 1 1/4 and 70cm.. Larger amps up to 600 watts were available on special order.
I looked for reviews of their products and everyone praised their performance, not so for another manufacturer starting with “M” lots of horror stories.
I wanted no horror stories, but solid performance and this is what I got.
I have had the 552 for many years and it just keeps working well, no problems at all. I have mine coupled to my FT 2k and am running the amp on an Astron 70 amp power supply.
A word about the operation of this type of amp, at full power and that is 400 watts you will need 48 amps at 13.6 volts. You can use a switching power supply, or the standard power supply such as the Astron 70 AMP. You should use connecting cable heavy enough to carry the current demand, I purchased a 12/3 length of wire, used eyelets on the end of the cable to connect to the amp. Secured them tightly with a small wrench and no problems with power sag due to conductors not being able to carry the current.
The 552 is very simple to run, no tune up of course, turn on the power, select FM or SSB, set your drive power to 25 watts, this is recommended by T.E. and you have about 400 watts solid. For those of you working digital, or cw reduce the power about 30% and you will be fine.
The amp has protective circuits for High SWR and for over temperature, there is no fan just a large heat sink, so prolonged operation you will feel some heat developing. The amp is set up from the factory for RF keying that is if you have a carrier to key it.
Remember on ssb there is no carrier, so you will need a keying line from your transceiver to run it properly. In most modern transceivers there is a send line, or an extra set of contacts available. If your rig is connected to an HF linear already, then look in the manual for the extra set of contacts on a din connector at the rear of your rig. Consult the manual for all details, you may have to do some wiring of the cable, or you get lucky and find one finished on one end. Only a contact closure is required for the 552 to transmit in ssb.
T.E. also makes a 1452 two-meter amp, with same style and configuration; this one does have the option of a preamp. Same power and current demand of the 552 amps.
I think you will be happy with this choice, they work, work reliably and in over a decade no problems what ever.
Check out T.E.
http://www.rfamplifier.com/144-148.htmI have noticed they are not placing ads in ham radio magazines; ham radio is a sideline for them. Their main interest is government contracts, so if you do place an order expect to wait a while to receive your product. However, waiting to receive a working and dependable product versus one full of bugs, failures and excuses more then makes up for the wait.
