not for sale. not for use on CB band. for educational display only.
updated 20160620
A note from a gentleman about the TX800 performance and other matters. I believe it is important and interesting to post this information from the person who originally built the amplifiers. He would know more about them than I would. Rebuttals and corrections are always welcome on bunkerofdoom. (text below added with permission).
The TX800 with 2SC2290 driver and 4 2SC2879 finals will absolutely do every bit of 800 watts @ 13.8vdc/200A measured on a Bird Model 43 wattmeter into a 50 ohm dummy load. The amp had attenuation on the input to reduce the drive to the first stage with added attenuation for the "low" and "med" settings.
Yes I know the IMD is high when driven this hard, but the intention of the amp was to be powerful in a small package, we were not too concerned at that time with perfect spectral purity. Keydown time was short due to the extremely small heatsink, even with 2 fans. I repaired a few that came back with damage from excessive heat, transformers melted off the board etc. I recommended no more than 400 watts carrier but a lot of users drove them to 600+ watts carrier with no problems other than the AM sounding "tight" or compressed. I ran mine personally at 250 watts carrier on A.M and never had a problem or complaint, amp still did 800+ P.E.P. Used the amp at 600 watts output on 10M F.M. many times, also without any problems or complaints.
Many amps produced from the 60's to present DID claim a lot more output than they would actually produce and that was (is) always a pet peeve of mine. The TX 600/800 was never intended (by me) to be used as an S.S.B amp but the keying delay feature was included for those who chose to try it. The single transistor driver with unregulated bias circuit was the main problem, along with excess drive. The excess drive could be remedied on S.S.B. by adjusting the ALC on the transmitter to stop overdrive of the amp input. Many users worldwide proved that method.
I made a TX300 (same heatsink & chassis as the 600/800) that was excellent for S.S.B that featured 2 - 2SC2879 transistors and a regulated bias circuit. Worked great on A.M and F.M as well although they got fairly warm. I recommended 125 to 150 watt carrier output max but many pushed them harder only to find out that excessive drive ruined the great sounding amp.
I built and repaired many amps from the 70's to 2002 then gave it up to work in Telecom/Cellular. I am pretty sure that I have worked on every type/model amp ever made thru 2002. Most of the C.B. "Linears" made now are cheap crap and the names on them are pirated from the amps made decades ago with no affiliation with the original manufacturer.
I still have a huge collection of radios & amps, tube and transistor, from the C.B heyday but they sit collecting dust and mouse poop for over a decade.
Nice to see that my amps are are still around. I know a lot of people who bought them from me decades ago and they tell me that they command a premium price used because of their performance.
Just wanted to give my side of your depiction of my amps.
Thanks
Steve