Ameritron ARB-704, Flex 6500 and Ameritron AL-80B Amplifier

Tim Hill - KI6LSB

Hi Guys,

I need help hooking up my Ameritron ARB-704 to my Flex 6500 and my Ameritron Al-80b Amplifier.

Thanks

Tim Hill - KI6LSB

Larry _ NY8T

RCA cable from TX1, TX2 or TX3 on back of flex 6500 to the  radio jack on ARB-704 then another rca cable from the AMP jack on the arb-704 to the RLY jack on the back of the AL-80b. Then in radio setup transmit tab make sure you enable the correct TX relay.

Bill -VA3WTB

Nice Larry, even I could follow that..lol

Tim - W4TME

A most excellent post!

Tim Hill - KI6LSB

This is the way all the post should be, made it easy for me to understand, I am new and have only had the Radio for one week and I am still trying to understand how everything works.

Tim Hill - KI6LSB 

Bob K4RLC

Thanks. I've been waiting to connect the ALS-600 and ARB-700. Now I'll go ahead.

73 de K4RLC Bob

W9OY

I'm not sure why you need a arb 704 for either the al 80b or the als 600. The relay is 12v 100ma back current protected

James - K4JK

Does the relay in the AL-80b require a delay to be set? The lower-end Ameritrons do because the relays are slow.

Larry _ NY8T

I do not use any delay with my AL-80b.

James - K4JK

I was curious so I I had a look at the AL-80b manual. The manual states that the internal relay takes 15ms to switch states, which is the same time that the relay in the 811/811H, etc. take. I run my 3-bottle 811 with 25ms delay for this reason.

Chances are if you're not using TX delay with an AL-80b you're hot switching the relay. To be safe I'd use at least 20ms TX delay.

Bill / VA3QB

Larry  W8LLL

Do you or would you even consider using the ALC from the Flex 6xxx through the ARB to the Amp?

Bill
VA3QB

Larry _ NY8T

I have not tried the flex alc, I use ddutil3 and it works well for my needs.

Larry _ NY8T

I added delay, thanks.

Robert KB6QXM

So the question still stands. Does one need a ARB-704 with an AL80B if the parameters are setup correctly in SmartSDR?

ka9ees

What's the keying voltage of the AL80B? If falls within the parameters of the Flex. No. I have an Heathkit SB221. Unmodified it would require one. It's keying voltage is somewhere around -124VDC. I installed the Harbach Soft Key mod. Now it's just 3.4VDC.

73,

ED KA9EES

Bill -VA3WTB

My thought on this is this, for what the keying buffer cost it is cheap insurance in case something messes up with the keying relay in the amp. In most newer solid state amps may not so much. But with many Ameritron older amps they use older open frame relays and they are slow.